by Paul Guzzone
Whenever I find a special new musician to work with I think of how lucky I am. Starting out in the 1970s, I was “the young rock guy” scrambling to pick up “society” gigs at the musicians’ union. Now, as a producer, composer, and music director, I’m the one scouting for talent: retro bands, Hawaiian log drummers, Japanese koto players, kilt-wearing didgeridoo players .… What could be more fun? Some of these connections last the span of one project. Others last a lifetime.
Jonathan Fox Powers is my latest find. This classically trained pianist, composer, and singer (who’s about half my age) is a giant talent with a mind-blowing skillset; a brilliant musical technician who can detect the most subtle vocal or sonic nuance.
We met while working on a new musical, Bliss Street, at Theater for the New City, he as Musical Director and I as Music Supervisor. In a business overstuffed with giant egos, Jon was low-key. Upbeat and easygoing, his main priority was the project. We hit it off immediately. I looked into my crystal ball and saw this young guy in my future.
I called on him for my next assignment, a large-cast Broadway-style event in New York City with several production numbers. While I produced tracks and worked with the creative director and choreographer, Jon arranged vocal parts and rehearsed the singers, unfazed by the hard deadline and short rehearsal window.
By now we were sharing the backstories of our personal projects: Jane the Quene, the operatic song cycle he wrote with his wife Paige Cutrona; The Mountains Are Burning, the musical I wrote with my wife Mary Ellen Bernard. Soon he was agreeing to help me prep for the next phase in the development of our piece.
Mountains was to have its first staged reading in October, 2023. Ten actor-singers would perform the script and the score to live accompaniment. I still had songs to write, songs to revise, sheet music to create, the accompaniment to arrange. This was all during my busy summer touring season with The Bacon Brothers – and right when my music recording and editing system decided to shuffle off its mortal coil.
Jon’s skill and composure saw me through. In between plastering and painting his new home in Wilmington, DE, he produced 132 pages of sheet music, transforming my audio demos into printed vocal and piano charts for 21 songs. As he extracted and perfected harmonies and captured the instrumental colors I had used in the recordings, he came to know the music more deeply than I did.
No wonder his transition from outside help to inner circle was so swift and seamless. He became archivist, music director, pianist, advisor, supporter, friend. With his mighty expertise and his big creative heart, he strove to bring out the best in the material, the cast, and us. You can bet that he’s on the team for life.
Learn more about Jane the Quene, a song cycle based on the writings of Lady Jane Grey, “The Nine Days Queen,” by Paige Cutrona and Jonathan Fox Powers.
Learn more about The Mountains Are Burning, a story of family, friendship, love, loyalty, and betrayal during a violent and momentous coal strike in 1902. Learn more about its first staged reading.
