Ken Ascher

**Kenneth Lee «Kenny» Ascher** () er ein amerikansk jazzpianist, komponist og arrangør som er aktiv innan jazz, rock, klassisk og musikalar.  Han er kjend for å i lag med Paul Williams ha skrive *[[The Rainbow Connection]]* &mdash; musikk frå *[[The Muppet Movie]]*. Både Williams og Ascher fekk ein Oscar-nominasjon i 1979 for  beste originale song. 

Ascher har mellom anna spelt klaverinstrument og gjort strykearrangement for John Lennon-albuma *[[Mind Games]]*, *[[Walls and Bridges]]* og *[[Rock 'n' Roll av John Lennon|Rock 'n' Roll]]* og Yoko Ono sitt *[[A Story av Yoko Ono|A Story]]*, musikk for fleire songar frå Barbra Streisand' sin *[[filmen A Star Is Born (1976)|A Star Is Born]]* og arrangement for delar av Jim Steinman og Meat Loaf sitt *[[Bat out of Hell]]* (produsert av Todd Rundgren).  

## Utvalde komposisjonar
* *Three for the show,* m & arr. Ascher (1960)
* *The White rabbit,* musikk & arr. Ascher (1960)
* *Scotch mist,* musikk & arr. av Ascher (1960)
* *Theme for Ken's men,* m & arr. Ascher (1960)
* *Retrospect,* tekst & arr. Ascher (1960)
* *Typically April: A Revolutionary Musical,* lyrics and musikk av Ascher (1966)
* *Stars and sand* (1967)
* *Nightling* (1967)
* *April's in my lady's face* (1967)
* *Colors* (1967)
* *Dressed up for a dream* (1967)
* *These blues were made for cookin*' (1967)
* *Who can hear the nightingale?* (1967)
* *It seems different to me now* (1967)
* *Lullaby* (1967)
* *Last night's rain* (1967)
* *Laughin' place* (1967)
* *Miss Fitz* (1967)
* *Maybe another spring* (1967)
* *Funny little girl* (1967)
* *Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra* (1968)
* *1968 Baltimore Colts Highlights (ASCAP* 1968)
* *Music for Orchestra* (Master's essay, Columbia University) (1968)
* *Bittersweet wild child,* tekst av Donna Lee, musikk av Ascher (1968)
* *Cavettina* (1968)
* *Silent partners,* tekst Donna Lee, musikk Ascher (1968)
* *So I told it to the rain,* tekst Donna Lee Levitt (Donna Lee), musikk av Ascher (1968)
* *You can't make this child cry,* tekst Donna Lee Levitt, musikk av Ascher (1968)
* *Here I go again*, tekst Donna Lee (Donna Lee Levitt), musikk av Ascher (1968)
* *My memory bank's been robbed,* tekst Donna Lee (Donna Lee Levitt), musikk av Ascher (1968)
* *Leaf in the wind*, tekst og musikk av Lon Ritchie & Ascher (1969)
* *Omnibus*, tekst & musikk av Ascher, Donna Lee & Joe Renzetti (1969)
* *One for Jim* (1970)
* *Another kind of blues* (1970)
* *Mosaics : a piece for gitar, string quartet and woodwind quartet with accompanying aesthetic commentary and description* (doktorgradsavhandling for Columbia University) (1972)
* *Inspiration,* av Paul Williams, Ascher (1973)
* *Bugaloo and such* (1973)
* *Play, piper, play,* tekst Donna Lee Levitt, musikk Ascher (1973)
* *Little bit of love,* tekst & musikk av Paul Williams & Ascher (1974)
* *Lone star,* tekst & musikk av Paul Williams & Ascher (1974)
* *Loneliness,* tekst & musikk Paul Williams & Ascher (1974)
