Steve Gadd
Encyclopedia
Steve Gadd is an American
session
and studio drummer
, notable for his work with popular musicians from a wide range of genres.
, a suburb of Rochester, New York
. When he was seven years old, his uncle, who was a drummer in the US army, encouraged him to take drum lessons. By the age of eleven he had sat in with Dizzy Gillespie
.
After graduating from Irondequoit's Eastridge High School
, he attended the Manhattan School of Music
for two years before transferring to the Eastman School of Music
in Rochester, playing in wind ensembles and concert bands. After Gadd finished college in the late 1960s, he played regularly with Chuck Mangione
and his brother Gap Mangione
. His first recording was on Gap Mangione's debut solo album, Diana in the Autumn Wind (1968).
Gadd was drafted into the U.S. Army and spent three years as a drummer in the Army Music Program, most of which was spent with the Jazz Ambassadors of the U.S. Army Field Band in Ft. Meade, MD. While living in the Washington DC area, he briefly took lessons from the noted jazz drummer, Michael S. Smith
. Following his military service, Gadd played and worked with a band in Rochester. In 1972, Gadd formed a trio with Tony Levin
and Mike Holmes, traveling to New York with them. The trio eventually broke up, but Gadd began to work mainly as a studio musician. Gadd also played with Chick Corea's
Return to Forever
but left the group.
In the 1970s and 1980s, he toured internationally, and recorded with Paul Simon
and also with Al Di Meola
's Electric Rendezvous Band. In response to confusion over another drummer by the same name, Gadd, while on his We're on a Mission from Gadd tour in 2005, told fans that was not him. Gadd said, "I've never met the other Steve Gadd. We happened to stay in the same hotel once, though. I kept getting his messages and apparently he was getting mine."
In 1976, Gadd and other session musicians in New York City, including Richard Tee
, Eric Gale
and Cornell Dupree
, formed the group Stuff
. Their work included appearances on NBC's Saturday Night Live
, both performing on their own and backing Joe Cocker
.
By the end of the 1970s, Steve Gadd was an accomplished drummer, with transcriptions of his drum solos on sale in Japan. Chick Corea
once commented, "Every drummer wants to play like Gadd because he plays perfect ... He has brought orchestral and compositional thinking to the drum kit while at the same time having a great imagination and a great ability to swing."
In 2005, along with Abraham Laboriel
, Patrice Rushen
and others, Gadd was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music
for outstanding contributions to contemporary music.
The song "A Little Green Rosetta" from the Frank Zappa
album Joe's Garage
lampoons Steve Gadd's status as one of the highest paid session drummers in popular music.
, Paul McCartney
, Paul Simon
, Steely Dan
, Al Jarreau
, Joe Cocker
, Stuff
, Bob James
, Chick Corea
, Eric Clapton
, Pino Daniele
, James Taylor
, Jim Croce
, Eddie Gomez
, The Manhattan Transfer
, Michal Urbaniak
, Steps Ahead
, Al Di Meola
, Manhattan Jazz Quintet
, Carly Simon
, Richard Tee
, Jon Bon Jovi
, Chet Baker
, Paul Desmond
, The Bee Gees
, and Michael McDonald
.
's Aja
album – highlighted by Gadd's drum punctuation in the coda
of the title cut. Corea's straight-ahead jazz albums Friends
and Three Quartets
, as well as Jim Hall
's 1975 album Concierto
are some more examples of Gadd's jazz playing. In 1979, Gadd performed a drum solo on Carly Simon
's "SPY" LP.
. He was a featured performer and actor in the 1980 motion picture One Trick Pony starring Paul Simon
. Simon's hit "Late in the Evening" was the movie's main title in which Gadd implemented the "Mozambique
", a Cuban dance rhythm, into the song.
and his Paul Simon band colleague, bassist Anthony Jackson (captured on the "Trio in Tokyo" CD and "Live in Stuttgart" DVD/VHS).
and was part of Clapton's touring band throughout May 2009.
Also in 2009, Gadd reunited with his band from 1973, "L'Image", featuring Mike Mainieri
, Warren Bernhardt
, David Spinozza
and Tony Levin
. The group performed at the Iridium Jazz Club
in New York City, toured Japan, and released the album "L'Image 2.0".
drums, which he has played since 1976. He has recently changed his gear to a setup consisting of "Birch Custom Absolute" toms and a maple bass drum. He also uses a chrome Yamaha Recording Custom Steel Shell snare drum.
