Session musician
Encyclopedia
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble
and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists
or bandleader
s. The term is applied not only to those working in contemporary musical styles such as rock
, jazz
, country
, R&B and pop
but also classical music. Versatility is one of the most important skills of session musicians as they may have to perform in a range of different settings. Session musicians are expected to learn parts rapidly and be skilled in both sight reading
and ear training
.
Session musicians are used in any situation where musical skills are needed on a short-term basis. Typically session musicians are used by recording studios to provide backing tracks for other musicians in recording studios and live performances; recording for advertising
, film and television; or theatrical productions
.
The terms "session musician" and "studio musician" are now synonymous, though in past decades the latter term more typically described musicians who were associated with a particular record company or recording studio
.
and dance band musicians who were at the same time members of regular working bands and who divided their time between studio work (recordings as well as broadcasting) during the day and live performances in the evenings. Notable such "studio musicians" include Tommy
and Jimmy Dorsey
, Benny Goodman
, Jack Teagarden
, Red Nichols
, Miff Mole
, Andy Sannella
, and Mike Mosiello
.
Although session musicians have long and successful careers and can achieve considerable fame within the music industry, they rarely achieve popular celebrity. Notable exceptions include the members of the band Toto
who met in various recording sessions; John Paul Jones
and Jimmy Page
, who were well known as session musicians before their later success with Led Zeppelin
; keyboardist Rick Wakeman
; and renowned vocalists Valerie Simpson, Lisa Fischer
and Luther Vandross
.
Among the most prolific established studio musicians are The Wrecking Crew
. Based in Los Angeles, the Wrecking Crew has recorded innumerable songs and albums since the 1960s. Their bassist Carol Kaye
is said to be the most recorded bassist of all time with 10,000 sessions spanning four decades, yet is largely unknown to the general public. Studio musicians dubbed the Funk Brothers were the driving force behind dozens of Motown hits.
A few session musicians have even built reputations of notoriety: English session singer Tony Burrows
appeared so often as a frontman for various one-hit wonder
studio groups (such as Edison Lighthouse
, The Flower Pot Men, The Pipkins
, The Brotherhood of Man, White Plains
, and The First Class
), in a short period of time during the early 1970s, that his attempts at a solo career under his own name were hampered, due in part to burnout.
Another well-known group of session musicians is called The Nashville A-Team
and is made up of A-list
studio musicians who recorded during the Nashville Sound era. Their contributions began in the 1950s with artists such as Elvis Presley
. Some of these musicians are still alive today. The original A-Team includes bassist Bob Moore
; guitarists Grady Martin
, Hank Garland
, Ray Edenton, and Harold Bradley
; drummer Buddy Harman
; pianists Floyd Cramer
and Hargus "Pig" Robbins; fiddler Tommy Jackson; steel guitarist Pete Drake
; harmonicist Charlie McCoy
; saxophonist Boots Randolph
; and vocal groups The Jordanaires
and The Anita Kerr Singers. The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section
comprising Barry Beckett
, Roger Hawkins
, David Hood
, and Jimmy Johnson
, also known as The Swampers, is another well-established group of session musicians. They have become known for the "Muscle Shoals Sound." Many of the recordings done in the Memphis area, which included Muscle Shoals, Alabama
, used the The Memphis Horns
in their arrangements. MFSB
was a group of soul music
studio musicians based in Philadelphia at the Sigma Sound Studios
; they later went on to become a name-brand instrumental group, and their best known hit was TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)
, better known as the theme from Soul Train
.
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
or bandleader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
s. The term is applied not only to those working in contemporary musical styles such as rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, R&B and pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
but also classical music. Versatility is one of the most important skills of session musicians as they may have to perform in a range of different settings. Session musicians are expected to learn parts rapidly and be skilled in both sight reading
Sight reading
Sight-reading is the reading and performing of a piece of written music, specifically when the performer has not seen it before. Sight-singing is often used to describe a singer who is sight-reading.-Sight-reading:...
and ear training
Ear training
Ear training or aural skills is a skill by which musicians learn to identify, solely by hearing, pitches, intervals, melody, chords, rhythms, and other basic elements of music. The application of this skill is analogous to taking dictation in written/spoken language. Ear training may be...
