Mentors: Babyface
I've mentioned in an earlier post that Kenny hired me for a number of his projects; including arranging horns & strings for his single "This Is For the Lover in You". It's no secret how prolific & talented he is. We've also had some near misses, however.
I've had the great pleasure of becoming friends with both John & Patrick Houlihan. We met through playing pickup basketball with our friends every Monday night for at least 5 years.
John has been a music supervisor at the highest level for a number of years & recently has become a senior vice president at Fox music. He hired me a few years back to produce music for the CBS series "Vegas". Patrick followed John's footsteps with a high position in film at Warner Bros.
Here's where the stories converge... one day Kenny came over to my studio on Sunset, & while we were talking he mentioned that he would like to possibly team up on a score with me that could feature his acoustic guitar playing.
"Raul wanted to have Kenny & I work on the score for a remake of "Little Orphan Annie"
I remember calling both John & Pat about it. Patrick invited Babyface & me over to the lot to discuss possibilities. As we talked, Pat & another exec asked how Face & I began working together.
I was ready to gush praise for Kenny, but he answered first & said, "Well I used to have Jeremy Lubbock do all of my orchestrations for my projects, but we argued sometimes & he charged way too much. Bill was less expensive & got the job done well, so I switched." Daming with faint praise huh…
"Kenny came over to my studio on Sunset, & while we were talking he mentioned that he would like to possibly team up on a score with me that could feature his acoustic guitar playing."
I've always been a bit of a class clown so I answered, "I appreciate that Kenny, & I want you to know that it will be reflected in my next billing". It got a good laugh, but nothing happened after the meeting.
Thanks to my wonderful friend & right arm Suzie Katayama, I was introduced to Raul Perez years before at Sony. He's one of the nicest people I know in this business. I was called shortly after our meeting with Patrick by Raul & he wanted to have Kenny & I work on the score for a remake of "Little Orphan Annie". This time however Face was touring & I couldn't catch up to him in time, so we lost that one also.
After he got back, he hired me to orchestrate 3 songs for Patti LaBelle's Classic Moments album. "Ain't No Way" (which also featured Mary J. Blidge) was one of the tracks I arranged & conducted.
Let's Groove
I'm Knockin
This is for the lover in you
Babyface, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has written and produced over 26 number-one R&B hits throughout his career and has won 12 Grammy Awards.
https://www.babyfacemusic.com/