He has been asked to contribute his ideas to develop his own signature series Zildjian
K Custom Session cymbal
s.
Gadd also has Vic Firth sticks with his signature on them. The drumsticks are a very light, thin kind, black in color, and normal "wood color" on the tips. There is also an identical model with nylon
tips. The stick is also slightly shorter than the American Classic 5A, and features a barrel tip for improved recording sound. It is 15+3/4 in long and the diameter is 0.55 in (1.4 cm). Along with having his own signature stick, he also has his own signature brushes. These brushes are intended to solve the problem of wire brushes snagging on new coated drumheads by slightly angling the wires in the top 3/4” (1.9 cm) of the playing end. The wires glide across the head, allowing a smoother sweep and a velvet swish sound.
Gadd uses a variety of Remo
heads: a coated Powerstroke 3 on the batter side of the snare, coated Pinstripes or coated Ambassadors on the batter sides of toms, and clear Ambassadors for the resonant sides. He uses a Pinstripe on the bass drum.
As Steve Gadd/ with the Gadd Gang:
With Stuff
:
With B.B. King:
With Chick Corea
:
With Steely Dan
:
With Simon and Garfunkel
:
With The Manhattan Transfer
:
With Paul Simon
:
With Steps Ahead
:
With George Benson
:
With Joe Brucato:
With Eric Clapton
:
With Dr. John
:
With James Brown:
With Al Jarreau
:
With Rickie Lee Jones
:
With Paul McCartney
:
With Chuck Mangione
:
With Michel Petrucciani
:
With Al Di Meola
:
With Lee Ritenour
:
With Bob James
With Michel Jonasz
:
With Sunlightsquare
:
With Weather Report
With Funk Factory
With James Taylor
With Art Garfunkel
With L'Image
With Lesley Meguid
With Chet Baker
With Masahiko Satoh
With Kate Bush
:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
session
Session musician
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 bandleaders...
and studio drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
, notable for his work with popular musicians from a wide range of genres.
Biography
Gadd is a native of Irondequoit, New YorkIrondequoit, New York
Irondequoit is a town in Monroe County, New York, USA. As of the 2010 census, the coterminous town-CDP had a total population of 51,692...
, a suburb of Rochester, New York
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
. When he was seven years old, his uncle, who was a drummer in the US army, encouraged him to take drum lessons. By the age of eleven he had sat in with Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
.
After graduating from Irondequoit's Eastridge High School
Eastridge High School
Eastridge High School is an American public secondary school located in Irondequoit, New York. Its current principal is Mary Grow. The School is an IB world school...
, he attended the Manhattan School of Music
Manhattan School of Music
The Manhattan School of Music is a major music conservatory located on the Upper West Side of New York City. The school offers degrees on the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition...
for two years before transferring to the Eastman School of Music
Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...
in Rochester, playing in wind ensembles and concert bands. After Gadd finished college in the late 1960s, he played regularly with Chuck Mangione
Chuck Mangione
Charles Frank "Chuck" Mangione is an American flugelhorn player and composer who achieved international success in 1977 with his jazz-pop single, "Feels So Good." Mangione has released more than thirty albums since 1960.-Early life and career:...
and his brother Gap Mangione
Gap Mangione
Gaspare "Gap" Mangione is a jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader from Rochester, New York, United States.Born and raised in Rochester, Mangione's younger brother is Grammy-winning flugelhornist Chuck Mangione. Members of a music-loving family, both Gap and Chuck took up instruments...
. His first recording was on Gap Mangione's debut solo album, Diana in the Autumn Wind (1968).
Gadd was drafted into the U.S. Army and spent three years as a drummer in the Army Music Program, most of which was spent with the Jazz Ambassadors of the U.S. Army Field Band in Ft. Meade, MD. While living in the Washington DC area, he briefly took lessons from the noted jazz drummer, Michael S. Smith
Michael S. Smith
Michael Scott Smith was an American jazz drummer and percussionist.-Career:Based in the Washington D.C...
