Richard Wolf

Richard "Wolfie" Wolf is an Emmy Award winning film and television composer, multi-platinum-selling music producer, songwriter, remixer, and authorWolf got his start writing songs for his band and various artists before working for Warner/Chappell Music as staff songwriter. Soon after, he wrote and produced music for several feature films. He wrote the theme song for the Rodney Dangerfield film, Back To School and began contribute to many large film projects, most notably producing for Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes for the number one box office Karate Kid II and penning a song for the Madonna (entertainer) vehicle, Who's That Girl. In 1989 he teamed up with Brett "Epic" Mazur to form the production team Wolf & Epic. Wolf & Epic were among the first record makers to break down the barriers between R&B, Hip-hop & Pop at the beginning of the 1990s. During this time, Wolf worked on projects for artists such as MC Lyte, Prince, Seal, New Kids on the Block, Nona Gaye, Coolio, New Edition, Sheena Easton, Laquan and Bell Biv Devoe. Bell Biv Devoe's début album Poison and remix album WBBD-Bootcity both featured Wolf's production, and were certified triple Platinum and Gold respectively. Acid Jazz was another new fusion of musical styles which Wolf & Epic helped pioneer with their work on the first Acid Jazz compilation The Rebirth of the Cool Vol.1 (Island Records).In the twenty-first century Wolf's focus turned back to producing and composing for visual media. His score for the Warner Bros. cartoon Static Shock shook up Saturday morning programming with its fusion of hip-hop, electronic and traditional score, for which it was recognized with two Daytime Emmy nominations in 2003 and 2004 and one win. His work has appeared in hundreds of television episodes and films including Big Bang Theory, Nashville, Oprah, Criminal Minds, America's Next Top Model, Bojack Horseman, CBS Sports, NASCAR, and twelve seasons of the worldwide hit, NCIS. Wolf is currently on the faculty of the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music where he teaches classes on music in media and culture, and the special relationship between musical practice and mindfulness practice. His book "In Tune: Music As The Bridge To Mindfuless" charts twelve “bridges”—skills and sensibilities refined in musical practice that carry over to mindfulness and meditation. The New Yorker refers to this book as "a manual for achieving calm in a tumultuous world". Wolf also works with a diversity of charities and is a board member of the I Have A Dream Foundation.