Gary Topper
Composer/Arranger/Woodwinds
A Memphis native, Gary Topper’s career as a woodwind player and arranger/composer includes performing on Grammy winning recordings by Al Green and Tony Bennet as well as Keith Richards’ solo album “Talk is Cheap” plus many others. In his two decades in NYC he played on major movie soundtracks, Broadway shows, record dates and live shows with legends like Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder and Michel Legrand.
Gary has composed scores for a dozen independent films and has written arrangements and source music for major film soundtracks.
FULL BIO
PERFORMER: SAXOPHONES, FLUTES, CLARINETS
LIVE PERFORMANCES
Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Patti LaBelle, Nancy Wilson, Michel Legrand, Bette Midler, Diane Carroll, Henry Mancini, Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis, Jr, Phineas Newborn, Jr., James Williams, Mulgrew Miller, Donald Brown, Bill Mays, Ulysses Owens, David Matthews, Mike Longo Big Band, Bill Mobley Big Band, Ed Palermo Big Band, Vince Giordono and the Night Hawks, Jerome Richardson, George Young, Jerry Dodgion, Lou Marini, Wayne Andre, Lou Soloff, Jim Pugh, Bob Cranshaw, Don Friedman, Richard Davis, Candido
New York Broadway Shows: Jelly’s Last Jam, Grease, Saturday Night Fever, The Wild Party, Phantom of the Opera and Hairspray
RECORDINGS
Talk Is Cheap, Keith Richards; Tony Bennett Sings Ellington: Hot and Cool, Tony Bennett; He Is The Light, Al Green; The Royal Sessions, Paul Rodgers; Nothing Is Impossible, Solomon Burke; Your Life Is A Record, Brandy Clark; Moonlighting, Gary Lemel; Live! One Night Only, Patti LaBelle; Floridays, Jimmy Buffet; Toots In Memphis, Toots Hibbert; A Better Tomorrow, Wu Tang Clan; For the Universe, Jerry Phillips, The Silver Fox, Charlie Rich; Voices In Standards, Lew Anderson Big Band, Happy Birthday Haiti, Kiskeya Orchestra; Soul Searching, Jim Lauderdale; Earthtones, Gary Topper
FEATURE FILM
You’ve Got Mail, The Spanish Prisoner, The Object Of My Affection, Analyze This, Picture Perfect, Meet Joe Black, It Could Happen To You, Joe’s Apartment, The Outfit, Life, Lucky Numbers, Song Sung Blue, Fight Night, The Million Dollar Heist
COMPOSER
FILM SCORES
Full Length Independent Features 1992-Present
Airboss, Francesca Paige, Cybervengeance, The Outfit, The Little Patriot, A Daughter’s Touch
FILM SOURCE MUSIC
It Could Happen To You, Tristar Pictures
TELEVISION AND RADIO COMMERCIALS
Hundreds of music library cuts, station ID’s and jingles for local and regional commercials in the US and Canada
AUDIO PROGRAMS
Composed and produced underscore music for over 50 exhibitions including venues such as Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum, The Rose Center of Earth and Space, Guggenheim Museum, National Gallery, Museum of Natural History, The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco
ORCHESTRATOR/ARRANGER
FEATURE FILMS
Picture Perfect, Twentieth Century Fox
Francesca Paige, Flora Films
Love Walked In, Sony Pictures
It Could Happen To You, Tri Star Pictures
RECORDINGS
Happy Birthday Haiti, Kiskeya Orchestra
How Great Thou Art, Ocean City Tabernacle Orchestra
In The Swing Of Christmas, Park Swing Orchestra
Spirit, Jewel
ORCHESTRAL POPS ARRANGEMENTS
National Symphony Orchestra, Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, Memphis Symphony Orchestra