.
Session musicians are used in any situation where musical skills are needed on a short-term basis. Typically session musicians are used by recording studios to provide backing tracks for other musicians in recording studios and live performances; recording for advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
, film and television; or theatrical productions
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
.
The terms "session musician" and "studio musician" are now synonymous, though in past decades the latter term more typically described musicians who were associated with a particular record company or recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
.
History and associations
During the 1920s and 1930s most record companies had their own prolific "studio bands" turning out records of the latest pop hits. These were often made up by jazzJazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and dance band musicians who were at the same time members of regular working bands and who divided their time between studio work (recordings as well as broadcasting) during the day and live performances in the evenings. Notable such "studio musicians" include Tommy
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
and Jimmy Dorsey
Jimmy Dorsey
James "Jimmy" Dorsey was a prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, and big band leader. He was known as "JD"...
, Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
, Jack Teagarden
Jack Teagarden
Weldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden , known as "Big T" and "The Swingin' Gate", was an influential jazz trombonist, bandleader, composer, and vocalist, regarded as the "Father of Jazz Trombone".-Early life:...
, Red Nichols
Red Nichols
Ernest Loring "Red" Nichols was an American jazz cornettist, composer, and jazz bandleader.Over his long career, Nichols recorded in a wide variety of musical styles, and critic Steve Leggett describes him as "an expert cornet player, a solid improviser, and apparently a workaholic, since he is...
, Miff Mole
Miff Mole
Irving Milfred Mole, better known as Miff Mole was a jazz trombonist and band leader. He is generally considered as one of the greatest jazz trombonists and credited with creating "the first distinctive and influential solo jazz trombone style." His major recordings included "Slippin' Around",...
, Andy Sannella
Andy Sannella
Anthony G. "Andy" Sannella was an American musician and bandleader.Sannella, who was born in Indiana, was a multiinstrumentalist; according to jazz historian John Chilton he played violin, piano, organ, clarinet, alto saxophone, guitar , banjo and vibraphone...
, and Mike Mosiello
Mike Mosiello
Mike Mosiello was an Italian-born American trumpet player.- Biography :...
.
Although session musicians have long and successful careers and can achieve considerable fame within the music industry, they rarely achieve popular celebrity. Notable exceptions include the members of the band Toto
Toto (band)
Toto is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1977. The group currently consists of Joseph Williams , David Paich , Steve Porcaro , Steve Lukather , Mike Porcaro , and Simon Phillips . Toto is known for a musical style that combines elements of pop, rock, soul, funk, progressive rock, hard...
who met in various recording sessions; John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones (musician)
John Paul Jones is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer. Best known as the bassist, mandolinist, and keyboardist for English rock band Led Zeppelin, Jones has since developed a solo career and has gained even more respect as both a musician and a...
and Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
, who were well known as session musicians before their later success with Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
; keyboardist Rick Wakeman
Rick Wakeman
Richard Christopher Wakeman is an English keyboard player, composer and songwriter best known for being the former keyboardist in the progressive rock band Yes...
; and renowned vocalists Valerie Simpson, Lisa Fischer
Lisa Fischer
Lisa Fischer is an American R&B singer and songwriter. She rose to fame in 1991 with her debut album So Intense, which produced the Grammy Award winning hit single "How Can I Ease the Pain". Known for her high notes, which extends into the whistle register, Fischer has been recognized as one of...
and Luther Vandross
Luther Vandross
Luther Ronzoni Vandross was an American singer-songwriter and record producer. During his career, Vandross sold over twenty-five million albums and won eight Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four times...
.
Among the most prolific established studio musicians are The Wrecking Crew
The Wrecking Crew (music)
The Wrecking Crew was a nickname coined by the drummer Hal Blaine after the fact for a group of session musicians in Los Angeles, California, who earned wide acclaim in the 1960s. They backed dozens of popular singers, and were one of the most successful "groups" of studio musicians in music history...