. Following his military service, Gadd played and worked with a band in Rochester. In 1972, Gadd formed a trio with Tony Levin
Tony Levin
Tony Levin is an American progressive rock musician, specializing in bass guitar, Chapman stick and upright bass ....
and Mike Holmes, traveling to New York with them. The trio eventually broke up, but Gadd began to work mainly as a studio musician. Gadd also played with Chick Corea's
Chick Corea
Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever...
Return to Forever
Return to Forever
Return to Forever is a jazz fusion group founded and led by keyboardist Chick Corea. Through its existence, the band has cycled through a number of different members, with the only consistent band mate of Corea's being bassist Stanley Clarke...
but left the group.
In the 1970s and 1980s, he toured internationally, and recorded with Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
and also with Al Di Meola
Al Di Meola
Al Di Meola is an acclaimed American jazz fusion and Latin guitarist, composer, and record producer of Italian origin. With a musical career that has spanned more than three decades, he has become respected as one of the most influential guitarists in jazz to date...
's Electric Rendezvous Band. In response to confusion over another drummer by the same name, Gadd, while on his We're on a Mission from Gadd tour in 2005, told fans that was not him. Gadd said, "I've never met the other Steve Gadd. We happened to stay in the same hotel once, though. I kept getting his messages and apparently he was getting mine."
In 1976, Gadd and other session musicians in New York City, including Richard Tee
Richard Tee
Richard Tee was a pianist, studio musician, singer and arranger.Tee graduated from the High School of Music and Art and attended the Manhattan School of Music. Though better known as a studio and session musician, Tee led a jazz ensemble, the Richard Tee Committee, and was a founding member of the...
, Eric Gale
Eric Gale
Eric J. Gale was a leading American jazz and session guitarist.Born in Brooklyn, New York, Gale began playing guitar at the age of 12. Although he majored in chemistry at Niagara University, Gale was determined to pursue a musical career, and began contributing to accompaniments for such stars as...
and Cornell Dupree
Cornell Dupree
Cornell Luther Dupree was an American jazz and R&B guitarist. He worked at various times with Bill Withers, Donny Hathaway, King Curtis and Steve Gadd, appeared on David Letterman, and wrote a book on soul and blues guitar: Rhythm and Blues Guitar ISBN 0-634-00149-3...
, formed the group Stuff
Stuff (band)
Stuff was a New York-based jazz funk band active in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The members were Gordon Edwards , Richard Tee , Eric Gale , Cornell Dupree , Chris Parker , and later Steve Gadd...
. Their work included appearances on NBC's Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
, both performing on their own and backing Joe Cocker
Joe Cocker
John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...
.
By the end of the 1970s, Steve Gadd was an accomplished drummer, with transcriptions of his drum solos on sale in Japan. Chick Corea
Chick Corea
Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever...
once commented, "Every drummer wants to play like Gadd because he plays perfect ... He has brought orchestral and compositional thinking to the drum kit while at the same time having a great imagination and a great ability to swing."
In 2005, along with Abraham Laboriel
Abraham Laboriel
Abraham Laboriel, Sr. is a Mexican bassist of Garifuna descent who has played on over 4,000 recordings and soundtracks. Guitar Player Magazine described him as "the most widely used session bassist of our time". Laboriel is the father of drummer Abe Laboriel Jr. and of producer, songwriter, and...
, Patrice Rushen
Patrice Rushen
Patrice Rushen is a Grammy Award-winning African American R&B and jazz vocalist, composer and pianist.-Biography:...
and others, Gadd was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...
for outstanding contributions to contemporary music.
The song "A Little Green Rosetta" from the Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
album Joe's Garage
Joe's Garage
Joe's Garage is a 1979 rock opera by Frank Zappa. Zappa stated that along with Lumpy Gravy, this album was one of his finest achievements. It was originally released as two separate albums, the first comprising Act I, and the second part as a double-album which made up Acts II & III. All three...
lampoons Steve Gadd's status as one of the highest paid session drummers in popular music.
Session work
A short list of musicians with whom Gadd has worked include Kate BushKate Bush
Kate Bush is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years.In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart...
, Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
, Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
, Steely Dan
Steely Dan
Steely Dan is an American rock band; its core members are Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The band's popularity peaked in the late 1970s, with the release of seven albums blending elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop...
, Al Jarreau
Al Jarreau
Alwin "Al" Lopez Jarreau is a seven-time Grammy Award winning jazz singer.- Background :Jarreau was born in Milwaukee, the fifth of six children. His web site refers to Reservoir, Inc., the name of the street where he lived. His father was a Seventh-Day Adventist Church minister and singer, and...
