Kenneth Ascher


Kenneth Lee Ascher is an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger who is active in jazz, rock, classical, and musical theater genres — in live venues, recording studios, and cinema production. With Paul Williams, he wrote the song "Rainbow Connection" for The Muppet Movie. Both Williams and Ascher received Oscar nominations for the 1979 Academy Awards for Best Original Song and Best Original Score. The song was also nominated for the Golden Globes for "Best Original Song" that same year.

His work

Ascher's work through the years has included keyboard parts and string arrangements on John Lennon's albums Mind Games, Walls and Bridges and Rock 'n' Roll and Yoko Ono's A Story, music for several songs from Barbra Streisand's remake of A Star Is Born, and arrangements for portions of Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf's masterpiece Bat Out of Hell. Ascher's own rendition of The Rainbow Connection was featured in the closing credits of The Break-Up. Ascher is the pianist with the Birdland Big Band, which performs Fridays from 5:15 to 7 at Birdland in New York City. The Birdland Big Band performs The Rainbow Connection, arranged by Lew Anderson.
In the latter 1960s, Ascher played piano and arranged for the Woody Herman Orchestra. Herman hired Ascher — on the advice of Frank Foster — to replace Nat Pierce, who had departed. Ascher has been a member of ASCAP since 1968.

Selected compositions

As leader
As arranger
As sideman or band member, on keyboards
Awards
Nominations
Ascher has composed jingles for:
  1. Applause
  2. Gotcha
  3. Larry
  4. Mr. Calm
  1. The Beer
  2. Combined
  1. Brilliant Idea/ GE Brings Good Things to Life
  2. Cooking
  1. Never Underestimate
  2. Canned Chef
  3. Hockey
  4. Makes Itself
  5. Red Dress
  6. Snowman
  7. Stay Young
  8. Storm Radio - Winter
  9. Superhero
  10. Superman
  11. Tennis Anyone?
  12. Wild Ride
  1. Herman Joseph - Polo, revised arr by Kenny Ascher
  2. Herman Joseph - Tennis, comp. & arr. by Kenny Ascher
  3. Sailboat music and arr. by Kenneth Ascher
  4. Billiards'', music and arr. by Kenneth Ascher
Many of Ascher's jingle compositions were produced by Sunday Productions, published by Ahoskie Music, Inc., and licensed by ASCAP.

Academic education

Ascher holds three diplomas from Columbia University:
While at Columbia, Ascher studied composition with Otto Luening, Jack Beeson, and Vladimir Ussachevsky and piano with William Albert Beller. Ascher graduated from William F. Dykes High School in Atlanta, as valedictorian, and entered Columbia College, Columbia University on a math scholarship. In 1966, while in college, the Kenny Ascher Quintet performed live in WKCR's Stone Soup at midnight.