Chris Ledesma 1958-2022

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I didn't finish watching my recording of this year's Emmy broadcast until last night and during the In Memoriam I was surprised to see that Chris Ledesma has passed away:

Who is Chris Ledesma? some of you may ask. Well, he was the Music Editor on the '91 DS. And I might not have remembered that if it wasn't for the fact that I've recently started rewatching the '91 DS (to incorporate a certain aspect of it into something we're already doing - but more on that in April) and I've been seeing his credit -

- at the end of every ep. Though Ledsma also appeared in a portion of a segment the Today Show did on the '91 DS back on January 9, 1991. Here's a video of that portion (he's the one in red) -

- (love how he answers that Willie is the one who lights all the candles  ) - and Bob Cobert actually mentioned Ledesma during his 2010 Fest appearance, as Midnite so kindly reported back in her report on that appearance:

...

He said the Revival Series had wall to wall music-- 30 - 40 minutes of it, but he never had more than 3 days to write a score.  Chris Ledesma was the music editor for the '91 series (and is credited on the soundtrack [the first Festival mention of it?!]); his job consisted of taking notes, followed by a spotting session the next day; ...

...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

An obit that mentions DS:

‘The Simpsons’ team mourns music editor Chris Ledesma: ‘A sweet man who loved his job’

[Midnite]

Thanks, MB, especially for that video!  I watched the Emmy broadcast and thought the name seemed familiar.  So glad you made the connection.  He was the same age as Tim Burton; wonder if they attended Cal Arts at the same time.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The first thing I thought of when I saw that he had passed was how I'd just recently rewatched the segment the Today Show had done and I knew I wanted to share a video of it when I posted this topic. Plus, I figured many fans of the '91 DS may have never even seen it and it's not only a nice behind the scenes look at the show, but also a fun look at him working on the show...