I am a professional musician, mainly piano / organ and also a drummer/percussionist ( kit, conga, bongo, timbales and minor percussion). I read charts, compose music and do arrangements.
I perform with a variety of different bands and ensembles in a variety of different genres. I have performed with bands who play blues, jazz, reggae, salsa, R & B, Brazilian, hip-hop and rock. I have performed at many of the venues in the San Francisco Bay Area, including Yoshis SF, San Jose Jazz Festival, Monterey Blues Festival, Cafe Cocomo, Roccapulco, Biscuts and Blues and have done several out of town gigs (no tours).
For several years I was running my home studio out of an apartment in Sunnyvale and recording, arranging and producing for local artists (blues, hip-hop, reggae, salsa, gospel, rock, anything really). Now that the technology has extended to the consumer, the projects and production knowledge that I had been doing are no longer in demand. (...anyone with an mbox...). However, I do have that experience under my belt, and have gone to using the paper and pencil instead of the CPU for composing and arranging music.
I just finished a two year stint at Cascal Restaurant (every other Friday) with Kaweh (Rumba Flamenca), and have been working on call with Salsa bands (Humbria, Saboricua, Son de Caña) and doing sound as A1 FOH/MON engineer.
I am currently in the woodshed again, working on the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim for solo piano, and writing a book of arrangements of covers and originals for a 6 piece Latin Jazz ensemble (horn, percussion 1 & 2, piano guitar, bass.)
On the tech side, I am proficient with the web (HTML, Wordpress), marketing, database administration, general IT administration and other skills. In the current climate for creative arts, web publishing, marketing and IT infrastructure are in full effect (for better or for worse).
Location United States, California, San Mateo
Bio
Alex Specht Productions and aspstudios.com were started by Alex Specht in 2003. ASP has been involved in many projects and worked with companies in various industries including entertainment, web and new-media, architectural / engineering and information technology.
Originally ASP started as a pre-production music studio to collaborate with artists to bring their ideas to the market. Operating out of his apartment turned recording studio in Sunnyvale ASP, Infinite Studios in Alameda, Hibiki Studios in Mountain View and Different Fur in SF, Alex Specht successfully produced, composed , arranged and played on 5 albums between 2003 and 2006. During that time, ASP worked as a mobile DJ service and provided live sound reinforcement for Audio Aerobiks production company at several night clubs and other events.
With changes in the music industry and recording technology becoming readily available to virtually any consumer, the function of the recording studio has completely changed within the past 5 years. Production music has also drastically been affected by these changes, and in 2007 ASP changed its recoding studio to a mobile rig and began to focus on live sound and on-location recording. Working with Audio Production Group (formerly Location Digital Recording), Alex Specht has been working as a A1 sound engineer for festivals and events throughout the bay area. ASP has provided the IT solutions for APG including the design and installation of a Windows server and SQL driven marketing database. ASP also provided marketing support designing and editing the direct marketing "eNews" for APG.
As a musician (keyboads / percussion) Alex Specht continues to perform throughout the Bay Area with local bands. He has performed at venues such as Yoshis SF, The San Jose Jazz Festival, The Monterery Blues Festival, Cafe Cocomo, Roccapulco, Kumbawa Jazz Center, JJ's Blues, Santana Row and for corporate company parties including those for Linked In, Intuit, Segate and Yahoo amongst others.
Alex has performed and/or recorded with professional acts such as:
•The Lara Price Band (Blues) - "I Got News" 2005
•Kaweh (Rumba Flamenca)
•Mambo Tropical Featuring Pete Escovedo (Salsa) - "Self Titled" 2005
•Humbria (Salsa) - "This Is Humbria" 2006 (produced by ASP)
•Diamond Chip (R&B / top 40)
•Bandido (Latin Rock)
•Orquesta Liberazion (Salsa)
•Son de Cana (Salsa)
•Bald Dread and the Raggamuffin Crew (Reggae / Dancehall) -"Inna Dancehall" 2005
•Ceasar Miles & Dreaded Truth (Reggae)
•Danilo Paiz (Latin Jazz)
•Felix Amirian (Latin Jazz)
•Salsa pa' Bailadores (Salsa)
•JJ's Blues Club - House Band (Blues)
•and many others
Influences
Oscar Hernandez, Herbie Hancock, Eddie Palmieri, Jimmy Smith, Joey d'Francesco, Greg Rolie
Tito Puente, Steve Berrios, Ray Barreto, Dave Weckl,
John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Stanley Turrintine
The Beatles, Jimi Hedrix, Doors, Santana,
P-Funk, George Clinton, Red hot Chilli Peppers, Dr. Dre, Cypress Hill, Under Ground Hip-hop, electronica, DJ music, technics 1200's.
Bob Marley, Steel Pulse,
San Jose Jazz Festival,
Cuba, Brazil, Batucada, Rumba, Flamenco, Salsa, Mambo, Latin Jazz, Fusion, Fania,
