One of the joys of my professional career was working with legendary producer Phil Ramone on a five-part series for the (now defunct) Trio cable network. It was called The Score, and the idea was to combine two of Phil’s passions: Contemporary music and the art of film scoring. Conversation with composers interspersed with musical performances in an entertaining, one-hour package.

I was brought on by documentary producer David Leaf as their on-the-set expert and historian; I assisted Phil in providing background and preparing questions for his guests, most of whom he knew or had worked with (among them Dave Grusin, James Newton Howard, Marc Shaiman, Danny Elfman, Lalo Schifrin, Marilyn & Alan Bergman). Like any TV series, it was a lot of work, but I was rewarded with a “writer” credit. Sadly, the series seems to have disappeared… although I would see Phil from time to time after that and he was always kind and generous. The last time we talked was about John Barry, for whom he had produced the Midnight Cowboy and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service albums.