. Based in Los Angeles, the Wrecking Crew has recorded innumerable songs and albums since the 1960s. Their bassist Carol Kaye
Carol Kaye
Carol Kaye is an American musician, best known as one of the most prolific and widely heard bass guitarists in history, playing on an estimated 10,000 recording sessions in a 55 year career....
is said to be the most recorded bassist of all time with 10,000 sessions spanning four decades, yet is largely unknown to the general public. Studio musicians dubbed the Funk Brothers were the driving force behind dozens of Motown hits.
A few session musicians have even built reputations of notoriety: English session singer Tony Burrows
Tony Burrows
Anthony "Tony" Burrows is a British session singer. He has been credited with singing lead on hit singles for more groups than any other recording artist, both on the UK Singles Chart and the U.S...
appeared so often as a frontman for various one-hit wonder
One-hit wonder
A one-hit wonder is a person or act known mainly for only a single success. The term is most often used to describe music performers with only one hit single.-Characteristics:...
studio groups (such as Edison Lighthouse
Edison Lighthouse
Edison Lighthouse was a UK pop group, initially a studio-only assemblage that served as a vehicle for session vocalist Tony Burrows and songwriter/record producers Tony Macaulay and Barry Mason, are best known for their 1970 UK chart-topper and million-selling record, "Love Grows ".-Career:The...
, The Flower Pot Men, The Pipkins
The Pipkins
The Pipkins were a short-lived novelty duo, best known for their hit single "Gimme Dat Ding" , which reached No. 6 in the UK Singles Charts and #9 on the U.S. charts in 1970...
, The Brotherhood of Man, White Plains
White Plains (band)
White Plains were a British pop music group, that existed from 1969 to 1976.-Career:White Plains evolved from the late 1960s pop/psychedelic band The Flower Pot Men, composed of Tony Burrows, Pete Nelson, and Robin Shaw together with Neil Landon . The band was primarily a studio project led by John...
, and The First Class
The First Class
The First Class was a British pop music studio-based group, put together by songwriter and record producer John Carter.-Career:The First Class was the studio creation of the British singer-songwriter John Carter and singers Tony Burrows and Chas Mills as an outlet for material Carter wrote with his...
), in a short period of time during the early 1970s, that his attempts at a solo career under his own name were hampered, due in part to burnout.
Another well-known group of session musicians is called The Nashville A-Team
The Nashville A-Team
The Nashville A-Team was a nickname given to a group of session musicians in Nashville, Tennessee, who earned wide acclaim in the 1950s and 1960s. They backed dozens of popular singers, including Elvis Presley, Eddy Arnold, Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, Bob Dylan and others.The Nashville A-Team's...
and is made up of A-list
A-list
A-list is a term that alludes to major movie stars, or the most bankable in the Hollywood film industry.The A-list is part of a larger guide called The Hot List that has become an industry-standard guide in Hollywood...
studio musicians who recorded during the Nashville Sound era. Their contributions began in the 1950s with artists such as Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
. Some of these musicians are still alive today. The original A-Team includes bassist Bob Moore
Bob Moore
Bob Loyce Moore is an American session musician, orchestra leader, and bassist who was a member of the legendary Nashville A-Team during the 1950s and 60s.-Biography:...
; guitarists Grady Martin
Grady Martin
Thomas Grady Martin was one of the most renowned, inventive and historically significant American session musicians in country music and rockabilly....
, Hank Garland
Hank Garland
Walter Louis Garland , better known as Hank Garland, was a Nashville studio musician who performed with Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, Roy Orbison and many others.-Biography:...
, Ray Edenton, and Harold Bradley
Harold Bradley
Harold Bradley is a pop guitarist and an American country guitarist.Harold played banjo as a child but switched to guitar on the advice of his elder brother, Owen Bradley. Owen arranged for Harold to tour with Ernest Tubb while Harold was still in high school. After graduation, Harold joined the...
; drummer Buddy Harman
Buddy Harman
Buddy Harman was an American session musician.-Career:Born in Nashville, Tennessee, he played drums on over 18,000 sessions for artists such as Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, Brenda Lee, Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, Roy Orbison, Connie Francis, Chet Atkins, Marty Robbins, Roger Miller,...