* *Nilsson sings Newman,* av Paul Williams, Ascher (1974)
* *Sad song,* tekst & musikk Paul Williams & Ascher (1974)
* *Sunday,* tekst & musikk Paul Williams & Ascher (1974)
* *You know me*, tekst & musikk Paul Williams & Ascher (1974)
* *She Sings for Free,* tekst & musikk av Paul Williams & Ascher (1974, 2002)
* *[[You and Me Against the World]]*, Paul Williams, Ascher (1974)
* *Makin' the same mistakes* (1974)
* *Isn't it odd?* (1974)
* *Candlelight dreamer* (1974)
* *Bein' a movie star* (1974)
* *Coming undone* (1974)
* *With you,* tekst Carole Bayer Sager, musikk Ascher (1975)
* *Don't you worry child,* tekst Carole Bayer Sager, musikk Ascher (1975)
* Frå filmen *[[A Star Is Born (1976 film)|A Star is Born]]* (1976)
*# *Watch Closely Now,* Paul Williams, Ascher
*# *Hellacious Acres,* Paul Williams, Ascher
*# *The Woman in the Moon,* Paul Williams, Ascher
*# *Finale: With One More Look at You/Watch Closely Now,* Paul Williams, Ascher
* *Run for life,* vocal musikk av Ascher, lyrics by Albert Lerman (1978)
***From the 1979 film, ''[[The Muppet Movie]]***
*# *Rainbow connection,* tekst & musikk av Ascher og Paul Williams (1979)
*# *Movin' right along,* Paul Williams & Ascher (1979)
*# *Never Before, Never Again!,* &ndash; [[Miss Piggy]], Paul Williams & Ascher (1979)
*# *Never Before, Never Again!,* &ndash; [[Instrumental]], Paul Williams & Ascher (1979)
*# *I Hope That Somethin' Better Comes Along!,* &ndash; [[Kermit the Frog|Kermit]] and [[Rowlf]], Paul Williams & Ascher (1979)
*# *Can you picture that?*, Paul Williams & Ascher (1979)
*# *I Hope That Somethin' Better Comes Along!,* &ndash; Instrumental
*# *For goodness sake*, Paul Williams, Ascher (1979)
*# *Finale, the magic store*, Paul Williams, Ascher (1979)
* *For the life of me*, Paul Williams, Ascher (1979)
* *Making friends,*  Waring & LaRosa; arr. Ascher (1979)
* *Gift,* Paul Williams, Ascher (1979)
* *Little more like you*, Paul Williams, Ascher (1979)
* *Save me a dream,* Paul Williams, Ascher (1979)
* *Go away*
* *Song for children of all ages*, tekst and musikk av Ascher
* *Kenny's ballad,* musikk av Ascher (1980)
* *Perfect crime,* musikk & lyrics av Ascher & John Barranco (1989)

== Utvald diskografi ==
*'Som leiar**
* Kenny Ascher, ''The [[Moog Machine]], Switched-On Rock'' (played on [[Moog synthesizer|Moog]] by Kenny) [[Columbia Records]] (1969)
* Kenny Ascher, ''Christmas Becomes Electric / The [[Moog synthesizer|Moog]]'' (played on [[Moog synthesizer|Moog]] by Kenny) [[Columbia Records]] (1970)

**Som arrangør**
* [[Woody Herman]] And The Thundering Herd, ''Concerto For Herd'' ([[Monterey Jazz Festival]]), [[Verve Records]] (Sep 17, 1967)
: ''Woody's boogaloo,'' arrangørt av Ascher
* [[Paul Williams]], ''[[Here Comes Inspiration]],'' (LP) (Ascher er produsent, dirigent, arrangør, writer, & pianist) [[A&M Records]], (1974)
* [[Airto Moreira]], ''[[Virgin Land (album)|Virgin Land]]'' (Salvation, 1974)
