Ike Stubblefield
Encyclopedia
Ike Stubblefield was born in Toledo, Ohio
, June 7, 1952, and at age 3 was already reaching for the piano. He was soon playing his big sister's piano lessons by ear, a sign of his talent to come. Ike is a musician's musician, best known for being a modern master of the Hammond B3 organ.
, The Temptations
, Marvin Gaye
, Stevie Wonder
and Rare Earth
. Getting back to his roots on Hammond B3 organ in 1970 and with his vast understanding of music and feel, Ike Stubblefield performed live on stage from 1970-1975 with George Benson
, B.B. King, Ike and Tina Turner, Curtis Mayfield
, Al Green
, Eric Clapton
, Rod Stewart
, The Jerry Garcia Band
, Johnny Adams
, Bobby Caldwell
, Boz Scaggs
, Esther Phillips
and The Pointer Sisters, to name a few. During that time, he lived in San Francisco, New York
and London
.
From 1976-1988 Ike worked as a studio musician, composer, songwriter and producer with such artists as Quincy Jones
, Phil Spector
, Jim Capaldi
, Wendy Waldman, Larry Lee
, Michael O’Hara, Allan Rich, Tom Whitlock
, Allan Blazek, Bill Szymczyk
, Giorgio Moroder
, Tracie Spencer
All while perfecting his Mini Moog Techniques from his mentor George Duke
... Ike was scoring music for films and T.V.: Best of the Best
(1989) with Eric Roberts
, James Earl Jones
and Sally Kirkland
, as well as Summer Job, in addition to commercials and countless shows for the BBC
and CBC
.
In 1990, Ike moved to Vancouver
, Canada
and helped start a great music scene with The Purple Onion, a huge two-story warehouse club with three separate music venue rooms, where he performed with his band, Is Not Was, and booked the rooms with other top Canadian and international artists. The Purple Onion is still going strong today. In 1995, he moved to Seattle, re-forming his band, Is Not Was, a Hammond B3 organ quartet, that performed at Jazz Alley and other main event venues throughout Seattle and Portland
.
Ike decided to move back to his roots - Toledo
and Detroit – in 1997 to help out the local music scene. After winning Two "People Choice Awards" for Jazz and R&B... He opened a club called Yikes Supper Club in his Toledo hometown, where he brought all of his years of experience together. He called on his pals to help launch it, including Rodney Dangerfield
, who came for the grand opening. During its first year, organ greats Jack McDuff
, [Joey De Francesco] and Jimmy McGriff
, as well as such other stellar performers as Jenna Mammina and Dave McMurray performed at the club.
In 2001, after running a club and trying to stay active in the music business became a bit too much, he moved to Atlanta, where he found a home at Café 290, a jazz hot spot in Sandy Springs. Bringing the Hammond B3 sound back to Atlanta, Ike was greeted with open arms, performing at Variety Playhouse
, The Roxy, The Dogwood Festival, and working with Sonny Emory
, Sam Skelton, Count M'Butu, The Derek Trucks Band
, Jeff Sipe, Caroline Aiken
, Jimmy Herring
, Col. Bruce Hampton, Bobby Lee Rodgers, The Codetalkers
, Francine Reed and Susan Tedeschi
.
In 2004 Ike went back to Europe
for an extended tour of Germany
, Spain
, France
and England
, as well as recording with and producing various artists throughout the continent. He returned to Atlanta in 2005 and was inducted into the city’s downtown Hard Rock Café
location’s Hall of Fame with the first Hammond B3 on display on a wall in any Hard Rock Café worldwide. He also filled in for Billy Preston
on organ during Eric Clapton’s
winter European tour.
In 2005 Ike also met David Neel, owner of a new club called The Blue Room, located in the Buckhead
area of Atlanta. The two soon joined forces to create the only Hammond B3 venue on the East Coast
outside of New York City
to showcase the art of the Hammond B3 organ.with his Pal's Joey De Francesco,Jimmy McGriff, John Medeski,Brian Auger The Blue Room features live music Monday through Saturday, with the official grand opening on March 24 and 25 featuring legendary drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie
and the Groove Masters (Reuben Wilson on Hammond B3 organ and Grant Green Jr.] on guitar). Ike and David also created an "All Star Hit" (jam session) at The Blue Room on Monday nights, where Hammond B3 meets grand piano on a full back line stage, where all styles of music are welcome and old school networking can help bring the music scene in Atlanta closer together.
