Greg Phillinganes, legendary keyboardist, music technologist and producer, has just been announced as a 2021 Jemison Visiting Professor of Music for the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
The series of virtual presentations with Phillinganes will be presented by the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Music.
Phillinganes is considered throughout the music industry among the most important musicians of the recording era, says University Professor of Music Henry Panion III, Ph.D. The first event will be an online meet-and-greet with Phillinganes presented by the UAB Department of Music with DJ Strick and Strick City Live, 5 p.m. CST Thursday, Feb. 25. Tune in to the live stream via the UAB Department of Music on Facebook, or Strick City on Facebook, YouTube or Twitter.
On Monday, March 8, Phillinganes will lead a discussion with students on recording technology in the studio.
At 5 p.m. Thursday, April 1, Phillinganes will speak in “A Life as Michael Jackson’s Music Director: The Bad Tour, The History Tour, The Dangerous Tour.” The lecture is open to the public and can be accessed through the UAB Department of Music Facebook page. Phillinganes will talk with UAB music majors at convocation March 17.
Music students in the department’s top combo who have composed jazz arrangements this semester will participate in a recording session with the legendary keyboardist on Monday, April 19, in the UAB Recording Studio. Phillinganes will serve as producer and record on the top selected arrangements. The session will happen virtually from the UAB studio, music technology lab and editing bay with Phillinganes in Los Angeles.
Phillinganes has worked with superstar artists like Barbra Streisand, Rod Stewart, Mick Jagger, Mariah Carey, Leonard Cohen, Stevie Nicks, Willie Nelson, Aretha Franklin, Eric Clapton, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie and George Benson. Panion says every classic sound we hear on Michael Jackson records was played and programmed by Phillinganes, from “Off the Wall” to “Thriller,” “Bad” and “Dangerous.” Phillinganes served as music director on every one of Jackson’s massive tours — and that is just the start of his significance.
“I am thrilled that our students will have an opportunity to glean from an individual who, without exaggeration, is considered among the most important keyboardists of the modern era,” Panion said. “Greg has toured, recorded, produced and arranged for virtually everyone that matters in the music industry. As a music technologist, he worked with many of the leading companies in their designing of the music hardware and software used throughout the industry. Having Greg Phillinganes accept a Jemison Visiting Professorship gives testament to both the importance of this endowed professorship and the significance of the UAB Music Technology Program.”
Phillinganes has also worked with artists including David Gilmour, Laura Branigan, Donna Summer, Sheryl Crow, Deniece Williams, Dionne Warwick, Richard Marx, Toni Braxton, Paul Simon, Michael Bublé, Bill Withers, Michael McDonald, Elvis Costello, Anita Baker, Faith Evans, Paul Young, Natalie Cole, Chaka Khan, Al Jarreau, Patti Austin, Bryan Ferry, Boz Scaggs, James Taylor, Diane Schuur, Patti LaBelle, Neil Diamond, The Pointer Sisters, Earth, Wind and Fire, Rickie Lee Jones, Bruno Mars, and many more.