* [[Helen Reddy]], ''No Way To Treat A Lady'', [[Capitol Records]] (1975)
: B3 &ndash; ''You Know Me'', av Ascher & [[Paul Williams|Williams]]
* [[Lori Lieberman]], ''Letting Go,'' [[RCA Victor]], arrangement av Ascher (19 Jun 1978)

**Som studiomusikar**
* [[Howard Tate]], ''Keep cool (Don’t be a fool)'', [[The Hit Factory]] (Oct 12, 1971)
* [[Tom Scott]], ''Smoothin' on down,'' [[Epic Records|Epic]]/[[Ode Records|Ode]], New York (July 1971)
* [[Patti Labelle]], ''[[Moon Shadow (album)|Moon Shadow]]'' (Ascher speler på spor A3, A4, B2, B4), [[Warner Bros. Records]] (1972)
* [[Yvonne Elliman]], ''Yvonne Elliman'', [[Decca Records]] (1972)
* [[Bill Quateman]], ''Bill Quatemen'', (Ascher speler klaverinstrument, produced the album, and wrote the string arrangements) [[Columbia Records|CBS Records]] (1972)
* [[John Lennon]], ''[[Mind Games]]'' (1973)
* [[Johnny Hartman]], ''I've Been There'' (1973)
* [[Cecil Holmes]], ''Cecil Homes Soulful Sounds, The - Black Motion Picture Experience'', [[Buddah Records]] (1973)
* [[Bette Midler]], ''[[Bette Midler (album)|Bette Midler]]'', [[Atlantic Records]] (1973)
* [[Morgana King]], ''New Beginnings'', [[Paramount Records (1969)|Paramount Records]] (1973)
: A4 &ndash; The Sands Of Time And Changes (Ascher, piano)
: B2 &ndash; ''A Song For You'' (Ascher, piano)
* [[Mark Murphy]], ''Mark II,'' [[Muse Records]] (1973)
* [[John Prine]], [[Sweet Revenge av John Prine|Sweet Revenge]], [[Atlantic Records]] (1973)
* [[Carly Simon]], ''[[Hotcakes]]'', [[Elektra Records]] (1974)
* [[Martha Reeves]], ''Martha Reeves'', [[MCA Records]] (1974)
: B2 &ndash; ''Sweet Misery'' (Ascher speler [[clavinet]] og orgel)   
* [[Johnny Winter]], ''[[John Dawson Winter III]]'' [[Columbia Records]] (1974)
* [[John Lennon]], [[Whatever Gets You Through the Night]] (singel) (Ascher speler clavinet) [[Apple Records]] (1974)
* [[John Lennon]], [[Walls and Bridges]] (Ascher speler klaverinstrument), [[Apple Records]] (1974)
* [[Paul Williams]], [[A Little Bit Of Love]] (Ascher er produsent, dirigent, arrangør, låtskrivar, & pianist), [[A&M Records]] (1974)
: A1 &ndash; ''A Little Bit Of Love,'' av Ascher
: A4 &ndash; ''Sunday'', av Ascher
: B2 &ndash; ''She Sings For Free,'' av Ascher
: B5 &ndash; ''Loneliness'', av Ascher
: B6 &ndash; ''Sad Song,'' av Ascher
* [[James Taylor]], ''Walking Man,'' Warner Bros. Records (1974)
* [[Harry Nilsson]], ''[[Pussy Cats]]'' (Ascher: piano, dirigent, orchestration), [[RCA Victor]] (1974)
* [[Yoko Ono]], ''[[Feeling The Space]]'' (recorded 1974, released 1997)
* [[Airto]], ''Virgin Land,'' [[CTI Records|Salvation]] (Feb 1974)
: B4 &ndash; ''I don't have to do what I don't want to do'' (Ascher speler [[melletron]] på dette sporet)
* [[Judy Collins]], ''[[Judith av Judy Collins|Judith]]'', [[Elektra Records]] (1975)
* [[Merry Clayton]], ''Keep Your Eye On The Sparrow'', [[Ode Records]] (1975)
* [[John Lennon]], ''[[Rock 'n' Roll av John Lennon|Rock 'n' Roll]]'' (Ascher speler klaverinstrument), [[Capitol Records]] (1975)
