coming soon…
Music maestro Michael Bearden has worked with over five HUNDRED artists in his career including: Lady Gaga, D’Angelo, Madonna, Sting, Carlos Santana, Chaka Kahn, Lenny Kravitz, Shania Twain, Issac Hayes, Aaron Neville, Boz Scaggs, Cyndi Lauper, Queen, Stevie Wonder, Liza Minelli, Neil Young, Bonnie Raitt, Elton John, Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera, John Mayer, Bruno Mars, Britney Spears, Ricky Martin, Maroon 5, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles… Sheesh. Seriously folks, I don’t get it. That’s touching a lot of different genres of music on a high level consistently. Dude genre skips, hears music in the swoosh of a bus driving by or in the dance of the rain on a window pane (seriously); and he also sees colors when he hears musical notes. Yeah, ok. Tell me you’re a genius without telling me you’re a genius, I guess.
Born on the south side of Chicago, Michael was initially self-taught. Today, he’s Grammy nominated, has worked the Super Bowl, the Oscars, music directed for three U.S. Presidential Inaugurations and still somehow seems like he’s just getting started.
For two years, Michael and I searched for a project to work on together. That chance came in early 2022, when I signed on as Showrunner and Executive Producer of season 2 of Netflix documentary series “High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America”. We spent about eight months together in the trenches talking story as he gave himself to the many time periods of the series score. Michael not only composed all the music you hear in season2 (sans the main titles) but he plays EVERY INSTRUMENT too. Seriously. We talk about that!
He’s something of an enigma… with a story he’s ready to tell; and I can’t wait to share it with you. It’s coming soon.
Until then, here’s a raw clip from our conversation: