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About
Charlie |
Houston
Charlie was born and raised in Houston, Texas. His family was a
music loving one, although no one in it (at that time) was a trained musician.
His mother, father, and sister all had a natural ability to find the right
harmonies to sing when they engaged in impromptu barbershop style sing-a-longs.
His parents social group came to the house frequently and the usual activity was
to put on the records and dance. This was a perfect environment in which to
develop a great love of music, and to observe the positive effect it could have
on people. His younger sister Carol (Koock) was also affected and she became an
award winning pianist who is currently active in the music and theater scene in
Austin, Texas. At a young age, Charlie had memorized many songs. He studied
classical and popular music privately from the age of five, and upon reaching
high school age, added French horn and cornet to his arsenal of instruments. It
had been assumed that he would follow his dad into the oil business, but by the
time Charlie entered the University of Houston on a trumpet scholarship, music
had become his first love, and the direction his life would take was becoming
obvious.
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Las Vegas
During the first (and only) year at college, Charlie
played at some of the private clubs around Houston, but when summer came he
relocated to Las Vegas, supposedly temporarily. He performed continuously
(except for two years military service) at virtually every hotel there, plus
Liberace's "Tivoli Gardens". He appeared in a Warner Bros. movie, on the
Saturday night Dick Clark TV Show, and other network shows. Some award winning
Las Vegas hotel commercials were composed by Charlie.
Charlie's many CDs
are heard nationally on adult standards radio stations, and several syndicated
programs, also on the digital cable systems' easy listening audio channels, as
well as internet radio, SiriusXM satellite radio, and the Muzak system. They are
available online at Amazon.com and many other music retailers. Individual tracks
and complete albums are also available as downloadable MP3 files from iTunes and
Amazon MP3s.
Charlie has written orchestral arrangements for performance
on the TV shows of Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin, Sammy Davis Jr, and Joey Bishop.
His very first orchestration was written for the Buddy Johnson big band. The
largest orchestra for which he has written has been the Houston Symphony Pops
Orchestra (approximately 60 piece). The occasion was the introduction of one of
his original compositions. It was sung by "The Platters" and accompanied by the
orchestra, with Charlie at the piano.
As rehearsal pianist for the Jackie
Gleason Las Vegas TV Show he worked daily with June Taylor, Ben Vereen, Lola
Folana and others, creating dance sequences and musical arrangements. He has
accompanied Peggy Lee, Debbie Reynolds, Dean Martin, Steve Lawrence, Don Cherry,
Robert Goulet, Joe Williams, and others.
In short, there is nothing in
the world of music that Charlie does not enjoy doing. Whether it's performing
live in a hotel, cruise ship, or ballroom, or producing CDs for himself and
others in his studio, Charlie hopes the music will never end.
Charlie's
wife Marty recently retired from her position as a Nevada Deputy Attorney
General, and his son and daughter perform regularly at Las Vegas hotels.
