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Joel Kass
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Joel Kass, born Howard Joel Kass, is a twentieth century orchestral film composer, producer and writer who has written for MCA, Sony and the New York Philharmonic. The direct descendent of Serge Koussevitzky and the Four Koussevitzky brothers, Joel is currently the CEO of Kass Media Group . Kass has been mentioned in several books regarding orchestral composers. His own stylistic nuances included his creation of the Nacht Der Tanz are discussed in this article. Biography H. Joel Kass was born on November 18, 1968 to Isadore and Estelle Kass in Chicago, Illinois. The family were Jewish immigrants from the Polish city of Bialystok and settled in the New York City and Midwest area during the beginning of the nineteenth century. Over 30 members of the family were killed in the Holocaust. His mother, a concert pianist who was trained at Juilliard was able to guide Joel in his early years of study. Joel created his first orchestral composition at age 7 and continued that path so that by the age of 9 he had composed over 120 piano and violin sonatas. Earliest works The earliest works of Joel, which include Sonatas 11-104, are piano and violin based compositions that established the composer as he entered Interlochen School for the Performing Arts. They combine both the dramatic piano elements of Frederick Chopin, along with traditional Yiddish melodies. Sonata 17 is an example of one of the earlier Nacht der Tanz and uses the violin to produce the haunting yet beautiful counter melody and is consisent with other composers who used the instrument to create similar orchestral effects. Sonata 95 for piano contains 4 transitions, each of which is similar to the composers arrangement on 'New York Rhapsody' using common choral frameworks used by several contemporary composers. and contains the nexus of what would become the base of his 'Nacht der Tanz' (Night Dances). By 1992, Joel had begun working with local artists and producers, who included Stevie Wonder, Kevin Saunderson, and Art Forest. He released his first CD, "Concerto for Midnight", an orchestral compilation performed by local orchestra's. That year was a productive year for Joel, in which he composed and recorded a total of 75 songs, ranging from rock to soul. Producing CDs for Jive and JBird in 1989 established him as a writer and producer who was able to write and compose beyond classical music. Stylist evaluation The style of Joel Kass can be evaluated as a blend between post modern and romantic composers. The earliest pieces bear a striking resemblance to those of Debussy, to which this article has already discussed. A Nact Der Tanz, of which the majority of Joel's early compositions follow, have been detailed in a separate article. The vast majority of the earliest works of Kass feature violin and oboe as the primary solo instruments and the melodic framework is based from them. The vast majorty of the marches that Kass composed use the trumpet and french horn sections extensively. It has been observed that Kass composed preferred to have dramatic melodic changes as opposed to naturalistic and more classical modes. One is struck by the usage of the mixodylian mode in many pieces. Uncommon chord progressions along with the usage of world instruments added to a unique flavor of the pieces. Kass also develoepd several modalities that are beyond the scope of this article, however, can be found in the sound bites below. Jerry Chwialkowsi in his "The Da Capo Catalog of Classical Music Compositions" makes the following observations on pp.113: "There are three stages in the development of Joel Kass and his works. The earliest being focused on romantic movements which are dreamy and circular in their development, the middle period where Kass develops the fullness of the Nact Der Tanz, and the current period where Kass is utilizing world instruments in place of his traditional violin and oboe to create the melody. Opus 711 is a unique example of this where the composer uses a Koto, Piano and French Horn" What separated Joel Kass from the wide range of composers and producers were several factors, including his ability to play a total of 12 instruments and his mutli lingual background with the ability to speak and translate in over 9 languages. Kass created the Nacht Der Tanz as his own modern adaptation of post romantic piano. Sonata's 17-25 each make use of a poem from Goethe and attempt to achieve a musical picture. When listening to his orchestral compositions, one is drawn to the lush arrangements and moody environments that are familiar in the works of Debussy. His rock and soul material is distinctive for its use of unique rhythms and arrangements. Orchestral samples The MCA years In 1982 Joel was signed to MCA Universal NYC and was able to work with a stable of writers ranging from Michael O'Hara, Anita Baker to Rosetta Stone. During this time he was able to work and collaborate with artists such as Lilias White whom he recorded the single 'Season of Love', Mariah Carey, Dr Dre, Toni Braxton, Taylor Dayne and Sounds of Blackness. The commercial years Following his years at MCA, Joel was able to write national commercials for such companies as Coors, Tide, Wilson Golf Balls, and more. During this time he purchased his set of studios and began to write for both film, TV and commercials. His most popular national commercial was the Coors 'Keep on Movin' campaign, which won him several awards. Kass Publishing Having composed and written over 2000 songs in genres as broad as classical to hip hop, Joel created Kass Publishing to distribute his own material, as well as bringing on several talented industry writers whom he had formed relationships with. The library includes not only his musical compositions, but his literary ones as well. He has had extensive placements of his works in film companies such as SKG Dreamworks and TriStar as well as network TV shows for ABC, NBC and CBS. Further information Information on the company, as well as specific material composed by Joel can be found on www.joelkass.net.
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