JSM, New York, has added three new staffers: composers Mike Pandolfo and Doug Katsaros; and producer/composer Joel Kipnis (a.k.a. JK).
Pandolfo joined the company in May, coming over from the New York office of Amber Music, which also maintains a London operation. Over the course of his four-year stay at Amber, Pandolfo composed the music for Procter & Gamble’s/Vicks VapoRub’s "Spoon" via D’Arcy, New York, and Xerox Inkjet Printers’ "Museum" and "Rural," both through Young & Rubicam (Y&R), New York, among other ads. Prior to that, Pandolfo was a composer at the New York office of bicoastal tomandandy. He graduated from the State University of New York, Buffalo, with a BA in Music Performance in 1992. Pandolfo is also a member of the electronic and groove-influenced group dropexplode.
Regarding his decision to leave Amber, Pandolfo said, "I thought that it was time for a change." In late March, word that Pandolfo was looking for a new roost reached JSM’s president/executive producer, Joel Simon, who then called Pandolfo. Said Pandolfo, "I talked to Joel, and he has such great ideas and vision for the company. There’s so much going on here all the time—records and remixes and ads. It was a great opportunity to work with all these talented people, and I just felt like I really belonged here."
Pandolfo composes in a variety of styles, but "I do a lot of groove and lounge stuff." He continued, "I compose anything from drum and bass to techno, and sometimes I’ll do music that’s a lot slower, with classical guitar and strings." According to Simon, "Mike’s work is not in any one style. It is groove based, it’s ambient, and there’s some orchestration. With Mike, it’s about textures: It’s unique work and that’s what we were looking for."
Katsaros was conducting the Broadway musical Footloose when he received a call from JSM executive producer Cynthia Stahl several months ago. Recalled Katsaros, "I’ve known Cynthia for twenty years. … Although working in the theater is lots of fun, I wanted to get back into the [music composition and production] business. Cynthia asked me if I would like to join JSM." Katsaros agreed, and since coming aboard, he has composed the music for Diet Dr Pepper’s "Hudson Riverdance" via Y&R, New York, and, in association with producer Susan Hamilton of Malibu, Calif., he composed the corporate logo package for the cable network PAX. Katsaros is currently working on an as-yet untitled Moviefone spot via Mad Dogs & Englishmen, New York.
Katsaros has extensive experience in the musical theater—he’s done everything from star in the mid-70s revival of Hair to orchestrate the current production of The Rocky Horror Show. Katsaros composed the music for the opera Moby Dick and has collaborated with composer Cy Coleman on the musicals Exactly Like You and The Life. He started his commercial career as a freelance orchestrator at various New York music houses in ’77, and after a three-year spell running his shop It’s the Score, Katsaros joined the now closed HEA Productions in ’83. After a 10 year run there, Katsaros took a break from commercials to sing, play and arrange music for artists ranging from Frank Sinatra (on his Duets) to Sinead O’Connor on her album Am I Not Your Girl. With Georg Wadenius, Katsaros released the fusion/ adult contemporary CD Left Turn From the Right Lane this year.
Said Simon, "Doug is as comfortable in front of a 100-person orchestra as he is in front of his own gear. His ability to orchestrate and write, his talents with melody and his understanding of the business is apparent not only in his own work but in the work of the people he has influenced."
Kipnis was raised in Paris and New York and received his B.A. in music performance from the University of Miami, Fla., in ’86. After graduating, Kipnis became a session guitar player in New York, and, as he recalled, "That gave me an intro into the studio world, and a lot of people discovered that I wrote [music]." Within a few years, he had started working with artists such as Champagne and Freddie Jackson, writing and producing the latter’s ’91 single "All Over You." Kipnis signed with Warner Bros. as a writer/producer in ’94, and in ’98 he inked a deal with Polygram/ Verve and then released the jazz album What’s the Word. In ’99 Kipnis began working with musician Herbie Hancock, serving as co-producer/guitarist on Herbie Hancock and the Return of the Headhunters. The relationship continued in ’00 when Kipnis’ collaboration with Mark Whitfield, Soul Conversation, was released on Hancock’s Transparent Music label. Kipnis’ most recent producing credit is Syleena Johnson’s "You Got Me Spinnin’" from her just-released CD Chapter 1: Love Pain and Forgiveness. In affiliation with JSM, JK is currently co-producing/ writing an album for John Forte, who released Poly Sci in ’98.
Kipnis met Simon in late ’00, when JSM director of production Stu Kuby introduced them. Simon explained, "JK and Stu had worked together for quite a few years. Stu recommended that I give JK’s work a listen, so we set up a meeting." Kipnis started working with JSM on a freelance basis almost immediately, and he joined the company a few months later. Recently, Kipnis worked on Kodak’s "Sushi" via Ogilvy & Mather, New York.
Kipnis said that because of his background in non-spot production, "I bring a different musical approach to commercials. It’s also very productive for me to be in a place where I’m surrounded by all sorts of people who have unique talents. Joel is bringing out people’s strengths a in a way that really fosters creativity." Simon observed that in building the expanded JSM roster, "The idea was to put together a team of people that was not redundant [in terms of skills] and that benefits not only our own personal projects, but also provides solutions for our clients."
JSM’s other composers are Billy and Bobby Alessi, David Flemming, Jimmy Harned, Jay Lifton, Greg Mangiafico, Jim Nicholson, Ronald Pectoral and Jon Sneider. Executive producers Stahl and Victoria Villalobos, based in New York, handle sales internationally and for all parts of the country except the Southern U.S., which is covered by Dallas-based Alyson Griffith.
