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(Redirected from Sean D. Altman)
'Sean Altman' (born May 9,1961) is a founder and former lead singer of the singing group Rockapella and a pioneer of the modern a cappella movement. He was a member of Rockapella from its inception in 1986 until he left the group in 1997 to pursue a solo career. He may be best known for Rockapella's role in the popular children's geography gameshow, ''Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?'' Altman (along with longtime friend David Yazbek) wrote the show's now-classic theme song and is remembered in particular for his trademark blond braids, which were ceremoniously removed in the final episode. As a solo artist, Altman has released three solo albums and albums with his other groups The GrooveBarbers and What I Like About Jew. In 2006 he founded the comedy song act JEWMONGOUS.
Altman grew up in the Bronx, New York, in Riverdale. His musical talent was recognized early on, as he starred in many school musicals and claims to have charmed female classmates with "hallway serenades." At age seventeen, Altman turned pro, performing on the NYC nightclub circuit with David Yazbek as ''Moon Pudding'', a Simon and Garfunkel-styled teen duo. At Brown University, Altman majored in political science, but focused most of his energy on his singing, performing in both the ''High Jinks,'' a college a cappella octet, and ''Blind Dates'', a rock group that released two national college radio hits. Altman continued with ''Blind Dates'' after graduating from Brown in 1984, moving from Providence to NYC in search of a record deal. The group dissolved in 1987, just as Rockapella's career began.
Main articles: Rockapella
After graduating from Brown together, Altman and fellow ''High Jinks'' member Elliot Kerman joined classmates Steve Keyes and David Stix to form a new a cappella group called Rockapella. Rockapella began its career humbly, performing on street corners in NYC while Altman still focused primarily on his ''Blind Dates'' work. The group's repertoire consisted of a mix of barbershop arrangements and a cappella renditions of classic doo wop pieces. As the group grew in experience, they began to focus less on oldies and barbershop, and more on contemporary rock music.
Rockapella eventually gained enough publicity and support that the group was invited to perform on the morning talk show ''Live with Regis and Kathie Lee''. Following this performance, and the production of their hit demo ''Zombie Jamboree'' in 1989, Rockapella was invited by Spike Lee & Company to perform on the TV special ''Do it A Capella.'' This performance gave Rockapella immediate international publicity.
Main articles: Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (game show)
Producers of a fledgling PBS-TV series called ''Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?'' took note of Rockapella's charms and signed the group to appear as the house vocal band. The half-hour geography game show aired daily for five years (295 episodes), 1991-1995, catapulting Rockapella into mid-level TV celebrity and making the Rockapella-performed theme song (penned by Sean and childhood pal David Yazbek) into one of the best known TV themes in history (TVT Records - Television's Greatest Hits).
Sean left Rockapella in April 1997 to better focus on his solo career. He promptly released his debut CD "seandemonium", about which the Philadelphia Daily News wrote: ""Imagine Dion meeting Marshall Crenshaw at the Beatles' house, with the Kinks, Beach Boys, Four Seasons and Persuasions all dropping by for a song swap. The words have a cynical edge, but what really grabs you is the old-fashioned sweetness and punch of his neo-doowop vocals playing off incredibly hook-happy tunes."
After releasing seandemonium, Sean assembled a backup band, played NYC rock clubs for two years, garnering accolades for his live shows. The Village Voice called him "an absurdly talented performer... a power-pop mensch and an aspiring teen cult leader." He released his second CD of original music in 2003 -- "alt.mania" -- about which Hits Magazine wrote "This record rocks....Rockapella mastermind, internet entrepreneur and divorce' Altman tells barbed, musically diverse tales of romantic misadventures....A dark, funny, resilient, postmodern concept album about love and loss." Sean is the only three-time winner of the Contemporary A Cappella Society’s “Original Song of the Year” award, and has also been a "Best Male Vocalist" award recipient. He currently records and performs a cappella with The GrooveBarbers (featured as The Astelins in TV commercials for Astelin Nasal Spray), bittersweet pop songs as a solo artist, and comedy songs as half of the duo "What I Like About Jew". He has vocal-arranged and produced acappella albums for the groups Minimum Wage and Kol Zimra. Sean was named “Best Male Artist” in the 2005 International Acoustic Music Awards and was a 2005 Kerrville New Folk finalist.
Altman has also been featured in a series of ads for Astelin nasal spray, as a member of the vocal group "The Astelins."
He is a member of the Loser's Lounge series in New York and the groups Kol Zimra and The GrooveBarbers.
