James Gelfand
Encyclopedia
James Gelfand, is a Canadian jazz
pianist
, arranger
, and composer
. He is best known for his film and television scores.
, Quebec
, Canada
into a large Jewish family. He is the great-grandson of Jacob Pascal, founder of J. Pascal's Hardware and Furniture. He is married with two children.
He began classical piano training at the age of four. During his teens, Gelfand diverged into jazz
and other styles. Performing and competing at jazz festivals throughout North America
and Europe
, he has won a number of prestigious awards.
albums combining jazz and classical styles. He has performed on over 40 albums, with 8 under his own name. During his earlier career, he established The James Gelfand Trio and The James Gelfand Group.
With his ability to compose in various styles such as techno
, orchestra
l, folk
, and jazz
, Gelfand began writing score for film and television. He has composed the music for over 30 films and 300 television broadcasts.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
, arranger
Arranger
In investment banking, an arranger is a provider of funds in the syndication of a debt. They are entitled to syndicate the loan or bond issue, and may be referred to as the "lead underwriter". This is because this entity bears the risk of being able to sell the underlying securities/debt or the...
, and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
. He is best known for his film and television scores.
Early life
Gelfand was born in MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
into a large Jewish family. He is the great-grandson of Jacob Pascal, founder of J. Pascal's Hardware and Furniture. He is married with two children.
He began classical piano training at the age of four. During his teens, Gelfand diverged into jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and other styles. Performing and competing at jazz festivals throughout North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, he has won a number of prestigious awards.
Professional career
Gelfand recorded a number of cross-overCrossover (music)
Crossover is a term applied to musical works or performers appearing on two or more of the record charts which track differing musical tastes, or genres...
albums combining jazz and classical styles. He has performed on over 40 albums, with 8 under his own name. During his earlier career, he established The James Gelfand Trio and The James Gelfand Group.
With his ability to compose in various styles such as techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
, orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
l, folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, Gelfand began writing score for film and television. He has composed the music for over 30 films and 300 television broadcasts.
Discography
James Gelfand has contributed piano/keyboard to numerous albums, including:- Crepuscule - 1991
- Beyond Rubicon - 1992
- Hymn to the Earth - 1994
- Rhythm'n Jazz - 1995
- Time Zones - 1995
- Welcome: Mother Earth - 1996
- Setting the Standard - 1996
- Live - 1997
- Mystic Infancy - 1997
- Readers of the Lost Chart - 1997
- The Merlin Factor - 1997
- Tricycle - 1998
- Children's Standards +1+2+3 - 1998
- Marin Nasturica & Friends - 1998
- Time for Love - Charito Sings Standards - 1998
- Puzzle City - 1999
- Feeling - 1999
- Caminho - 1999
- Convergence - 2000
- Arthur & Friends: Arthur's Perfect Christmas - 2000
- Arthur's Really Rockin' Music Mix - 2001
- Mother Tree - 2002
- Class of Our Own - 2003
- Setting the Standard, Vol. 2 - 2003
- Here Come the Boys: A Canadian Crooner Collection - 2004
- Effendi Mood - 2006
- Villa-Lobos-Jobim - 2006
Film and television
James Gelfand currently writes score for film and television productions.- Sous un Ciel Variable – 1995
- VirginieVirginieVirginie was a French-language Canadian television series that aired Monday through Thursday on Radio-Canada . It debuted in 1996. The show examined the public and private lives of teachers, students, and families at the fictional Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc high school...
- 1996 - Max the Cat - 1996
- Investigating Tarzan - 1997
- Kit & Kaboodle - 1998
- The Country Mouse and the City Mouse AdventuresThe Country Mouse and the City Mouse AdventuresThe Country Mouse and the City Mouse Adventures is an animated TV series that aired on HBO from March 1, 1998 to early 2001. The show follows the adventures of two mice, Emily and her cousin Alexander, who go on adventures around the world in the early 20th century, usually to stop the evil rat...
