Phil Ramone talks about the highlights and challenges of producing Berklee's 60th anniversary concert.

By Jim Sullivan
Berklee.edu correspondent
October 31, 2007

Phil Ramone talks about producing Berklee's 60th anniversary concert.
Photo by Phil Farnsworth

Phil Ramone's résumé is one of the most impressive in the music business. He has earned a remarkable 13 Grammy Awards for 31 nominations. He's worked with the likes of Bob Dylan, Elton John, Madonna, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, and Barbra Streisand, producing and engineering for all sorts of A-list stars. Add to that production credits for numerous concerts, as well as music credits for Broadway, film, and television.

But Ramone, bearded and clad in black, was not at Berklee College of Music to boast about his place in music history or name-drop. A member of Berklee's board of trustees and an honorary doctorate recipient, the producer, engineer, and composer was at the David Friend Recital Hall primarily to discuss how he and others put together Berklee's magnificent 60th anniversary concert in January 2006.

Trained as a classical violinist at Juilliard, Ramone said he didn't pursue becoming a professional musician because he felt he could not be the very best. What caught his fancy was the world on the other side of the glass.

Over the past 40-plus years, Ramone has become one of the most prolific and respected producers in the field. The producer's role is not to be egotistical or dictatorial, but to serve the artist and the music, he said, pointing out that he has always reminded himself that his own name is on the back cover. "And that's fine," he said. "I chose to be there."

"You win your medals when you produce something that they had in mind," he said. "You have to play the Quincy Jones role: Leave your ego at the door."

Ramone took his own advice to heart when it came to producing the Berklee anniversary event. In this case, the "artist" was an institution—Berklee. Ramone and his team had to accomplish a number of things, all while shuffling a multitude of musicians on and off stage and getting the sound right. Ramone had ideas, of course, but said, "I didn't want to be a dumb television or record producer. This is their school. I gave suggestions, but I didn't interfere."

Ramone said that in putting the show together—with its 20-minute opening overture spanning a 60-year period and featuring a 63-piece orchestra—they needed balance. They had to tell the Berklee story so it would fit into the time frame and "sell hard tickets."

"When you're producing an event," said Ramone, "it's all about the dream. Can you fulfill the dream? How are we going to sell out a 4,000-seater? I wanted it to be diverse and be a hell of an evening."

Through it all, though, Ramone was not stressed out, noted his long-time engineer Elliot Scheiner, who joined him for the talk.

"Organization is the key; being calm is important," Ramone said.

The anniversary concert mixed Berklee students, faculty members, and recording stars. In booking the lineup, Ramone said they had to find the "generous performers."

Host Bill Cosby's interest in music and comedy skills were integral in holding such a complex show together, Ramone said. Gloria Estafan, Herbie Hancock, and Paul Simon were the big-name stars. Of course, you have to be prepared to deal with glitches. It turned out that Simon got sick, flew in late, and had to fly back to the Westchester airport immediately after his set-closing performance.

Then there were other logistics to deal with, such as how to mic and engineer the overture. While playing video clips from the overture, Ramone and Scheiner explained how they ultimately opted to leave the 100-plus mics on at all times instead of running the risk of forgetting to turn one on at a key time.

At an event of this caliber, "levels go up, intonation goes up, everybody understands there's an excitement," Ramone said. Indeed, he said pianist Michel Camilo played so hard, he left blood on the keys.

As to any mistakes—which they'll try to fix for a subsequent Berklee DVD—Ramone said, "We'll clean up by stealing from the rehearsals. There are stories where run-throughs have saved our lives."

Since the Berklee event, Ramone has been going full steam ahead. Later in 2006, he produced the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year concert honoring Ricky Martin in New York. This year, he produced We Love Ella! A Tribute to the First Lady of Song in Los Angeles and was the audio producer for Elton John's 60th birthday concert at Madison Square Garden. This fall, he's producing a concert in New York in conjunction with the release of the film August Rush. On the horizon is a stadium concert in Liverpool, England next spring. True to form, Ramone is showing no signs of slowing down.

Phil Ramone signs copies of his new book Making Records: The Scenes Behind the Music. Photo by Phil Farnsworth

Jim Sullivan is a Boston-based freelance writer.