In 2010, after recording Organ & Keyboards on 9 tracks in a Cee Lo Green recording session... Ike is re-inventing himself, drawing on his 47 years in the music business. Combining his roots with musicians and Artist like Sonny Emory, Jeff Sipe, Marcus Williams, Little John Roberts, J.Fly and Yonrico Scott as his first choice of drummers in Atlanta, he is also collaborating with Jeff Coffin and Freddy V. on sax; Grant Green Jr.,Jimmy Herring,Bob Sabellico and Derek Scott on guitars; plus Oteil Burbridge and Felix Pastorius on bass to help kick start his new CD. Slated for the top of 2011, Ike will also be adding his B3 Organ, Keyboards,Old School Moog Techniques and yes, VOCALS(!) to the mix. Ike Stubblefield can be found performing live with all of the above worldwide.
Having Fun with a B3 & Drums Duo or B3 Power Trio, his dedication to keeping the true Hammond B3 sound alive stays Strong....
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
, June 7, 1952, and at age 3 was already reaching for the piano. He was soon playing his big sister's piano lessons by ear, a sign of his talent to come. Ike is a musician's musician, best known for being a modern master of the Hammond B3 organ.
Musical career
Ike Stubblefield started his career in 1968 playing keyboards with the Motown Review greats like The Four Tops, Martha ReevesMartha Reeves
Martha Rose Reeves is an American R&B and Pop singer and former politician, and was the lead singer of the Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas. During her tenure with The Vandellas, they scored over a dozen hit singles, including "Jimmy Mack", "Dancing in the Street" and "Nowhere to Run"...
, The Temptations
The Temptations
The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...
, Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
, Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
and Rare Earth
Rare Earth (band)
Rare Earth is an American rock band affiliated with Motown's Rare Earth record label , who prospered in 1970-1972. Although not the first white band signed to Motown, Rare Earth was the first big hit-making act signed by Motown that consisted only of white members...
. Getting back to his roots on Hammond B3 organ in 1970 and with his vast understanding of music and feel, Ike Stubblefield performed live on stage from 1970-1975 with George Benson
George Benson
George Benson is a ten Grammy Award winning American musician, whose production career began at the age of twenty-one as a jazz guitarist....
, B.B. King, Ike and Tina Turner, Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...
, Al Green
Al Green
Albert Greene , better known as Al Green, is an American gospel and soul music singer. He reached the peak of his popularity in the 1970s, with hit singles such as "You Oughta Be With Me", "I'm Still In Love With You", "Love and Happiness", and "Let's Stay Together"...
, Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
, Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart
Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....
, The Jerry Garcia Band
Jerry Garcia Band
The Jerry Garcia Band was a San Francisco Bay Area rock band led by Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. Garcia founded the band in 1975; it remained the most important of his various side-projects until his death in 1995...
, Johnny Adams
Johnny Adams
Laten John Adams , known as Johnny Adams, was an American blues, jazz and gospel singer, known as "The Tan Canary" for the multi-octave range of his singing voice, his swooping vocal mannerisms and falsetto...
, Bobby Caldwell
Bobby Caldwell
Bobby Caldwell is an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who, despite a prolific musical output over his 30-year career, is still best known for his 1978 hit single "What You Won't Do for Love". While he has always maintained a devoted fan base in the United States, a legendary...
, Boz Scaggs
Boz Scaggs
William Royce "Boz" Scaggs is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He gained fame in the 1970s with several Top 20 hit singles in the United States, along with the #2 album, Silk Degrees. Scaggs continues to write, record music and tour.-Early life and career:Scaggs was born in Canton,...
, Esther Phillips
Esther Phillips
Esther Phillips was an American singer. Phillips was known for her R&B vocals, but she was a versatile singer, also performing pop, country, jazz, blues and soul music.-Early life:...
and The Pointer Sisters, to name a few. During that time, he lived in San Francisco, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
From 1976-1988 Ike worked as a studio musician, composer, songwriter and producer with such artists as Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
, Phil Spector
Phil Spector
Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....
, Jim Capaldi
Jim Capaldi
Nicola James "Jim" Capaldi was an English musician and songwriter. His musical career lasted more than four decades. He co-founded Traffic in Birmingham with Steve Winwood, and the band's psychedelic rock was influential in Britain and the United States...
, Wendy Waldman, Larry Lee
Larry Lee
Lawrence H. "Larry" Lee, Jr. was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist from Memphis, Tennessee, best known for his work with Al Green and Jimi Hendrix.-Gypsy Sun and Rainbows:...
, Michael O’Hara, Allan Rich, Tom Whitlock
Tom Whitlock
Thomas "Tom" Ross Whitlock is a songwriter and lyricist best known for his Academy Award and Golden Globe winning song "Take My Breath Away" from the film Top Gun, which he co-wrote with Giorgio Moroder.-Early life:...
