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September 24, 2008 | 02:26 PM
Pop music quiz: Name an artist who has mastered his
work at Abbey Road Studios in London and has seen his work nominated for
a Grammy Award?
If you answered Paul McCartney, you would be right, but also fitting the
description is Three Village resident Stephen Palmer, a private music
teacher and musician who has recorded with international music stars.
The son of longtime Three Village schools music director Donald Palmer,
Stephen Palmer, 47, said that he began playing music as a very young
child.
"My dad was one of my biggest influences … and helped me become a
serious musician," Palmer said, paying tribute to the teacher who
mentored thousands of Three Village students in his decades of teaching.
After graduating from Ward Melville High School in 1979, Palmer became a
professional musician, including working as a mentor to several local
string bass students. Palmer also worked as a recording artist,
including events at Ward Melville, the Caroline Church and the Setauket
Presbyterian Church.
Then, in 2002, Palmer was diagnosed with cryptogenic cirrhosis, a liver
disease that usually kills patients within two to three years.
Faced with the devastating diagnosis, Palmer's wife of 10 years, Joan,
who is his recording and mastering partner, said of her husband,
"Instead of preparing to die, he chose to live."
Palmer channeled his energies into "The Alliance," an album that he
described as "just [coming] together starting in 2002, with all these
different people." According to Palmer, the album brought together the
best of local talent with well known international musicians. "What I
was basically trying to do was put together something with local people,
together with some international people," he said.
The album featured Setauket resident Bakithi Kumalo, best known for his
contributions to Paul Simon's "Graceland" album, and The Late Show with
David Letterman drummer Anton Fig.
Joan Palmer noted, "We even included many talented Ward Melville
students to give them the experience in a recording studio, which we
have right in our home."
After recording the tracks, Palmer faced the difficult choice of
selecting a studio where he could master his work and prepare it for
professional release.
"I needed a mastering room with that classic British sound, with an
acceptable price point and great engineers," Palmer wrote in an essay
about his search and eventual trip to Abbey Road in London, the studio
made famous by the Beatles. "Off to [the] Internet I went."
Palmer said he soon discovered that Abbey Road offered the best
equipment and mastering professionals for the best price. He said he was
prompted to look at their site after stumbling across his copy of a
Beatles' album during the search.
The experience of walking into Abbey Road was one Palmer described as
"the most intimidating and the best thing I've ever done."
In his essay, Palmer described the scene outside the studios, made
famous by the Fab Four featuring a shoeless Paul McCartney crossing the
street. "We departed the Underground and took about a 10-minute walk to
the famous crosswalk and Abbey Road. Welcome to royalty. Even in the
pouring rain there were tourists in front of the legendary crosswalk
taking pictures."
 Palmer
spent a day inside the studio with Nick Webb, a mastering engineer who
has worked with the Beatles and Pink Floyd.
"I think we hit it off immediately, mastering engineer to master
mastering engineer," Palmer wrote. "I know he was pleased to see how
much preproduction and homework was ready for him to review."
The resulting album, finished in 2005, has been used as a means to aid
not-for-profit organizations to raise funds, according to Joan Palmer.
Her husband has recently finished recording "Alliance II." Palmer is now
turning his attention to finding ways for local musicians to connect
with each other. To do this, he is putting together a database on his
website,
www.stephenpalmermusic.com, where musicians can register their name
and email address and find others who are interested in creating a band.
As for as his long-term prognosis, Palmer said he hopes for a liver
transplant, but is not high on the transplant list. "Also, any kind of
operation is dangerous," he said.
Palmer said because of his health, he can't tour, but he has continued
to teach music. However, Joan Palmer said that through his work on "The
Alliance," his album has been "a way for Stephen to give back for his
life."
Provided online by:
http://www.northshoreoflongisland.com/Section-17651.112114-p20758.112114_Village_TIMES_HERALD.html
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