alex mandel music

Snap Judgment LIVE on TV and Radio this week

2011-07-17T23:57:00.000-07:00

On Friday and Saturday, June 3 and 4, Snap Judgment LIVE gave two sold-out performances at the theater at the Oakland Museum of California. This is the third Snap Judgment LIVE -- local storytellers/poets telling their tales, accompanied by my compositions, as performed by me and the genius musical mind-readers David Brandt (percussion) and Tim Frick (bass, and arch-top guitar), and DJ.

There was less than a week to compose music, work with the storytellers, and make it all happen. They kept adding stories, and we wound up with an hour and 20 minute show.

Somehow it all came together. The stories were phenomenal, moving, upsetting, and hilarious. Host/storyteller Glynn Washington programmed the stories perfectly, so that it gets heavier in the middle and by the end everyone is ready for the catharsis of humor.

Like life itself, there's a ethereal quality to a live performance like this. You meet strangers, and by living with and scoring their stories, a week later, you feel that you know them. This time we had the pleasure of working with Joshua Walters, Joyce Lee and Jamie DeWolf for the second time, so we shared a short-hand that shows.

You share the connection of climbing on a stage with limited rehearsal, and using every bit of creativity and professionalism you have to make the performance work. The audience was laughing, crying, laughing again. Both nights there were standing ovations. The band walked out of there in a daze, and sat on Broadway in Downtown Oakland eating food from a street truck. Did that happen?

Well, it DID happen and the radio show that airs on NPR this week, and the TV show above (unexpurgated, folks) is the proof. I feel privileged to work with these amazing storytellers and poets, and the whole Snap Judgment team.

You can watch the TV show in HD here, or listen to the radio show here, or check out the Podcast on iTunes.

Tracy released....as webisodes

2011-01-18T13:48:00.000-08:00

You can now watch the movie "Tracy" as webisodes! Dan will be posting a new webisode each week right here. The first two webisodes are posted now. This was my first score for a feature film....and now it's my first score for a webisode! Gosh, I like to write that word, webisode. Don't miss the next....webisode!

Update: Tracy will screen at Comic Con in July! And Congrats to Director Dan Scanlon, who is directing the sequel to Monsters Inc!

"Tracy" Soundtrack Update

2010-11-15T14:40:00.000-08:00

Last year Dan Scanlon released "Tracy" with a premiere at Pixar. Dan and I had been working on it for about 4 years. Since then it's been doing the film festival circuit. Hopefully it will be available on DVD soon; it's a hilarious and surprisingly touching film. Dan found some spare time from his Pixar day job to do artwork for the soundtrack album. We'll print a very limited number of these CDs, so please contact me if you'd like a copy. Here's the album art (Thanks Dan!)

Snap Judgment LIVE returns...

2010-11-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

Snap Judgment, the NPR weekly radio show hosted by Glynn Washington, went on the air in June. The response has been great, with Ira Glass calling it the best new thing he's heard on NPR, and over 15,000 Facebook fans to date.

The first TV show, with me acting as musical director/composer, that we shot at SF's Brava Theater back in June, aired nationally last week. (Facebook users: check out the titles featuring stop motion animation and my theme song here.) The radio version aired on NPR in August; you can hear it here.

In September we took this episode 1 live show on the road, flying to Denver for the annual Public Radio Program Directors Conference. On the 38th floor of the Hilton, we performed for an enthusiastic group of NPR folk. Glynn, Joshua Walters, Joyce Lee, Jamie DeWolf and the band roamed the streets of Denver at night, in search of schnitzel & waffles, pickles and beer...and we were not disappointed. (If there is a recording of our funk beat to Glynn chanting "IRA GLASS! IRA GLASS!" I would like to hear it.)

Just last Friday, the Snap returned to the BRAVA THEATER to film not one, but two additional TV shows -- "Animal Tales" and "True Confessions." Whereas the first episode mined local talent exclusively, this time the locals were joined by a group of storytellers who flew up from L.A.