, Allan Blazek, Bill Szymczyk
Bill Szymczyk
Bill Szymczyk is an American music producer and technical engineer best known for working with rock and blues musicians, most notably the Eagles in the 1970s. He produced many top albums and singles of the 1970s, though he retired from the music business by 1990...
, Giorgio Moroder
Giorgio Moroder
Hansjörg "Giorgio" Moroder is an Italian record producer, songwriter and performer based in Los Angeles. When in Munich in the 1970s, he started his own record label called Oasis Records, which several years later became a subdivision of Casablanca Records...
, Tracie Spencer
Tracie Spencer
Tracie Monique Spencer is an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, actress, and model.-Biography:She began singing by the age of three and modeling in pageant competitions at age five. Tracie performed, produced and directed her first music videos before she was ten years of age...
All while perfecting his Mini Moog Techniques from his mentor George Duke
George Duke
George Duke is a multi-faceted American musician, known as a keyboard pioneer, composer, singer and producer in both jazz and popular mainstream musical genres. He has worked with numerous acclaimed artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and professor of music...
... Ike was scoring music for films and T.V.: Best of the Best
Best of the Best
Best of the Best is a 1989 martial arts film. The plot revolves around a team of Americans facing a team of Koreans in a taekwondo tournament. Several sub plots pop up in the story - moral conflicts, the power of the human spirit triumphing over adversity are some themes...
(1989) with Eric Roberts
Eric Roberts
Eric Anthony Roberts is an American actor. His career began with King of the Gypsies , earning a Golden Globe nomination for best actor debut. He starred as the protagonist in the 1980 dramatisation of Willa Cather's 1905 short story, Paul's Case...
, James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones is an American actor. He is well-known for his distinctive bass voice and for his portrayal of characters of substance, gravitas and leadership...
and Sally Kirkland
Sally Kirkland
Sally Kirkland is an American film and television actress.-Early life:Kirkland was named after her mother, fashion editor Sally Kirkland, who was a fashion editor at Vogue and LIFE magazines, and was raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her father, Frederic McMichael Kirkland, worked in the scrap...
, as well as Summer Job, in addition to commercials and countless shows for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
.
In 1990, Ike moved to Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and helped start a great music scene with The Purple Onion, a huge two-story warehouse club with three separate music venue rooms, where he performed with his band, Is Not Was, and booked the rooms with other top Canadian and international artists. The Purple Onion is still going strong today. In 1995, he moved to Seattle, re-forming his band, Is Not Was, a Hammond B3 organ quartet, that performed at Jazz Alley and other main event venues throughout Seattle and Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
.
Ike decided to move back to his roots - Toledo
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
and Detroit – in 1997 to help out the local music scene. After winning Two "People Choice Awards" for Jazz and R&B... He opened a club called Yikes Supper Club in his Toledo hometown, where he brought all of his years of experience together. He called on his pals to help launch it, including Rodney Dangerfield
Rodney Dangerfield
Rodney Dangerfield , was an American comedian, and actor, known for the catchphrases "I don't get no respect!," "No respect, no respect at all... that's the story of my life" or "I get no respect, I tell ya" and his monologues on that theme...
, who came for the grand opening. During its first year, organ greats Jack McDuff
Jack McDuff
"Brother" Jack McDuff was an American jazz organist and organ trio bandleader who was most prominent during the hard bop and soul jazz era of the 1960s, often performing with an organ trio.-Career:...
, [Joey De Francesco] and Jimmy McGriff
Jimmy McGriff
James Harrell McGriff was an American hard bop and soul-jazz organist and organ trio bandleader who developed a distinctive style of playing the Hammond B-3 organ.-Early years and influences:...
, as well as such other stellar performers as Jenna Mammina and Dave McMurray performed at the club.
In 2001, after running a club and trying to stay active in the music business became a bit too much, he moved to Atlanta, where he found a home at Café 290, a jazz hot spot in Sandy Springs. Bringing the Hammond B3 sound back to Atlanta, Ike was greeted with open arms, performing at Variety Playhouse
Variety Playhouse
Variety Playhouse is a music venue in the Little Five Points neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is located on Euclid Avenue and features a variety of music acts including rock, country, folk, bluegrass, jazz, blues and world music as well as other live shows.-Details:The building...