★ ''seanDEMOnium'' (1997)
★ ''alt.mania'' (2002)
★ ''Losing Streak'' (2005)
★ ''Glory (GrooveBarbers)'' (2005)
★ ''Unorthodox (What I Like About Jew)'' (2006)
★ Rockapella
★ A cappella
★ Sean Altman's official site
★ JEWMONGOUS official site
★ The GrooveBarbers' official site
★ Rockapella's official site
★ Sean Altman's pageon IMDb
'Sean Altman' (born May 9,1961) is a founder and former lead singer of the singing group Rockapella and a pioneer of the modern a cappella movement. He was a member of Rockapella from its inception in 1986 until he left the group in 1997 to pursue a solo career. He may be best known for Rockapella's role in the popular children's geography gameshow, ''Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?'' Altman (along with longtime friend David Yazbek) wrote the show's now-classic theme song and is remembered in particular for his trademark blond braids, which were ceremoniously removed in the final episode. As a solo artist, Altman has released three solo albums and albums with his other groups The GrooveBarbers and What I Like About Jew. In 2006 he founded the comedy song act JEWMONGOUS.
| Contents |
| Early life |
| Rockapella |
| Beginnings |
| ''Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?'' |
| Departure |
| Solo career |
| Collaborative work |
| Discography |
| See also |
| External links |
Early life
Altman grew up in the Bronx, New York, in Riverdale. His musical talent was recognized early on, as he starred in many school musicals and claims to have charmed female classmates with "hallway serenades." At age seventeen, Altman turned pro, performing on the NYC nightclub circuit with David Yazbek as ''Moon Pudding'', a Simon and Garfunkel-styled teen duo. At Brown University, Altman majored in political science, but focused most of his energy on his singing, performing in both the ''High Jinks,'' a college a cappella octet, and ''Blind Dates'', a rock group that released two national college radio hits. Altman continued with ''Blind Dates'' after graduating from Brown in 1984, moving from Providence to NYC in search of a record deal. The group dissolved in 1987, just as Rockapella's career began.
Rockapella
Main articles: Rockapella
Beginnings
After graduating from Brown together, Altman and fellow ''High Jinks'' member Elliot Kerman joined classmates Steve Keyes and David Stix to form a new a cappella group called Rockapella. Rockapella began its career humbly, performing on street corners in NYC while Altman still focused primarily on his ''Blind Dates'' work. The group's repertoire consisted of a mix of barbershop arrangements and a cappella renditions of classic doo wop pieces. As the group grew in experience, they began to focus less on oldies and barbershop, and more on contemporary rock music.
Rockapella eventually gained enough publicity and support that the group was invited to perform on the morning talk show ''Live with Regis and Kathie Lee''. Following this performance, and the production of their hit demo ''Zombie Jamboree'' in 1989, Rockapella was invited by Spike Lee & Company to perform on the TV special ''Do it A Capella.'' This performance gave Rockapella immediate international publicity.
''Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?''
Main articles: Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (game show)
Producers of a fledgling PBS-TV series called ''Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?'' took note of Rockapella's charms and signed the group to appear as the house vocal band. The half-hour geography game show aired daily for five years (295 episodes), 1991-1995, catapulting Rockapella into mid-level TV celebrity and making the Rockapella-performed theme song (penned by Sean and childhood pal David Yazbek) into one of the best known TV themes in history (TVT Records - Television's Greatest Hits).
Departure
Sean left Rockapella in April 1997 to better focus on his solo career. He promptly released his debut CD "seandemonium", about which the Philadelphia Daily News wrote: ""Imagine Dion meeting Marshall Crenshaw at the Beatles' house, with the Kinks, Beach Boys, Four Seasons and Persuasions all dropping by for a song swap. The words have a cynical edge, but what really grabs you is the old-fashioned sweetness and punch of his neo-doowop vocals playing off incredibly hook-happy tunes."
Solo career
After releasing seandemonium, Sean assembled a backup band, played NYC rock clubs for two years, garnering accolades for his live shows. The Village Voice called him "an absurdly talented performer... a power-pop mensch and an aspiring teen cult leader." He released his second CD of original music in 2003 -- "alt.mania" -- about which Hits Magazine wrote "This record rocks....Rockapella mastermind, internet entrepreneur and divorce' Altman tells barbed, musically diverse tales of romantic misadventures....A dark, funny, resilient, postmodern concept album about love and loss." Sean is the only three-time winner of the Contemporary A Cappella Society’s “Original Song of the Year” award, and has also been a "Best Male Vocalist" award recipient. He currently records and performs a cappella with The GrooveBarbers (featured as The Astelins in TV commercials for Astelin Nasal Spray), bittersweet pop songs as a solo artist, and comedy songs as half of the duo "What I Like About Jew". He has vocal-arranged and produced acappella albums for the groups Minimum Wage and Kol Zimra. Sean was named “Best Male Artist” in the 2005 International Acoustic Music Awards and was a 2005 Kerrville New Folk finalist.
Altman has also been featured in a series of ads for Astelin nasal spray, as a member of the vocal group "The Astelins."
Collaborative work
He is a member of the Loser's Lounge series in New York and the groups Kol Zimra and The GrooveBarbers.
Discography
★ ''seanDEMOnium'' (1997)
★ ''alt.mania'' (2002)
★ ''Losing Streak'' (2005)
★ ''Glory (GrooveBarbers)'' (2005)
★ ''Unorthodox (What I Like About Jew)'' (2006)
See also
★ Rockapella
★ A cappella
External links
★ Sean Altman's official site
★ JEWMONGOUS official site
★ The GrooveBarbers' official site
★ Rockapella's official site
★ Sean Altman's pageon IMDb
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