KAREN DiCONCETTO (Mandy Brayne)

Ms. DiConcetto has spent the past few years in England as part of the pop duo Daphne and Celeste. Before "T'ville", she was in the The Little Genie Guild's first production, SWAK! (co-conceived by June Rachelson-Ospa and her elder son, Jacob).

JODY GRAY (Composer)

Homepage: www.costacomm.com

Jody Gray was destined for a life of music. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, his mother sang in the Yale Chorus and his father studied piano at the Boston Conservatory. His parents also owned a local restaurant, which was a gathering place for the Yale University and Schubert theatrical community. As a baby, Gray was exposed to legendary figures like Thornton Wilder and Art Carney - actually there are pictures of him sitting on their laps. Later on, several European steamship lines employed his father, affording him ample global traveling, and the blossoming musician received albums from all over the world including Europe, South America and North Africa.

By the age of eight, the boy had memorized the songs to The Wizard of Oz. "I distinctly remember being sucked in by the tunefulness of the music, the perfect sound of the words and the memorable orchestrations, and trying to plunk theme snippets out on the piano."

In his teenage years, Gray moved to the Republic of Ireland, where he attended high school. He remained in Europe through his early 20's, playing and touring with European bands, eventually recording his first album for Polydor, "Tax Free" - featuring Wally Tax, leader of the seminal Dutch punk group The Outsiders. Concurrently, the budding composer completed his first scoring job, "Stella Da Falla", an independent film for Swiss German TV. Upon his return to the States, Gray attended the Juilliard School while formally studying composition and theory with Michael Czaikowski and piano with Ruth Geiger.

He partnered as lyricist/songwriter for the David Chesky Band (co-founder of the well-known audiofile label, Chesky Records) featuring Tony-Award winning singer Lillias White,

In the late '80's and early '90s, Jody Gray was a musical director/songwriter for foreign artists at the San Remo Festival in Italy, adapting songs and writing lyrics for Ute Lemper, Bonnie Tyler, Ray Charles, Laura Branigan and Grace Jones, among others. He continued as a producer, songwriter and arranger for many major Asian artists including Shonen Knife, Mari Hamada, Loudness, Lee Seung Chul and EZO. Gray also produced World Beat Artist Women of the Calabash: The Kwaanza Album, considered the definitive album of music for the holiday.

Jody Gray entered the documentary world by producing, co-writing and arranging the score for HBO's controversial documentary feature, "Death By Hanging: A Family's Pledge of Allegiance", featuring pioneering Chant artist, Earthman. He followed this up serving as the musical director for "Welcome to Tourettaville" and also produced, co-wrote and orchestrated the title track recording with Dr. John and the Saturday Night Live Band.

That year, Gray was approached to initiate a songwriting program for the Gotham Writer's Workshop, a well-known workshop specifically for writers. Due to overwhelming response, he is continuing that curriculum.

The year 2001 afforded the musician two dream projects: creating new Carl Stalling-esque orchestral music for Cartoon Network's anthology series, The Chuck Jones Show, featuring the seminal work of the late Chuck Jones, and scoring 26 Looney Tunes shorts for the WB Online Animation division.

"Carl Stalling's breathtaking work absolutely defined music for animation and to be asked to step into those shoes was humbling." As composer, orchestrator and conductor for "The Chuck Jones Show," Gray incorporated various members of both the New York Philharmonic and the New York City Opera as well as a yodeler, banjo and accordion players, analog synths and techo-flavored loops.

The current year promises continued success for Jody Gray. He is scoring his fourth season of Courage the Cowardly Dog for the Cartoon Network, having scored the series with co-writer Andy Ezrin since it's debut in 1999 and has just signed on with Warner Brothers to score 18 more Looney Tunes. In addition, his original cues will continue to be used throughout the upcoming third season of Warner Brothers' Gotham Girls. Gray is also currently scoring and writing songs for Scholastic Entertainment's animated musical Stellaluna, new animated shorts for Sesame Street's popular Noodles and Nedd and a pilot for new, proposed Cartoon Network series. This spring, Gray's talents will be displayed with the Sony worldwide release of Good Love Gone Bad, a duet he co-wrote with Italian superstar Toto Cutogno. Ray Charles and Gloria Gaynor recorded the single.

Jody Gray does not differentiate work from play; he loves what he does. From working with artists from the New York Philharmonic to Ray Charles and on projects ranging from controversial documentaries to animated children's series, Jody Gray has covered the full spectrum of musical performance. This is not difficult, however, for someone with such an eclectic musical background. Working constantly, Gray is never overwhelmed by it. With all his success and projects, Gray still maintains a positive attitude. When interviewed recently at his New York residence regarding his long-term goals, Jody Gray replied, "I just want to be the best musician possible, and still sleep occasionally."

JODY GRAY INTERVIEWS, PHOTOS, CD's AVAILABLE
8265 Sunset Blvd., Suite 101, LA, CA 90046
Tel: (323) 650-3588 Fx: (323) 654-5207
E-mail: rcosta@costacomm.com