It was just a real wide variety of stuff. Did you have a favorite? It was just — I, my earliest recollections were just, um, sitting there, uh, enthralled with the sound that was coming out of this, uh, this hi-fi. I mean, I started studying music at a really early age so it sort of went hand-in-hand. When did you realize you were going to be a musician? It was pretty early on. I had a wonderful teacher when I was in elementary school. His name was Jack Carmen.
He was a great guy with a great laugh and he was really a quite proficient musician. He was a trombone player and he also played an amazing clarinet. He was really into Dixieland music. He was also into gigging all the time, as well as being, you know, head of the music department.
This is what I want to do. Can you remember your first public performance? I would imagine my first public performance was an elementary school band concert, very much as they are today. I guess I was in, uh, the 4 th grade? Yes, nine years old. And I can only imagine how we sounded. I had had an advantage going into, into elementary school having, again, studied music privately for three or four years. There was a fella in town, uh, his name was Jerry Petrie, and he was also on staff at Julliard.
And he had a little, uh, garage studio behind his house and he would give lessons. And I started studying the recorder with him um, when I was five. You know what? It was a big step-up advantage for me going into elementary school where kids mostly are seeing instruments for the first time and, uh, getting to handle them and play. So tell us about when you were touring with the Vegas Style Show Band.
And so, it was just that sort of thing. We had a big green truck. It was the kind of thing where you would go, we would go to a hotel in, uh, in New Orleans and stay in the French Quarter in a hotel for three or four weeks and play their, um, their lounge you know?
And we had and act, um, and we had outfits, and we had steps and we, you know, it was that sort of thing. We actually did play in Vegas at the old Stardust. But it was fun and it was my first road experience.
And it was a little rough, uh, I mean just the travelling part of it. The rest of it was pretty, pretty comfortable. And making money playing music — that was, uh, that was the big deal.
You mentioned you born in Long Island. What got you, uh, interested in living in New York City? I think you, you mentioned it was the lower East side. I have to add that when I moved to the lower East side it was, uh, in , right at the, uh, Bicentennial. And it was still really pretty dangerous to live down there when we, when we moved down there. I understand that in addition to being a musician, for a time, you were also a record producer?
Uh, yes. Did do a stint as a record producer. And I had been asked by a publishing company to produce a single for, um, one of their artists. It just happen to come out really well. I was able to, uh, sell it to Mercury Records and it was released. But through that, I met some people at a company who were really making a lot of money putting out records.
And, uh, I was sort of the guy who did the pet projects of, you know, the principals of the company. And I got to work in fantastic studios with some guys who became quite famous as engineers and producers. Tell us about meeting Mr. Paul Shaffer. My first meeting with him, it was a phone meeting.
And their original plan was to just hire horns wherever, uh, wherever they were. You gotta hear them. Uh, interesting sidelight — this band that, uh, this Latin funk band that we were playing in — Al and I — um, we were hired by La Toya Jackson to, um, be her back-up and for a, uh, world premier at one of the Trump casinos in Atlantic City.
So we were rehearsing with her in one room and, unbeknownst to me, Paul and his band were rehearsing in another room. That was the first experience. What was going through your mind when you were officially were told that you got the gig of being a part of the CBS Orchestra?
As I said, I had done some 30 shows, and a lot of work for the show, and was really familiar with everybody around it. Again, more like a utility infielder.
I want to try getting a second guitarist and another keyboard player. Paul and I were both nominated for Emmys for that 10 th anniversary special so I, I did sort of think, well, I guess that was my highlight of my Letterman career.
And I just happened to, uh, you know, in those days we had beepers and, you know, no one had hand-held cell phones. Uh, I had a phone in the car. I better go call. Add it to your IMDb page. Find out more at IMDbPro ». How Much Have You Seen? How much of Bruce Kapler's work have you seen? See more polls ». Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy. See more awards ». Known For. Show all Hide all Show by Jump to: Music department Actor Soundtrack Self. Hide Show Music department 1 credit.
Show all 15 episodes. Hide Show Actor 1 credit. Iranian Horn Section Yay-Sayer 3 uncredited. Sunday Morning TV Viewer 3 uncredited. Bruce - Swine Flu Victim 3 uncredited. Bruce - Father of 14 Children uncredited. Trinidad Tobago Native 3 uncredited. Hide Show Soundtrack 1 credit. Hide Show Self 4 credits.
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