The phenomenon of composers as-producers has always been part of the music industry. But never before have producer/composers been as dominant in shaping the direction and content of the music as they are today. The gifts a successful composer must have include accessibility, originality, and relevance. A producer must have some of all of these plus a musical vision strong enough to serve as both context and driving force. In a way it's analogous to the situation long extent in the film industry, where most movies traditionally belong more to the director than to the actors. Now, more and more recordings belong to the producer rather than the artist.

Sergio George grew up in the housing projects in east Harlem, graduated from CCNY (City College of New York), taught himself to play keyboards, and studied with jazz great Jackie Bayard as well as John Lewis, one of the founders of The Modern Jazz Quartet. He has also played a large role in shaping the evolution of popular Latin music over the past 20 years and is now one of the most sought after and respected writer/arranger/producers in the industry. Those are the facts but there's a lot more to the story.

When Martin Cohen interviewed Sergio he had an inside track since they have known each other since 1978. That was when the 17 year old virtuoso keyboard player was starting out with Cojunto Caché. Though he is mainly known for his work in the Latin genre his musical vision and heritage draw equally from the Soul music he grew up with.

"I would love combining both forever. My sound I would consider a Latin/American sound. It comes from Cuba, a little bit of South America, and the streets of New York, basically the American influence, but more of the Black music influence."

This synthesis of influences has strongly flavored Latin music as exemplified by groups like Tito Nieves and La India. But trying to tie what Sergio brings to the table into a neat little bundle can be misleading..

"It's hard to define exactly what it is I like to bring along with me. It's a combination of what I hear happening today in the American music market and what has happened in the past, combined with the roots of the music. I'm really not out to change anything, because most has been done already. I just want to put my little stamp or my interpretation of what the music should sound like. That's all I really try to do. The percussive element, the guitar element, the American music keyboard element, drum patternsóthe natural fusion of what I'm about. It's not really trying to take a bite off anyone else's thing. It's a true statement of where I'm from and where I'd like to go."

And just how does this process work, Martin asked, what produces the signature sound that identifies Sergio George with a piece of music?

"Being true to the song and to the artist and to the music. Because really, you never know what's going to hit, what people will like. I think about doing the right thing (for the song).

The hooks, the background vocal parts, the vocal background arrangements. Combine that with the musical hooks, the percussion arrangements, the bass lines-it's a combination of great players and me just directing, and we feed off each other. So I would say it's a combination of both: having great players who can interpret what you do. Sometimes they take it to the next level. Sometimes I'll have an idea and they'll say, What about adding this to your idea. And it will sound even better that what I suggested. Combine that with the musical hooks I grew up with, it's just second nature. After a while you're not purposely trying to come up with a hook, it's in you, it's ingrained in you.

The hook is the part of a song that grabs people. That has you singing along to it or humming it. Whether it's a lyric or a horn part or a keyboard part, whatever it might be. A background vocalist saying something, something that grabs your attention and keeps you repeating it. An hour after you listen to a song and you're still singing along with that particular phrase, that's the hook. Anything that makes you remember it."
"Most of the time when I'm writing a song I'll sit at the piano, start with some chords and sing a melody that I like. And according to that melody I'll put lyrics to it-which will probably just be the hook of the song-then you start writing lyrics around the melody and around the hook. The lyric is usually secondary. What comes into your mind first is some melodic idea and you just put lyrics to that idea and just start shaping it till it sounds catchy."

Given this background it was natural that Martin should ask Sergio, How does he relate to Hip Hop and the way it's reshaping pop music?

"I see myself incorporating a lot of the elements of Hip Hop into Latin music. I don't really want to go into the Hip Hop world or become a Hip Hop producer or anything. Now if I do some Latin music that manages to penetrate the Hip Hop community, fine. But I don't purposely go out and do something that I just don't completely feel. I enjoy the music, I listen to it, but I'm not a connoisseur of it, I don't do it everyday for a living. I just really want to stick to the Latin market, which is what I've been doing for a little over 20 years, and if anything, incorporating all those other elements into what I do."

From the very first he had his musical acumen together but was naïve concerning business and the art of the deal. An example of how this played out was what happened with the tune "I'll Always Love You" which  he did for Tito Nievez. It was a hit, one of those enduring classics that will always be in vogue, but the big sales numbers but did not translate into dollars for Sergio.

"I didn't have a good deal at that time. It's a great example of me going into the studio not caring about business, not knowing about business. I just wanted to make music, to make records. And I learned the hard way. You can't learn because someone tells yo, you have to live it and go through it."

It's a very different story now. Once he learned the ropes, royalties and rewards rose to the level you'd expect with someone of his abilities. But success has it's own pitfalls as well. Anyone as prominent as Sergio becomes a prime target for artists or songwriters trying to make their mark. Everyone's got a song they know he'll like and want to produce. But as much as he legitimately wishes to encourage new talent, unsolicited material is about as welcome as a disease. Not only is it not possible to listen to the hundreds sometimes thousands of songs people send, but when most of them turn out to be unusable you get leery. You learn to stick with people you know--other players, performers, producers--to funnel new music and artists in your direction."

"If it's someone I trust, that I believe in their taste, their ear so to speak, yeah, I'd give it a listen. There's also a fear of someone you don't know sending you a song and all of a sudden, they say, 2 years later, You took my idea, I'm going to sue you. So it's another reason not to accept unsolicited material, to avoid potential litigation down the road."

The business side has also come to claim more and more of Sergio's time.

"There are so many people who want Latin music, especially in the American market, you find yourself meeting with attorneys and executives from record companies, you have a project in mind you're trying to pitch to them or they have a project they want to pitch to you. So you find yourself talking on the phone or in so many meetings as opposed to actually making music. Making music is probably secondary but it's easy, it's probably the easiest thing to do, just sit there and come up with the music. The hardest part is conceptualizing the entire process."

>He now has agreements with the major labels, primarily Sony and Warners, to produce artists under contract to those labels. Determining which artists to work with is primarily up to Sergio.

"Whatever artists they have that I like or that they think can match my music, I'm interested in working with, because aside from the money, if you don't get along with an artist, or if they don't share your vision, it doesn't make any sense. You can get paid from anybodyóyou just have to make sure it's the right thing.
If you have the right music, the right producers, the right songwriters, and the right attitude, anything is possible."

Since he has been and continues to be a major force in shaping the evolution of Latin music, Martin asked him his thoughts on the future.

"Most of the problem in the past was accessibility. You had people, regardless of the language, who were into the music, they loved the music. A good example of that is Buena Vista Social Club, which is basically old Cuban songs marketed correctly-it's a great marketing job-and it's selling all over the world. But it's a record of old Cuban songs and it's in Spanish, and it's being consumed by an American non-Hispanic audience. So I think the accessibility and marketing of the music is what was needed all along. People can walk into Tower Records or any other major chain and see on the first floor a great Latin artist that they've heard of, or they see a commercial on any major network, it's just accessibility. Where before it was an underground thing in the barrio so to speak. Now, it's out there where people can find it. Santana, for example did Oyo Como Va from Tito Puente and had a huge hit what, 25 or 30 years ago. When Tito Puente had done it I guess nobody even knew about it, it was on this little label. Same song, same arrangement basically. Santana just put his guitar solo and a drummer behind it and Bam, Columbia records getting muscle behind it-it was accessibility."

And how does he see this greater accessibility changing things?

"Case in point is LP percussion instruments. Where you have rock musicians using them, Latin guys, African musicians--it's a brand name that's accessible. I think at the end of the day people just want something that's good. They want something that's quality, something that's accessible, and that's what they're going to buy."

All quotes taken from an interview conducted in December of 1999 by Martin Cohen for MPR.

Story by Jim McSweeney.