Bio
Jeff was born in Brooklyn, NY and grew up in Roslyn, Long Island where he pursued his interests in tennis, baseball and music.
Jeff was originally a classical cellist and pianist studying music at Boston University and SUNY, Stony Brook. After graduation – he performed all over the world accompanying artists including: Burt Bacharach, Diana Ross, Gladys Knight, Sammy Davis Jr, Barry Manilow, Bob Hope, Barbra Streisand, etc. .
He became a member of the orchestra at Westbury Music Fair and then moved to Broadway where he became an original member of the Broadway production of "Cats" - performing for all 18 years.
Jeff wrote his first TV song for Ray Charles for the ABC sit-com “Who’s the Boss”. The song – “Always a Friend” won numerous awards and became a wedding song standard.
In 1983, Jeff met legendary kid’s composer Joe Raposo (Sesame St.). They became friends and Jeff joined Joe’s company MPI as a staff writer. After Joe’s untimely passing, Jeff took over writing for the TV series “Madeline” and thus began his kid’s music career.
His songs for “Madeline” won major awards and he was hired by Cinar Films in Montreal as music director and composer. He supervised and has written the music for over 50 TV series including : “Arthur (4 Emmy Awards), Caillou, Richard Scarry, Paddington Bear, Lassie, Are you Afraid of the Dark, Wombles” and many other kids’ classics.
As Jeff’s reputation grew, he began working with other top children’s networks and producers including: PBS, Nickelodeon, Jim Henson and Disney – composing the music for many hit series
Jeff has produced projects for: The Backstreet Boys, Wyclef Jean, Ziggy Marley, Art Garfunkel, Julian Lennon, Yo Yo Ma and others.
He has gone on to compose and supervise music for: Disney (“The Shanna Show, Zefronk, Safety Patrol, etc.”); Jim Henson (“Frances”); Nickelodeon and other networks. He was recently music supervisor for the Skechers/Universal animated film “TwinkleToes”.
He has produced 21 albums for Sony, Rounder, Warner Brothers, etc. . . And he has supervised the music for many feature films, including Lionsgate (“Arthur”) and Warner (“Frankenstein Sings”).
A few years ago, Jeff turned to producing TV and Film content. He developed and produced the CGI animated feature film “Spookley the Square Pumpkin” for Lionsgate which has been released in over 30 countries and plays annually on the Disney Channel.
He currently is music supervisor for NBC/Universal’s new series “Norman Picklestripes” and just produced a feature TV movie for the Disney Channel - "Spookley and the Christmas Kittens" - which was a huge success reaching 14.5 million views.
In addition to being nominated for an Emmy Award, Jeff has been nominated for a Grammy, Parent’s Choice, Humanitarian and Ace Awards. He won Canada’s prestigious Gemmeau Award for his music for the TV series “Caillou”.
As a musician, Jeff was an original member of the Broadway show “Cats” and he has performed with Burt Bacharach, Frank Sinatra, Diana Ross, Gladys Knight, Tina Turner, Sammy Davis Jr, Johnny Mathis, Michel Legrand, Henry Mancini, Earth, Wind and Fire, Dionne Warwick, Barbra Streisand and many other artists.
Jeff received his MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business and his MA from SUNY, Stony Brook.
