BERKEY "STEAMROLLS" STUDENTS WITH CD CREATED ON A CLAVINOVA CLP990

BUENA PARK, CA (April 11, 2003)—Jackson Berkey is perhaps best known as keyboardist for the electronic chart-topper Mannheim Steamroller, but his impressive career as both solo artist and ASCAP award-winning composer is apparent in a diverse catalog of recorded works and piano study materials, including two recent CDs from SDG Records.

Jackson Berkey (front row at right) with fans and piano students Mannheim Steamroller concert in Denver.

His third sampler CD, Piano Music of Jackson Berkey, contains 15 of his popular compositions. He used his Yamaha CLP990 digital piano, purchased at Keyboard Kastle in Omaha, to produce it, drawing on the Clavinova as both an input device (with Digital Performer DP3 software) and for concert grand piano sounds.

The CD is packaged with Berkey's piano scores, and features such favorites as Jackson Cove Moonrise and Time Twisters, making it a valuable resource for piano students and Clavinova dealers alike. For example, Phil Erklen of Good News Piano and Organ in Colorado Springs says he makes use of the CD by cueing it up on CLP floor models to attract customers to the line's versatility.

"What really sold me on the CLP990," says Berkey, "was the range of touch response pedal settings, especially the half pedal point. My CLP760 had a seven-stage pedal release, which, instead of simply on and off, was monumental at the time; the stages of nuance are even greater in the CLP990 and the half pedal point is adjustable. It's really easy to switch from grand piano to Clavinova, because there are few changes needed to translate foot action from the acoustic grand to the digital piano. I also like its many onboard voices and 16 channels because it's easy to separate voices and sequence on it."

"The main reason I chose the CLP990 was for its piano sounds," says Berkey. "I used the CLP990 extensively on Norman Luboff Remembered, my newest CD, to post-produce rhythm section and sweetening on all 18 tracks. Norman often wrote in a style similar to George Shearing's, and I used vibes sounds on the CLP990 to get the sound of Shearing's Quintet."

When Mannheim Steamroller, the GRAMMY®-winning, triple-platinum group performed in Denver recently, concert tickets were a hot item, but Berkey arranged free tickets for 20 lucky piano students studying his pedagogical materials. In 2000, many had participated in Interpretation of a Living Composer, which premiered Berkey's Cape May Preludes, sponsored by the International Music Syndicate (IMS). They got reacquainted backstage during an autograph and photo session. "After studying his compositions, the students were thrilled to see him perform on stage," says Erklen, IMS president. "It was an evening none of us will ever forget."

For more information about Yamaha pianos, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Piano Division, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622-6600; email infostation@yamaha.com; visit www.yamaha.com or telephone (714) 522-9011.