Once again, I had one hour with each of the nine storytellers to pitch them my score ideas, and collaborate with them. This is such an intense and enjoyable process. I've listened to their stories, composed 2 or 3 themes, and then get to meet the storytellers for the first time, pitch them my musical interpretation of their pieces. I have an amazingly sensitive group including Dave Brandt -- percussionist extraordinaire -- and Tim Frick, bassist -- both of whom I sometimes think are reading my mind. We were also joined by DJ Deeandroid on the turntable, who fit right in.

Some amazing things happened during these sessions. Tabitha Christopher, who hails from St. Thomas has a great story about her pet goat Big Jim. Without giving too much away, I asked her if there was some sound or song that she heard in St. Thomas growing up that meant it was meal time.... and she broke out in this traditional song about meal time! Too good to be true. Dave Brandt busted an energetic souka beat, I adapted the melody on guitar and we had a tune that invoked the setting of the piece and reflected Tabitha's energetic delivery. A great moment.

Erol Dolen's story evolved in a fascinating way. I felt it was a serious piece, and had composed a somber, longing theme. To contrast, I had also written a Fellini-esque accordian piece for a scene in a Russian brothel. Erol and Glynn edited the piece and the end result was, I think, very powerful.

Katherine McEwan hails from England, and she had a great piece about how Americans assume she grew up on the set of Sense & Sensibility, when her town in Northern England looked more like The Wire.... I had a blast with this one, marrying a Baroque Harsichord line with a hip-hop beat. It flowed smoothly and the results were great.

Scott Kravitz has a piece about how he stole his pet Dog from a homeless teenage girl. The tone of the piece is very understated and clever, but there is heart to it, too. I took a cue from a line in the piece that referenced Phillip Glass and the soundtrack from "Garden State" -- the line was cut, but the music evolved from those two touchstones. This piece really came alive on stage; the audience responded to it, and the music added some subtle emotion to Scott's understated but effective delivery.

Joyce Lee, poet and storyteller extraordinaire adapted her stranger than fiction piece about a perfect boyfriend who turned out to be too good to be true. This was the second time working with Joyce, and this time I was glad the music really complemented her piece -- including some hilarious James Brown hits and Sam Cooke/Al Green R&B stylings.

There were great pieces too from Kate Ascot-Evans, Anneke Jong & Thayer Walker, and of course Mr. Glynn Washington. We had performed Glynn's "Dancing While Black" in Denver, and it had killed there, but on Friday night it was even better, captured for posterity by the cameras. Glynn tells his stories differently every single time. I love it. It's collective improvisation, the spirit of Jazz, and it keeps you on your toes. You've got to keep your ears and eyes open, and follow his feet.

Can't wait till these two episodes air, I feel like we're evolving the medium of live storytelling with live music each show we do.

Snap Judgement LIVE!

2010-06-16T00:11:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I was at my son's baseball game in Albany, having just finished Toy Story 3 and half-wondering what I was going to do with myself, suddenly finding myself in possession of some extra time. As if on cue, the phone rang.

It was my friend Glynn Washington. Glynn has a weekly radio show on NPR called "Snap Judgement," which starts in July and is definitely worth checking out. Glynn asked if I'd consider being the musical director for a TV Pilot they were filming in 4 weeks. It would involve "scoring" stories for six slam storytellers, and performing this music live on stage. The show would be filmed for airing on Public Television in the Fall. The musical style was hip-hop.

I called my trusty friends Dave Brandt (The Echo Falls), and Tim Frick (The Fingers). We added Ben Bercasio, aka DJ Smoov Groovs, who works on the radio show with Glynn. I immersed myself in a great hip-hop Pandora station Glynn sent me, and the stories themselves.

I did some sketches in Reason, and purchased a new keyboard that allowed me to trigger loops, solo and mix tracks, and switch sounds without touching my computer. The new group- gathered in our rehearsal space in Oakland to test out some grooves....

At the next session, the storytellers joined us. This was a really talented group of storytellers and performers. Each was eager to collaborate and integrate music into his story. It was a really fun process; we had 1-2 hours with each storyteller, so we worked fast.

The theme song I composed wound up being the main hip-hop track in the show. Other styles that emerged included: acoustic blues slide guitar, Afrobeat, Black church organ music, Indian-infused trip hop, 70s funk.

A little more than a week later we were onstage at the Brava Theater for two days of shooting. The show was sold out, filled with friends, family and fans.