, The Roxy, The Dogwood Festival, and working with Sonny Emory
Sonny Emory
Sonny Emory is a freelance touring and studio drummer. He has worked with many famous acts, including Earth, Wind & Fire, Steely Dan, Bruce Hornsby, and the B-52's.-Early years:...
, Sam Skelton, Count M'Butu, The Derek Trucks Band
The Derek Trucks Band
The Derek Trucks Band has been called a "group of musicians that share a passion for improvisation and musical exploration" by a reviewer at Allmusic....
, Jeff Sipe, Caroline Aiken
Caroline Aiken
Caroline Aiken is a singer and guitarist from Atlanta, Georgia whose work spans genres, from folk to blues to rock. Aiken has released seven albums and performed with Bonnie Raitt and the Indigo Girls....
, Jimmy Herring
Jimmy Herring
Jimmy Herring is an American guitarist who is currently the lead guitarist in the band Widespread Panic. Herring is a founding member of Aquarium Rescue Unit and Jazz is Dead...
, Col. Bruce Hampton, Bobby Lee Rodgers, The Codetalkers
The Codetalkers
The Codetalkers were a jazz, rock and roll band from Savannah, Georgia, composed of Bobby Lee Rodgers, , Mark Raudabaugh and Andrew Altman . The band was formed in 1999, upon the meeting of Rodgers and Col. Bruce Hampton at a show at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta...
, Francine Reed and Susan Tedeschi
Susan Tedeschi
Susan Tedeschi is an American blues and soul musician, who has received multiple Grammy Award nominations, and is well-known for her singing voice, guitar playing, stage presence, and marriage to blues guitarist Derek Trucks...
.
In 2004 Ike went back to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
for an extended tour of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, as well as recording with and producing various artists throughout the continent. He returned to Atlanta in 2005 and was inducted into the city’s downtown Hard Rock Café
Hard Rock Cafe
Hard Rock Cafe is a chain of theme restaurants founded in 1971 by Americans Peter Morton & Isaac Tigrett. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll memorabilia, a tradition which expanded to others in the chain. In 2006, Hard Rock was sold to the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and...
location’s Hall of Fame with the first Hammond B3 on display on a wall in any Hard Rock Café worldwide. He also filled in for Billy Preston
Billy Preston
William Everett "Billy" Preston was a musician who gained notoriety and fame, first as a session musician for the likes of Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and The Beatles, and later finding fame as a solo artist with hits such as "Space Race", "Will It Go Round in Circles" and "Nothing from...
on organ during Eric Clapton’s
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
winter European tour.
In 2005 Ike also met David Neel, owner of a new club called The Blue Room, located in the Buckhead
Buckhead (Atlanta)
Buckhead is the uptown district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States, comprising approximately the northern one-fifth of the city. Buckhead is a major commercial and financial center of the Southeast, and it is the third-largest business district in Atlanta, behind Downtown and Midtown...
area of Atlanta. The two soon joined forces to create the only Hammond B3 venue on the East Coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
outside of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to showcase the art of the Hammond B3 organ.with his Pal's Joey De Francesco,Jimmy McGriff, John Medeski,Brian Auger The Blue Room features live music Monday through Saturday, with the official grand opening on March 24 and 25 featuring legendary drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie
Bernard Purdie
Bernard Lee "Pretty" Purdie is an American session drummer, and is considered an influential and innovative exponent of funk...
and the Groove Masters (Reuben Wilson on Hammond B3 organ and Grant Green Jr.] on guitar). Ike and David also created an "All Star Hit" (jam session) at The Blue Room on Monday nights, where Hammond B3 meets grand piano on a full back line stage, where all styles of music are welcome and old school networking can help bring the music scene in Atlanta closer together.
In 2010, after recording Organ & Keyboards on 9 tracks in a Cee Lo Green recording session... Ike is re-inventing himself, drawing on his 47 years in the music business. Combining his roots with musicians and Artist like Sonny Emory, Jeff Sipe, Marcus Williams, Little John Roberts, J.Fly and Yonrico Scott as his first choice of drummers in Atlanta, he is also collaborating with Jeff Coffin and Freddy V. on sax; Grant Green Jr.,Jimmy Herring,Bob Sabellico and Derek Scott on guitars; plus Oteil Burbridge and Felix Pastorius on bass to help kick start his new CD. Slated for the top of 2011, Ike will also be adding his B3 Organ, Keyboards,Old School Moog Techniques and yes, VOCALS(!) to the mix. Ike Stubblefield can be found performing live with all of the above worldwide.
Having Fun with a B3 & Drums Duo or B3 Power Trio, his dedication to keeping the true Hammond B3 sound alive stays Strong....