Berman, Seymour

Violist who was part of The Astral Scene in 1968 for The Astral Projection and recorded with Tamiko Jones the same year on I’ll Be Anything for You. Around the same time, he was also working with Marlene Ver Planck on A Breath of Fresh Air and Astrud Gilberto on tracks that eventually appeared on Astrud for Lovers.

In 1972, he helped Bobby Hutcherson create Natural Illusions, switched to violin on Bobbi Humphrey’s Dig This, then back to viola on Marlena Shaw’s Marlena and Lou Donaldson’s Sophisticated Lou. The following year, he performed on Jan Akkerman’s album, Tabernakel. In 1974, he laid down tracks for Don Minasi’s LP, When Joanna Loved Me, and Janis Ian’s Stars. He reunited with Janis the following year on Between the Lines, joined Sister Sledge for Circle of Love, and was part of the string section on Joe Thomas’s Masada. The bicentennial year saw him help Charles Earland on Odyssey, erect The Great Pyramid and Joe Williams explore Feelin’s from Within. In 1978, he accepted Carol Douglas’s invitation to Come into My Life, was part of the strings of Horace Silver’s Silver ‘n Strings Play the Music of Spheres, and appeared on the soundtrack of The Wiz. He also appeared on Frank Sinatra’s 1979 boxed set, Trilogy. It was back to the movie studio in 1980 for the soundtrack of Fame.

The CD era affords us several opportunities to hear Seymour’s viola stylings on re-packagings such as Astrud Gilberto’s The Diva Series, Souvenirs: The Best of Janis Ian 1972-1981, Bobby Humphrey’s Blue Note Trip: Saturday Night/Sunday Morning, and Funky Foundations: Funky Grooves for Soulful People.

Frank Sinatra recordings
That’s What God Looks Like To Me (Stan Irvin/Lan O’Kun)
Reprise RPS 49233 (XNY2101S) (US 45)
Theme from “New York, New York” (Fred Ebb/John Kander)
Reprise RPS49233 (XNY 2103 S) (US 45)

He performs viola here on “Toreador Song” from Richard Hayman Conducts Pops Concert in Sound!…

Sources:

Berman, Seymour

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