The best way to see what happened will be to watch the show when it airs on Public Television in the Fall. In the meantime, here are some photos from the show.

UPDATE: The radio version has aired nationally on NPR. You can listen to it here.

Onstage with Jamie De Wolf. This one came together really fast, I was really pleased with it.

Backstage before the show. Apparently folks were shorter back in the day when this was a Vaudeville Theater, because the ceilings are pretty low back there.

Critical Acclaim for The Echo Falls

2009-12-18T23:58:00.000-08:00

The Echo Falls debut was officially released on 11.17.09. The critical response has been overwhelmingly positive, very gratifying.

Click here to read reviews from the San Francisco Chronicle, KQED Radio, East Bay Express, The Big Takeover, Electronic Musician, Examiner, Metromix, and many more.

Click here to purchase the CD....or search "The Echo Falls" on iTunes.

Click here to join our Facebook group, and hear about upcoming shows and news.

Thanks for your support!

The Echo Falls featured on NPR

2009-10-02T16:17:00.000-07:00

The Echo Falls and Alex Mandel's scoring were featured this morning on San Francisco's NPR - KQED radio!

Listen to the review here.

Host Cy Musiker and San Francisco Chronicle Executive Datebook editor David Wiegand look ahead at the hottest tickets and most spectacular shows this coming week in Northern California.

"Tracy" is complete

2009-03-09T00:13:00.000-07:00

Three and a half years ago, I met Dan Scanlon. Dan told me about a movie he'd been working on for several years called "Tracy" about a children's TV host named Tracy Knapp.

A week later I met with Dan and Brian Fee, and Dan gave me his lyrics to "Imagination Train Station", a theme song for the imaginary TV show of the same name. The next day I wrote and recorded a demo. Fortunately Dan liked it, and he wound up using that "demo" version in the movie. (Special thanks to my son for having his toy train whistle laying around.) Dan did 60 seconds of brilliant 2-D animation to accompany the song, and has posted it here. After that, Dan invited me to score the rest of the movie.

Since then, on weekends, vacations, and evenings, Dan and I have been working on this movie. And it's finally done.

The first screening was held a couple of weeks ago, and hopefully it will get out there to film festivals so you can see it. Not only did Dan write, direct and act in a movie while holding down another full-time job (i.e. Pixar Director) but it's a really good movie. I'm proud to be a part of it. Learn more about the movie at the Tracy Movie Website.

Strange 1970's Animated Kids Show Opening - watch more funny videos

Update: I've posted a couple of cues I did for the film: the Intro to the film, and the "Renaissance cue" which will make sense once you see the movie.... -AM

Scoring "Trifles"

2008-12-01T00:30:00.000-08:00

Last week, "Trifles" premiered at Pixar. It's a 30 minute live-action drama directed and screenwritten by Pam Walker. Other than Pam, the crew, including the actors, was largely drawn from Pixar staff.

Seeing the final film still gives me chills. It was the second drama I've scored (after Violet) and it felt like a step forward for me.

Scoring and writing the song for this 30-minute film was quite an adventure over the past year. Working with Pam to find the heart of the story was a pleasure . Also, being asked to write and record an original song in a week was a thrilling experience - also the first time someone else (Pam) has sung a song I've written.

I'll also post score excerpts and the song in the downloads section. The film has been submitted to festivals, so hopefully some of you will have a chance to see it.

Update: "Trifles" will be screening at the Reel Women International Film Festival on March 28, 2009 in Hollywood. For more details, click here.

Another Update: I've posted the two songs I wrote for "Trifles" - Share Your Burden is sung by Pam Walker, who also adapted and directed the film. You can find them in the "Mandel Music Downloads" section. -AM

"Your Friend the Rat" wins an Annie Award

2008-02-18T11:27:00.000-08:00

(Brad Bird, Alex Mandel and Jim Capobianco)

Last Friday, "Your Friend the Rat" won an Annie Award for Best Animated Short Film!