- 1998 - Les Muses orphelines - 2000
- Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese CatSagwa, the Chinese Siamese CatSagwa is the name of a cat in the children's book Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat by author Amy Tan. Sagwa's popularity with children prompted an educational animated series of the same name on PBS Kids, with production held by French animation studio CineGroupe and Sesame Street creator Sesame...
- 2001 - Wicked Minds - 2002
- Deadly BetrayalDeadly BetrayalDeadly Betrayal is a 2003 television movie film starring Nicollette Sheridan, Andrew Jackson, Robert Seeliger and Amanda Tilson. It was directed by Jason Hreno and written by Howard Friedlander and Ken Peragine.-External links:**...
- 2002 - The Rendering - 2002
- Scent of Danger - 2002
- Silent NightSilent Night (2002 film)Silent Night is a fact-based 2002 television film set on Christmas Eve in 1944, during World War II.-Plot:A German mother , who had already lost her eldest son in the Battle of Stalingrad and whose husband is a cook serving in the German army, and her son are seeking refuge in a cabin near the...
- 2002 - Student SeductionStudent SeductionStudent Seduction is a 2003 made-for-television movie produced by Lions Gate Entertainment's Lionsgate Television and starring Elizabeth Berkley, Corey Sevier and Rick Roberts. The movie was filmed on location in Montréal, Québec, Canada. The movie premiered on Lifetime on 5 May 2003.The movie's...
- 2003 - Wicked Minds - 2003
- Wall of Secrets - 2003
- The Clinic - 2004
- Jack Paradise (Les nuits de Montréal) - 2004
- Fries with That - 2004
- Pinocchio 3000Pinocchio 3000Pinocchio 3000 is a 2004 Canadian computer-animated film by Christal Films. Like A.I. Artificial Intelligence, it is a futuristic science fiction interpretation of the classic tale The Adventures of Pinocchio where Pinocchio is a robot brought to life by tapping into a city's power surge, rather...
- 2004 - Baby for Sale - 2004
- False Pretenses - 2004
- Crimes of Passion - 2005
- Lies and Deception - 2005
- Forbidden Secrets - 2005
- Swarmed - 2005
- Flirting with Danger - 2006
- Black Widower - 2006
- Proof of Lies - 2006
- Thrill of the KillThrill of the KillThrill of the Kill is a 2006 dramatic film produced for Lifetime. The film is set in Manchester, Vermont, and was filmed in Montréal, Québec.-Plot:...
- 2006 - Mind Over Murder - 2006
- Legacy of Fear - 2006
- Doctor*ology - 2007
- Housesitter - 2007
- Blind Trust - 2007
- A Life Interrupted - 2007
- St. Urbain's HorsemanSt. Urbain's HorsemanSt. Urbain's Horseman is the seventh novel by Canadian author Mordecai Richler. It was first published in 1971 by McClelland & Stewart. It is one of Richler's most ambitious novels and won the prestigious Governor General's Award for 1971....
- 2007 - The Double Life of Eleanor Kendall - 2008
- Swamp DevilSwamp DevilSwamp Devil is a 2008 Canadian horror film directed by David Winning and stars Bruce Dern, Cindy Sampson and Nicolas Wright.-Plot:Melanie Blaine returns to their homeland in a small town called Gibbington because here her father, a former sheriff, suspected because of multiple murders is cruel and...
- 2008 - Secrets of the Summer House - 2008
- An Old Fashioned ThanksgivingAn Old Fashioned ThanksgivingAn Old Fashioned Thanksgiving is a television movie based on a short story by Louisa May Alcott. Filmed on location in Canada, the movie premiered on Hallmark Channel on November 22, 2008...
- 2008 - CrusoeCrusoe (TV series)Crusoe is a television adventure drama based loosely on the novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. The series' 13 episodes aired on NBC during the first half of the 2008-2009 television season. It follows the adventures of Robinson Crusoe: a man who has been shipwrecked on an island for six years...
