Michael J McEvoy (born August 29, 1961) is an American screen composer, orchestrator and multi-instrumentalist.

1980s

As a session musician, writer and arranger, McEvoy worked on various projects with the producer

Adam Kidron Adam Kidron is a British-born ex-music producer, serial entrepreneur, and the ex-Chief Executive Officer of Urban Box Office (UBO), a reggaeton and urban Latino record label, and Yonder Music. Record producer Adam Kidron began his career in the ...

, including albums by

Delta 5 Delta 5 was an English post-punk band from Leeds. Career Delta 5 was formed from the same art school scene at Leeds University as Gang of Four and The Mekons. The original members of Delta 5, Julz Sale (vocals/guitar), Ros Allen (bass) and Bet ...

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Scritti Politti Scritti Politti are a British band, originally formed in 1977 in Leeds, England, by Welsh singer-songwriter Green Gartside. He is the only member of the band to have remained throughout the group's history. Beginning as a punk-inspired collect ...

and

Ian Dury Ian Robins Dury (12 May 1942 27 March 2000) was a British singer, songwriter and actor who rose to fame during the late 1970s, during the punk and new wave era of rock music. He was the lead singer and lyricist of Ian Dury and the Blockheads an ...

. In 1988, he met

Curiosity Killed the Cat Curiosity Killed the Cat was a British pop band that achieved success in the UK in the late 1980s, with hit singles such as " Down to Earth", " Misfit" and " Ordinary Day", from their No. 1 debut album, '' Keep Your Distance''. This was follo ...

and joined the group for their second album, '' Getahead'', as a co-writer and keyboard player. In 1989, he scored his first feature film, ''Vroom'', (directed by

Beeban Kidron Beeban Tania Kidron, Baroness Kidron, (born 2 May 1961) is a British filmmaker and an advocate for children's rights in the digital world. Kidron is Chair of 5Rights Foundation, a charity that delivers children's rights for young people online, ...

starring

Clive Owen Clive Owen (born 3 October 1964) is an English actor. He first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for playing the lead role in the ITV series '' Chancer'' from 1990 to 1991. He received critical acclaim for his work in the film '' Close ...

and

David Thewlis David Wheeler (born 20 March 1963), better known as David Thewlis (), is a British actor, author, director and screenwriter. Thewlis rose to prominence when he starred in the film ''Naked'' (1993), for which he won the Cannes Film Festival Aw ...

) followed by ''Bearskin'' in 1990 starring

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

1990s

During the 1990s, McEvoy's credits as a songwriter included songs by

Soul II Soul Soul II Soul are a British musical collective formed in London in 1988. They are best known for their two major hits; 1989's UK number five and US number eleven " Keep On Movin'", and its follow-up, the UK number one and US number four " Back to ...

on their album ''Volume II: 1990 New Decade'' and the soul diva

Teena Marie Mary Christine Brockert (March 5, 1956 – December 26, 2010), known professionally as Teena Marie, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, composer, arranger, and producer. She was known by her childhood nickname Tina before taking the sta ...

("Since Day One" on ''

Ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals is ...

''). He co-produced the

James Taylor Quartet The James Taylor Quartet (or JTQ) are a British four-piece jazz funk band formed in 1985 by Hammond organ player James Taylor following the break-up of his former band The Prisoners (band), The Prisoners, and in the wake of Stiff Records' ba ...

album ''Supernatural Feeling'' and was the musical director on tours with

and

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a keyboard player and vocalist prominent for his disti ...

, playing keyboards, Hammond organ and guitar in the 1994 line-up when a reformed

Traffic Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...

embarked on an 88-date tour of the US and Europe including performing at

Woodstock '94 Woodstock '94 was an American music festival held in 1994 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the original Woodstock festival of 1969. It was promoted as "2 More Days of Peace and Music". The poster used to promote the first concert was r ...

Film and TV work

Throughout the 1990s, McEvoy scored documentaries for TV channels in the US and the UK: PBS, A&E, C4, ITN and Discovery. Many of McEvoy's long form documentary work has been with the director Gary Johnstone, including ITN Factual's ''Battle of Hood and Bismarck'' and "Einstein's Big Idea" for the PBS ''Nova'' series. Other notable documentaries include BBC's '' Storyville: French Beauty'', directed by Pascale Lamche. During this period he was nominated for regional Emmys in the US for ''Ryman: Mother Church of Country Music'' and ''Tennessee Yearbook'', winning the latter in 2002. In 2003, McEvoy attended The

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

, where he was the PRS Sir Arthur Bliss Memorial Scholar and gained a MMus in composition for screen. On graduating in July 2005, he was awarded the Joseph Horovitz Prize for Screen Composition, the first time it had been awarded since 2001. McEvoy then took on the role of area leader for the screen composition at The Royal College of Music, a post he held from September 2005 until August 2008. In 2007, he worked closely as an orchestrator and co-writer with the DJ and producer

Paul Oakenfold Paul Mark Oakenfold (born 30 August 1963), formerly known mononymously as Oakenfold, is an English record producer, remixer and trance DJ. He has provided over 100 remixes for over 100 artists including U2, Moby, Madonna, Britney Spears, Mass ...

on the score for an award-winning Japanese anime feature ''

Vexille is a 2007 Japanese CGI anime film, written, directed, and edited by Fumihiko Sori, and features the voices of Meisa Kuroki, Yasuko Matsuyuki, and Shosuke Tanihara. At the 60th Locarno International Film Festival, where ''Vexille'' made its wor ...

