Musical artist
Randy Waldman (born September 8, 1955, Chicago, Illinois, United States)[1] is an American pianist, arranger, composer, and conductor. He has frequently collaborated with Barbra Streisand, serving as her pianist and conductor since 1984. Waldman has worked with notable artists including Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Beyoncé, Ray Charles, and Stevie Wonder. His 2018 album Superheroes garnered the award for Best Arrangement at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards.
Waldman is also an aviation pilot and instructor, holding a 2003 flight speed record in a Bell OH-58 helicopter.[2]
Early life
Waldman was born in Chicago, Illinois on September 8, 1955.[1] Waldman began playing piano at age five at which time he was considered a child prodigy.[3] He was hired to demonstrate pianos at a local piano store at age 12. While in high school, he performed with the Northwestern University Jazz band.[4]
Career
At the age of 21, Waldman was hired to go on tour as the pianist for Frank Sinatra.[4][5] He was then hired by The Lettermen to go on tour from Chicago to Los Angeles. After the tour, Waldman relocated to Los Angeles and, within a year, he toured with Minnie Riperton, Lou Rawls, Paul Anka, and George Benson, the last of whom kept Waldman around as his pianist, musical director, and arranger for the following seven years.[4][6][7]
Eventually, Waldman began a session career in Los Angeles that would go on to span 40 years. He has performed on hundreds of albums, motion picture soundtracks, television shows, and jingles.[4] In the 1980s, Waldman worked on soundtracks such as Ghostbusters, Romancing the Stone, Back to the Future, Nuts, Beetlejuice, Salsa, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Abyss, and Weekend at Bernie's.[8][9][10][11]
Waldman was nominated for a Grammy for Best Vocal Arrangement for "Code of Ethics" from The Manhattan Transfer 1983 album Bodies and Souls.[12][13] Two years later, Waldman's co-arrangement of the West Side Story song "Somewhere", recorded by Barbra Streisand for The Broadway Album, won a Grammy.[4][14] Waldman has contributed to many Streisand albums, films, and live concerts.[10][15]
In the 1990s, Waldman worked on the soundtracks for numerous films including Forrest Gump, The Bodyguard, Mission: Impossible, and Titanic.[8][9][10] He also worked with numerous artists over the course of his career including Barbra Streisand, Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, Patti LaBelle, Celine Dion, Beyoncé, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Olivia Newton-John, Barry Manilow, Ray Charles, The Stylistics, Michael Bublé, Quincy Jones, Johnny Mathis, Stevie Wonder, Andrea Bocelli,[4][9][16][17][18] John Travolta,[19] Kenny G,[17] Katey Sagal, and others.[20]
Waldman released Wigged Out, his first solo album, on his own WhirlyBird Records in 1998. Featuring bassist John Pattitucci and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, the album consisted of a collection of classical songs reworked with jazz arrangements.[21] His second album, UnReel, was released in 2001 and featured a variety of soundtrack and theme music from many different films and television shows.[3] He worked on the soundtrack for Ice Age in 2002 before releasing Timing is Everything in 2003.[4][14]
Waldman appeared on the 2017 Seal album Standards, featuring the songs of Frank Sinatra.[22] He was also Barbra Streisand's pianist, music director, and conductor for her Barbra: The Music, The Mem'ries, The Magic tour. A filmed version of one of the shows was released on Netflix in November 2017.[23] In September 2018, he released the studio album, Superheroes, with Vinnie Colaiuta on drums and Carlitos Del Puerto on bass. The album also featured guest appearances from artists like Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis, George Benson, Take 6, Chris Potter, and several others.[24] Waldman's arrangement of the album's "Spiderman Theme" would go on to win the Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals at the 61st Grammy Awards in 2019. His arrangement of the "Batman Theme" was also nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella.[25]