- 2009 - The Christmas Choir - 2008
- Hidden Crimes - 2009
- Final Verdict - 2009
- High Plains InvadersHigh Plains InvadersHigh Plains Invaders is a 2009 science fiction television film that aired on Syfy. The film stars James Marsters.-Plot:A man goes to a small Colorado town to be hanged for his crimes in 1892...
- 2009 - Killer HairKiller HairKiller Hair is a Lifetime Movie Network film, aired in 2009, about a fashion journalist, Lacey Smithsonian-no relation to the museum-investigating a series of murders at her friends hair salon in Washington, DC...
- 2009 - Perfect Plan - 2010
- The Night Before the Night Before Christmas - 2010
- The Mysteries of Alfred HedgehogThe Mysteries of Alfred HedgehogThe Mysteries of Alfred Hedgehog, a.k.a. Les Mystères d'Alfred, is an animated French-Canadian co-production made by Gaumont-Alphanim with distribution by Muse Entertainment Enterprises that airs on several broadcast and cable networks around the world. The show's characters consist of mainly...
- 2010 - Hidden Crimes - 2009
- Web of Lies - 2009
- High Plains InvadersHigh Plains InvadersHigh Plains Invaders is a 2009 science fiction television film that aired on Syfy. The film stars James Marsters.-Plot:A man goes to a small Colorado town to be hanged for his crimes in 1892...
- 2009 - Naked ScienceNaked ScienceNaked Science is an American documentary television series that premiered in 2004 on the National Geographic Channel. The program features various subjects related to science and technology.-External links: ***...
- 2008-2009 - Hostile Makeover - 2009
- Cyberbully - 2011
Awards and honours
- 1989 Thelonious MonkThelonious MonkThelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
International Piano Competition - Performed in Washington, DC in semifinals - 1989 Thelonious MonkThelonious MonkThelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
International Piano Competition - Performed in Washington, DC in semifinals - 1991 2nd Place The Great American Jazz Piano Competition - Jacksonville Jazz FestivalJacksonville Jazz FestivalThe Jacksonville Jazz Festival is a weekend of Jazz that is the "second-largest jazz festival in the nation" according to Superpages and that, according to the Jacksonville Times-Union, has been dubbed by "experts" as "one of the 20 best in the nation." The event in Jacksonville, Florida, USA is...
- International Competition - 1992 ADISQADISQThe ADISQ is a nonprofit organization with the mission to help the music industry in Quebec. It was created in 1978....
nomination - Arranger of the Year - Children's Standards - 1992 Winner of the Montreal International Jazz Festival Competition (James Gelfand Trio)
- 1995 Juno AwardJuno AwardThe Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...
- Best Contemporary Jazz Album - The Merlin Factor - 1997 Juno nomination - Best Contemporary Jazz Album - Time Zones (James Gelfand Group)
- 1997 Keyboardist of the Year - Jazz Report Magazine Awards
- 1998 Keyboardist of the Year - Jazz Report Magazine Awards
- 1999 Keyboardist of the Year - Jazz Report Magazine Awards
- 2000 Keyboardist of the Year - Jazz Report Magazine Awards
- 2001 Jutra AwardJutra AwardThe Jutra Award is a Canadian annual cinema award that recognizes talent and achievement in the mainly francophone feature film industry in the province of Quebec...
- Best Original Score - Les Muses Orphelines - 2003 Gemini AwardGemini AwardThe Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.First awarded in 1986, the Geminis celebrate the achievements of TV members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Essentially, it presents awards for the best television productions in Canada. Awards are...
nomination - Best Dramatic Score - Silent Night - 2005 Jutra nomination - Best Music - Jack Paradise (Les nuits de Montréal)
- 2005 SOCAN Award - International Television Series Music Award
- 2006 SOCAN Award - International Television Series Music Award
- 2007 SOCAN Award - International Film Series Music Award
- 2008 Gemini Award nomination - Best Original Music Score for a Dramatic Program, Mini-Series or TV Movie - St. Urbain's Horseman
External links
- Discogs.com
- [ Allmusic.com]
- Performance listing