* [[Paul Simon]], ''[[Still Crazy After All These Years]]'' (Ascher speler orgel), [[Warner Bros. Records]] (1975)
* [[Gladys Knight & The Pips]], ''[[2nd Anniversary]]'' (Ascher speler klaverinstrument) (1975)
: B1 &ndash; ''[[You And Me Against The World]]'', arr Don Hannah, skriven av Ascher & [[Paul Williams|Williams]]
* [[John Tropea]], ''The jingle,'' West Orange, NJ, [[Marlin Records|Marlin]] (1975)
* [[Frankie Valli]], ''Closeup'', [[Private Stock Records]] (1975)
* [[Dr. John]], ''[[Hollywood Be Thy Name]]'', [[United Artists Records]] (1975)
* Nanette Natal, ''The beginning,'' New York, Evolution (date unknown, prob late 1970s)
* [[Leslie West]], ''[[The Leslie West Band]]'' Phantom Records, distributed by [[RCA Records]], and later, ESP Management Inc. (1975)
* [[Barbra Streisand]] & [[Kris Kristofferson]], ''A Star Is Born'' (filmmusikk), [[Columbia Records]] (1976)
: A1 &ndash; ''Watch Closely Now,'' av Ascher   
: A5 &ndash; ''Hellacious Acres,'' av Ascher
: B1 &ndash; ''The Woman In The Moon,'' av Ascher og [[Paul Williams|Williams]]   
: B4 &ndash; ''Finale: With One More Look At You / Watch Closely Now'', av Ascher og [[Paul Williams|Williams]]   
* [[Paul Williams]], ''Classics'', [[A&M Records]] (1977)
: A2 &ndash; ''You And Me Against the World'', av Ascher og [[Paul Williams|Williams]]   
: A4 &ndash; ''Loneliness'', av Ascher og [[Paul Williams|Williams]]
: B2 &ndash; ''With One More Look at You'', av Ascher og [[Paul Williams|Williams]]
:: (Ascher produced spor: A2, A4, B4, B5)
* [[Phoebe Snow]], ''[[Never Letting Go]]'', [[Columbia Records]] (Ascher speler på klaverinstrument and orchestrates on selections) (1977)
* [[Frankie Valli]], ''Lady Put The Light Out,'' [[Private Stock Records]] (1977)
* [[Meat Loaf]], ''[[Bat out of Hell]]'', [[Epic Records]] (1977) **(RIAA 14xPlatinum Certified)*'
: A3 &ndash; *Heaven Can Wait* (string arrangement av Ascher)
: B1 &ndash; *Two Out of Three Ain't Bad* (string arrangement av Ascher)
* [[Tom Scott]], *Blow It Out*, [[Ode Records]] (1977)
: A2 &ndash; *Smoothin' On Down* (Ascher speler [[clavinet]] på dette sporet)
* [[Maynard Ferguson]], *Conquistador,* [[Columbia Records]] (1978)
* [[The Muppets]], *Movin' Right Along,* (45 RPM) [[Columbia Records|CBS Records Australia]] (1979)
* [[The Muppets]] *The Muppet Movie* Filmmusikk Recording (Ascher co-writes, co-arranges, and speler på klaverinstrument), [[Columbia Records]], (1979)
* [[Perry Como]], *Perry Como*, [[RCA Victor]] (1980)
* [[Earl Klugh]], *Late Night Guitar*
* [[Yoko Ono]], *Walking On Thin Ice* (45 RPM), [[Geffen Records]] (1981)
: B &ndash; *It Happened* (Ascher, klaverinstrument på B-sida)  
* [[Marvin Stamm]], *Stammpede,* New York, [[Palo Alto Records|Palo Alto]] (1983)
* Peter Dean, *Radio,* [[Inner City Records]], New York (1984)
* [[Patrick Williams|Pat Williams’ New York Band]], *10Th Avenue,* New York, [[Soundwings]] (Dec 1986)
