GEORGE BITZER

Keyboardist George Bitzer was born in New York City April 12, 1953. He started playing the piano at the age of eight years old with an intense classical music regimen that consisted of lessons four days a week. This lasted for five years until he was in junior high school. While still continuing to study, he was introduced to the world of pop and rock music by performing in various bands. He was also involved in performing with various local community and theater groups such as the high school chorus, the jazz band and as the only provider of music in a local production of the play, "The Boyfriend."

After graduating from Central Islip high school in 1971, he played in a number of bands and groups performing all different kinds of music ranging from classical to jazz to pop rock and dance. Even though these were primarily lounge and club bands, it allowed him to work and perfect skills in arranging, composing and producing.

This lasted until 1975 when he was introduced to Gloria Gaynor and he performed in her shows in tours throughout the United States and Canada. From here things started to look up. In early 1977, he was introduced to members of the rock group "The Illusion" which was a somewhat successful band around the Long Island and New York area. They sat down and worked on material and by that spring they had enough material for a showcase. They were able to arrange one with Tommy Mottola, and he liked it enough to pursue a record deal for them.

The band was signed to Epic records, and by that summer they were in Miami recording the first of two albums. The band was called "Network." Through Mottola's influence, Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson were hired as producers. At the time, along with Barry Gibb, they were producers of the Bee Gees and Andy Gibb and wanted another project to do between albums. Gibb was not included in the production of the Network album. However, he did write a song for the project called "Save Me."

Throughout the recording of the album, his talent as a keyboard player and studio musician began to reveal itself in such a way that by the end of the project, Galuten, Richardson and Gibb offered him the job as the primary keyboard player for Andy Gibb and his band. Bitzer performed as the main keyboard player and synthesist on two of Andy Gibb's three albums, "Shadow Dancing" and "After Dark". Before starting with Gibb, his first project with the trio was on the song recorded by Samantha Sang and written by Barry Gibb called "Emotion."

This was the start of a relationship lasting for about ten years where he worked and toured with Andy Gibb and the Bee Gees as well as performing as a studio musician on Barry Gibb's productions with other artists such as Kenny Roger's "Eyes That See In The Dark", Barbara Streisand's "Guilty, Dionne Warwick's, "Heart Breaker" and Diana Ross' "Eaten Alive ". During this time George Bitzer also was a collaborator with Barry Gibb in the composition and arrangement of Mr. Gibb's two solo projects, "Now voyager,"and "Hawks."

When not performing with Gibb, Bitzer also worked with such artists as Hall and Oats, Stevie Wonder, Stephen Bishop, Clarence (Gatemouth) Brown, Peter Cetera and Don Felder of the Eagles. Bitzer's work with Felder included composing and performing theme and situation music for three projects for television; "Entertainment Tonight", a made for TV movie called "Blue Deville" and a Saturday morning cartoon called "Galaxy High" which ran for two seasons. His work with Gatemouth Brown included the Album "Long Way Home."

While living in Baton Rouge, LA, (1981-93), Bitzer worked locally with a number of area Cajun musicians such as Wayne Toupes, Cedric Benoit, Jo-el Sonier and Zachary Richard. Bitzer also remained active working in the local studios as a studio musician and arranger and producer for various local projects and radio and television commercials.

In 1993, Bitzer returned to New York where he met Rod McBrien, a well-respected producer in his own right, and began working with him performing and arranging on several local and national radio and television projects. Some of these include: multiple ads for Claritin, music for the 2001 Fiesta Bowl football game which included several in and out stingers and musical themes as well as the music for part of the pre-game ceremonies for the national airing on CBS sports, several ads for the Bayou Casino featuring Zachary Richard, music performed at the dedication for the "Women in Service to America" memorial which was held at Arlington National Cemetery in 1998 and sung as a duet by Kenny Rogers and Patty Austin accompanied by Bitzer and the United States Air Force band.

Bitzer is currently working with McBrien on a collection of songs, which will be a musical tribute to the songs of the World War II era slated for release later this year. These are re-makes of some of the top ten songs from 1941-45 performed by some of yesterday and today's popular recording artists.