; pianists Floyd Cramer
Floyd Cramer
Floyd Cramer was an American Hall of Fame pianist who was one of the architects of the "Nashville sound." He popularized the "slip note" piano style where an out-of-tune note slides effortlessly into the correct note...
and Hargus "Pig" Robbins; fiddler Tommy Jackson; steel guitarist Pete Drake
Pete Drake
Pete Drake , born Roddis Franklin Drake, was a major Nashville, Tennessee-based record producer and pedal steel guitar player....
; harmonicist Charlie McCoy
Charlie McCoy
Charles "Charlie" Ray McCoy is an American musician noted for his harmonica playing. In his career, McCoy has backed several notable musicians including Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Tom Astor, Elvis Presley and Ween. He has also recorded thirty-seven studio albums, including fourteen for Monument Records...
; saxophonist Boots Randolph
Boots Randolph
Homer Louis "Boots" Randolph III was an American musician best known for his 1963 saxophone hit, "Yakety Sax"...
; and vocal groups The Jordanaires
The Jordanaires
The Jordanaires are an American vocal quartet, which formed as a gospel group in 1948. They are best known for providing vocal background for Elvis Presley, in live appearances and recordings from 1956 to 1972...
and The Anita Kerr Singers. The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section
Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section
The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, also known as The Swampers, are a group of American soul, R&B, and country studio musicians based in the town of Muscle Shoals, Alabama...
comprising Barry Beckett
Barry Beckett
Barry Edward Beckett was a keyboardist who worked as a session musician with several notable artists on their studio albums...
, Roger Hawkins
Roger Hawkins
Roger G Hawkins , is an American drummer best known for playing as part of the studio backing band known as The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section of Alabama...
, David Hood
David Hood
David Hood , is a bassist from Muscle Shoals, Alabama. He also plays the trombone and is a member of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame....
, and Jimmy Johnson
Jimmy Johnson (musician)
Jimmy Johnson is an American a member of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section that was attached to FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama for a period in the 1960s and 1970s, and later was the a founder of Muscle Shoals Sound Studio located at first on 3614 Jackson Highway in Sheffield, Alabama and at...
, also known as The Swampers, is another well-established group of session musicians. They have become known for the "Muscle Shoals Sound." Many of the recordings done in the Memphis area, which included Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Muscle Shoals is a city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. As of 2007, the United States Census Bureau estimated the population of the city to be 12,846. The city is included in The Shoals MSA. It is famous for its contributions to American popular music.-Geography:Muscle Shoals is located...
, used the The Memphis Horns
The Memphis Horns
The Memphis Horns are an American horn section made famous by their many appearances on Stax Records. They have been called "arguably the greatest soul horn section ever." Originally a sextet, the Memphis Horns gradually slimmed down to a duo, Wayne Jackson on trumpet and Andrew Love on tenor...
in their arrangements. MFSB
MFSB
MFSB was a pool of more than thirty studio musicians based at Philadelphia’s famed Sigma Sound Studios. They worked closely with the production team of Gamble and Huff and producer/arranger Thom Bell, and backed up such groups as Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, the O’Jays, the Stylistics, the...
was a group of soul music
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
studio musicians based in Philadelphia at the Sigma Sound Studios
Sigma Sound Studios
Sigma Sound Studios is an American music recording studio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania founded by recording engineer Joseph Tarsia in 1968.Located at 212 N. 12th Street in Philadelphia, it was the second studio in the country to offer 24-track recording and the first in the country to use console...
; they later went on to become a name-brand instrumental group, and their best known hit was TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)
TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)
"TSOP " is a 1974 hit recording by MFSB featuring vocals by The Three Degrees. A classic example of the Philadelphia soul genre, it was written by Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff as the theme for the American musical television program Soul Train, which specialized in African American musical...
, better known as the theme from Soul Train
Soul Train
Soul Train is an American musical variety show that aired in syndication from October 1971 to March 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists, although funk, jazz, disco, and gospel artists have also appeared.As a nod to Soul Trains...
.