* [[Warren Bernhardt]], *Hands On* (CD) (1987)
* [[Dr. John]], *Mos' Scocious: The Dr. John Anthology*, [[Rhino Records]] (1993)
: 2-15 &ndash; *Back By The River* (Ascher speler keyboard)
* [[David Matthews |David Matthews Orchestra]], *Furuhata Jazz in N.Y.,* New York, [[Warner Music Group|WEA]] (Japan) (1997)
* *The Wiz* (Filmmusikk), [[MCA Records]] (1997)
* Gary LeMel, *Moonlighting* (Ascher er assisterande dirigent), Skylark Atlantic 83178-2 (1998)
* Alex Donner, *White Tie,* New York & Astoria, Black Tie Records (Mar 10, 1998-Sep 8, 2000)
* [[Patti LaBelle]], *Labelle,* [[Wounded Bird Records]] (2000)
: 1 &ndash; *Morning Much Better*, Ascher &ndash; piano
: 6 &ndash; *Running Out Of Fools - If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody*, Ascher &ndash; piano
: 10 &ndash; *Time*, Ascher &ndash; piano
: 11 &ndash; *When The Sun Comes Shining Through (The Ladder)*, Ascher &ndash; piano
* Wally Dunbar, *Everything In Time*, [[Nardis Records|Nardis]] Consolidated Artists CAP953 (2000)
* Nelson Foltz, *The Longing Hours,* New York & Northvale, N.J., Syberdelix (2001)
* [[Jane Monheit]], *In the Sun,* New York, [[N Coded Music]] (March–June 2002)
* [[Jane Monheit]], *Live at the Rainbow Room,* [[N Coded Music]] (Sept 23, 2002)
* Scott Whitfield Jazz Orchestra East, *Live at “Birdland,”* [[Summit Records]] (March 10, 2003)
* [[Clay Aiken]], *Merry Christmas With Love,* [[RCA Records]] (2004)
* Susan Robkin, *Surfacing To Breathe* (May 2004)
* Don Payne (bass), *Rhapsodic Echoes,* (Ascher speler piano på spor 5 & 8) [http://www.recyclednotes.com/ Recycled Notes Music Company]  (May 5, 2004)
: 5 &ndash; *Unscheduled Departures*
: 8 &ndash; *M.A.P.S.* (Bob Mann, Kenny Ascher, Don Payne, Allen Schwartzberg)
* Scott Whitfield, *Diamonds for Nat,* New York, [[Summit Records]] (April 12 & 13, 2005)
* [[Rod Stewart]], *Thanks for the Memory: The Great American Songbook, Volume IV*, [[J-Records]] (Oct. 18, 2005)
* [[Steve Tyrell]], *The Disney Standards*, [[Walt Disney Records]] (2006)
: 10 &ndash; *When She Loved Me* (Ascher, klaverinstrument)
: 14 &ndash; *Baby Mine,* (Ascher, klaverinstrument & string arrangements)
* [[Steve Tyrell]], *Back To Bacharach*, [[Koch Records]] (2008)
: 4 &ndash; *One Less Bell To Answer* (piano, Ascher; arr [[Burt Bacharach|Bacharach]]; strings arr, Ascher)
: 11 &ndash; *Close To You* (Ascher, piano)
: 12 &ndash; *A House Is Not A Home* (Ascher, piano)
* The Birdland Big Band, *The Lew Anderson Tribute Concert (live),* I.E.G. Inc. (June 1, 2007)
* Tommy Igoe and the Birdland Big Band, *Live from New York* (DVD) I.E.G. Inc. (Jan 1, 2009) ()
* Andy Farber and His Orchestra, *This Could be the Start of Something Big* (2009)
* Tommy Igoe and the Birdland Big Band, *Eleven* (11-11-11)

==Kjelder==
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**Denne artikkelen bygger på «Ken Ascher» frå ,  den 28. august 2014.* 
*** oppgav desse kjeldene:''