'', directed by

Fumihiko Sori Fumihiko Sori (曽利文彦) is a Japanese film director and film producer. He received a nomination for the 'Best Director' prize at the Japanese Academy Awards for his directing debut, ''Ping Pong''. Filmography Director *2002 ''Ping Pong'' ...

, and in the following year Overture Pictures' ''

Nothing Like the Holidays ''Nothing Like the Holidays'' is a 2008 film about a Puerto Rican family living in the area of Humboldt Park, Chicago facing what may be their last Christmas together. It was directed by Alfredo De Villa, written by Rick Najera, Ted Perkins, and ...

'' directed by Alfredo De Villa. In 2008, McEvoy worked with the filmmaker

Richard Linklater Richard Stuart Linklater (; born July 30, 1960) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for films that revolve mainly around suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. His films include the comedies '' ...

on ''

Me and Orson Welles ''Me and Orson Welles'' is a 2008 period drama film directed by Richard Linklater and starring Zac Efron, Christian McKay, and Claire Danes. Based on Robert Kaplow's novel of the same name, the story, set in 1937 New York, tells of a teenager hir ...

''. McEvoy wrote original music and had an acting role playing Orson Welles' musical director. In 2010, McEvoy scored two independent UK features, ''Forget Me Not'' and '' Just Inès''. Other film music credits include a jazz track (under the pseudonym "The Freddie Carleone Quartet") used in the feature film ''

Wild Target ''Wild Target'' is a 2010 black comedy film directed by Jonathan Lynn and starring Bill Nighy, Emily Blunt, Rupert Grint, Eileen Atkins, Martin Freeman, and Rupert Everett.

'', a song co-written with Mary Leay ("Take me as I Could Be") in the film ''

The Decoy Bride ''The Decoy Bride'' is a 2011 British romantic comedy film written by comedian Sally Phillips and Neil Jaworski, and starring David Tennant, Alice Eve and Kelly Macdonald and set on the fictional island of Hegg, supposedly located in the Outer ...

'' and additional music for the movie '' Wild Card''. Recent film work includes string arrangements on music cues and songs for the film and album project '' David Brent: Life on the Road'', and the score for ''

Finding Your Feet ''Finding Your Feet'' is a 2017 British romantic comedy film directed by Richard Loncraine and written by Nick Moorcroft and Meg Leonard. The film stars Imelda Staunton, Timothy Spall, Celia Imrie, Joanna Lumley and David Hayman, and was release ...

'' directed by

Richard Loncraine Richard Loncraine (born 20 October 1946) is a British film and television director. Loncraine was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Loncraine received early training in the features department of the BBC, including a season directing items ...

for

Entertainment One Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television se ...

, released worldwide in February 2018. McEvoy's television work has included the title music for series 3 of the British music TV series ''

Live From Abbey Road ''Live from Abbey Road'' is a 12-part, one-hour performance series/ documentary that began filming its first season during 2006 at Abbey Road Studios in London. Season 2 was filmed between 2007 and 2008, season 3 was filmed in 2009 and Season ...

'', the score for a 20 part Nickelodeon TV series '' Summer in Transylvania'', series 4 and 5 of the UK BAFTA-nominated BBC series ''

Dani's House ''Dani's House'' is a British children's comedy series broadcast on CBBC and starring Dani Harmer. The first series premiered on 26 September 2008, and its fifth series concluded on 19 July 2012. It has received several awards and nominations f ...

'' and series 5 of ''

Young Dracula ''Young Dracula'' is a British children's horror drama comedy television series which aired on CBBC, loosely based on ''Young Dracula'', a 2002 children's book by Michael Lawrence. It is also based on the epistolary novel ''Dracula'', writte ...

'' on CBBC. He also scored the music for the documentary series for National Geographic titled ''Alien Deep''. In 2016, McEvoy composed the music on the 2-part ITV/PBS/Masterpiece Theatre drama ''Dark Angel'', about the life of Victorian serial killer

Mary Ann Cotton Mary Ann Cotton (' Robson; 31 October 1832 – 24 March 1873) was an English convicted murderer who was executed for poisoning her stepson. Despite her sole conviction for murder, she is believed to have been a serial killer who killed many o ...

. 2018 documentaries included the

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

winning '' The Jazz Ambassadors'', a BBC4/PBS/Arte/ZDF co-production, ''The Queen's Coronation in Colour'' and ''Queen of the World'' for ITV/Oxford Films and HBO. McEvoy also composed the original score to ''Churchill and the Movie Mogul'', premiered at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

in January 2019. In 2019, McEvoy's ''Mother Medusae'' was nominated for an Ivors Composer/Ivor Novello Award in the jazz composition for small ensemble category.

Solo recordings

His third album. ''The Long Way Home'', was released in March 2014 on his Rezzonator Music label. Previous albums are ''Terra Cognita'' and ''Night Sea Journey''.

References

External links

Michael J McEvoy's personal website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McEvoy, Michael J Living people 1961 births American session musicians American multi-instrumentalists People educated at William Ellis School People from Camden County, New Jersey Alumni of Leeds College of Music