Jim Capobianco (writer/director), Nate Wragg (the amazing production designer) and I attended representing for YFTR, along with lots of folks who worked on Ratatouille. Our bus was late, so we didn't have time for dinner before the ceremony. I was so hungry, I started hallucinating....I thought I heard Sponge Bob Squarepants....but then I realized that actually Sponge Bob Squarepants was hosting the ceremony, and I felt a little better.

This was a great night for Ratatouille, YFTR and for Jim Capobianco, and I was glad I attended.

Me, Jim Capobianco, and Nate Wragg

Jim Capobianco accepts the award for "Best Animated Short Subject" for Your Friend the Rat.

Scoring "Your Friend the Rat"

2007-11-06T15:26:00.001-08:00

The Ratatouille DVD releases on November 6, and it will include an original short film called "Your Friend the Rat".

The film was directed by Jim Capobianco, and is Pixar's first 2-D short (there's some 3-D and even stop motion in there, too!).

75% of the score I wrote, performed and recorded myself, but the other 25% I wrote and arranged for a 16 piece ensemble that we recorded at the Skywalker Scoring Stage, engineered by the amazing Leslie Ann Jones. Michael Giacchino and his team handled the orchestration. Michael was a great inspiration and help throughout the session.

On the scoring stage:
Photo (L to R) conductor, Michael Giacchino, Jim Capobianco, Mandel

The next day, Leslie Ann Jones mixed the music, while they finished Ratatouille down the hall.

We returned to Skywalker a couple months later to mix on the Stanley Kubrick stage.

Photo (L to R) Ann Brilz (Producer), Mandel (composer), Tom Myers (Mix), Steve Bloom (editor), Jim Capobianco (writer/director), EJ Holowicki (Sound Design)

"Violet" Screens at Mill Valley Film Festival

2007-10-12T11:21:00.000-07:00

"Violet" is a live-action short drama directed by Mark Andrews (Incredibles, Ratatouille, One Man Band). It's the first film release from Pixar University.

I wrote, performed and recorded the musical score.

"Violet" made its film festival premiere at the Mill Valley Film Festival this week, as part of a collection of short films collected under the title, "5@5: Hey That's No Way to Say Goodbye".

Links:
description of the show
complete MVFF Program
imdb page

"Tracy" score in progress

2007-09-01T13:29:00.000-07:00

I am scoring a great film called "Tracy", written and directed by Dan Scanlon.

We recently completed the trailer.

I also provided music for one of the teasers.

Finally, there is the theme song from the fictitious show hosted by the main character, called "Imagination Train Station." Dan wrote the lyrics, and I wrote and performed the music.

Dan did hand-drawn animation for the whole song that is just amazing, but you'll have to wait a while to see it. Meantime, you can hear the song here.

The movie should be complete sometime in 2008.

Music for CARS Commercial

2006-07-01T13:53:00.000-07:00

A while back, I did the music for a CARS commercial for State Farm, directed by Victor Navone. You can watch it at Victor's blog, right here.

Scoring "Mr. Incredible and Pals"

2005-04-01T14:04:00.000-08:00

I scored "Mr. Incredible and Pals", a bonus feature on The Incredibles DVD, written and directed by Roger Gould. The commentary by Frozone and Mr. Incredible was written and directed by Brad Bird.

I was pleasantly surprised that the short - a send up of "Clutch Cargo" with commentary by Mr. Incredible and Frozone - got a lot of great press. Of course, people watched it because The Incredibles is such a great film!

LA Times
But the pièces de résistance are two new animated shorts: "Jack-Jack Attack," which features the youngest member of the Incredibles having some fun with his baby-sitter, Kari; and the "Mr. Incredible and Pals," a spoof of 1960s Saturday-morning cartoons. This supposedly "lost" cartoon features Mr. Incredible, his pal Frozone and their rabbit sidekick, Mr. Skipperdoo, battling the evil Lady Lightbug.

New York Times
"There's also "Mr. Incredible and Pals" a letter-perfect parody of a crudely animated 1950's television cartoon of the "Clutch Cargo" school, featuring Craig T. Nelson's superdad character in his pre-pot-belly glory days.

Entertainment Weekly
"The coolest extra by far has to be the cheesy, purposely poorly animated Mr Incredible and Pals cartoon....The accompanying commentary by Mr. Incredible and Frozone is the funniest thing in the entire package.