major,” Rose recalls, “and my goal was to
be a studio producer. | was a huge Beatles
fan and George Martin was my idol, but
then | also loved the Miles Davis/Gil Evans
collaborations. | learned how to play other
instruments in order to make some
money, and | was determined to know

as much about music as | could. Bob
Chestnut, who wrote incidental music for
Ed Sullivan’s TV show, was an important
teacher, as were Herb Pomeroy and Phil
Wilson. | was in Charlie Mariano’s
ensemble, and took Jon Klein's class in
rock arranging, the first to be offered

at Berklee."

After graduating, Rose started writing
jingles, which paid the bills and got him
into a variety of studios. "Multitracking
came late to Boston,” he notes, “so |
started in the ‘60s on a tube console with
four tracks. But | worked with some classic
mics.” After only a few months, however,
he received a phone call that brought
him back to Berklee. “It was late
September, and John LaPorta needed a
teacher beginning October first,” Rose
explains. LaPorta, the legendary
composer/instrumentalist/educator,
became Rose’s mentor.

“John was a true genius,” Rose says.

“He would write music on the train coming
to work every day. | really learned how to
teach when he observed and critiqued
my band classes. And John would let me
develop courses, including Improvisation
in the Latin Jazz Idiom and Rock
Improvisation. | created the Berklee Jazz
Rock Ensemble—| wanted to call it simply
the Rock Ensemble, though we ended up
calling it 'Jazz-Rock’—and by 1977, | finally
did a rock concert featuring a set of
Beatles music. It was sold out, and the
place went crazy.”

Rose’s championing of more popular
styles took place at a time when the
number of student guitarists and vocalists
(the latter still without their own
department) was growing. “Of course
there was resistance from some people,”
Rose admits, “but | always made it a point
to feature prominent faculty members like
Greg Hopkins, Larry Monroe, and John in
my Jazz-Rock Ensemble concerts, which
helped build credibility. And Larry and Lee
Berk also encouraged me. They always
wanted what was best for the students.”
The transformation had two watershed
moments in 1983, when Rose's ensemble
performed a tribute during the
commencement concert that honored