Up for auction a RARE! "The Muppet Movie" Kenneth Ascher AMQS "Rainbow Connection

ES-2855C

Kenneth

Lee Ascher (born October 26,

1944 in Washington, D.C.) is an

American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger who is active in jazz, rock,

classical, and musical theater genres — in live venues, recording studios, and

cinema production. With Paul Williams, he wrote

the song "Rainbow Connection"

for The Muppet Movie. Both

Williams and Ascher received Oscar nominations for the 1979 Academy Awards for Best

Original Song ("Rainbow Connection") and Best

Original Score (The Muppet Movie Soundtrack). The song was also

nominated for the Golden Globes for

"Best

Original Song" that same year. Ascher's work through the years

has included keyboard parts and string arrangements on John Lennon's albums Mind Games, Walls and Bridges and Rock 'n' Roll and Yoko Ono's A Story, music for several songs from Barbra Streisand's remake of A Star Is Born (where

he also served as music coordinator), and arrangements for portions of Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf's masterpiece Bat Out of Hell (produced by Todd Rundgren). Ascher's own rendition of The Rainbow Connection was

featured in the closing credits of The Break-Up (starring Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston). Ascher is the pianist with the Birdland Big Band, which performs Fridays from 5:15 to 7

at Birdland in New York

City. The Birdland Big Band performs The Rainbow Connection,

arranged by Lew Anderson. In the

latter 1960s, Ascher played piano and arranged for the Woody Herman Orchestra.

Herman hired Ascher — on the advice of Frank Foster — to

replace Nat Pierce, who had

departed. Ascher has been a member of ASCAP since

1968.