, Joe Cocker
Joe Cocker
John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...
, Stuff
Stuff (band)
Stuff was a New York-based jazz funk band active in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The members were Gordon Edwards , Richard Tee , Eric Gale , Cornell Dupree , Chris Parker , and later Steve Gadd...
, Bob James
Bob James (musician)
Robert McElhiney James is a jazz keyboardist, arranger and producer.-Biography:During the 1970s, Bob James played a major role in establishing the smooth jazz genre. "Angela", the instrumental theme from the sitcom Taxi, is probably Bob James' most well-known work to date...
, Chick Corea
Chick Corea
Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever...
, 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...
, Pino Daniele
Pino Daniele
Pino Daniele is an Italian vocalist, composer, and musician, whose influences cover a wide number of genres, fusing pop, blues, jazz, Italian and Middle eastern music into his own unique brand of world music.-Studio albums:...
, James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
, Jim Croce
Jim Croce
James Joseph "Jim" Croce January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973 was an American singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, Croce released five studio albums and 11 singles...
, Eddie Gomez
Eddie Gomez
Edgar "Eddie" Gómez is a Puerto Rican jazz double bassist born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, perhaps most notable for his work done with the Bill Evans trio from 1966 to 1977.-Biography:...
, The Manhattan Transfer
The Manhattan Transfer
The Manhattan Transfer is an American vocal music group. There have been two manifestations of the group, with Tim Hauser being the only person to be part of both...
, Michal Urbaniak
Michal Urbaniak
Michał Urbaniak is a Polish jazz musician and composer born in Warsaw, playing mainly the violin, lyricon and saxophone during concerts and recordings...
, Steps Ahead
Steps Ahead
Steps Ahead is a jazz fusion group and the brainchild of vibraphonist Mike Mainieri. According to the liner notes of the group's 1983 debut album , entitled Steps Ahead, "Steps began as a part-time venture in 1979 at Seventh Avenue South, a New York City nightclub." The group began releasing...
, Al Di Meola
Al Di Meola
Al Di Meola is an acclaimed American jazz fusion and Latin guitarist, composer, and record producer of Italian origin. With a musical career that has spanned more than three decades, he has become respected as one of the most influential guitarists in jazz to date...
, Manhattan Jazz Quintet
Manhattan Jazz Quintet
The Manhattan Jazz Quintet is a jazz ensemble consisting of David Matthews on piano, Lew Soloff on trumpet, Victor Lewis on drums, Andy Snitzer on saxophone, and Charnett Moffett on bass...
, Carly Simon
Carly Simon
Carly Elisabeth Simon is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records, and has since been the recipient of two Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for her work...
, Richard Tee
Richard Tee
Richard Tee was a pianist, studio musician, singer and arranger.Tee graduated from the High School of Music and Art and attended the Manhattan School of Music. Though better known as a studio and session musician, Tee led a jazz ensemble, the Richard Tee Committee, and was a founding member of the...
, Jon Bon Jovi
Jon Bon Jovi
Jon Bon Jovi is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as the founder, occasional rhythm guitarist, and lead singer of rock band Bon Jovi, which was named after him...
, Chet Baker
Chet Baker
Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker, Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and singer.Though his music earned him a large following , Baker's popularity was due in part to his "matinee idol-beauty" and "well-publicized drug habit."He died in 1988 in Amsterdam, the...
, Paul Desmond
Paul Desmond
Paul Desmond , born Paul Emil Breitenfeld, was a jazz alto saxophonist and composer born in San Francisco, best known for the work he did in the Dave Brubeck Quartet and for penning that group's greatest hit, "Take Five"...
, The Bee Gees
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
, and Michael McDonald
Michael McDonald (singer)
Michael McDonald is a five-time Grammy Award winning American singer and songwriter. McDonald is known for a soulful baritone singing style and a multi-octave range. He began his career singing back-up vocals with Steely Dan...
.
1970s
In 1975, Gadd played drums on "The Hustle" by Van McCoy and the Soul City Symphony. That same year, he also played the recognizable drum intro and beat behind Paul Simon's hit, "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover". Gadd demonstrated the strengths in his work on the title track of Steely DanSteely Dan
Steely Dan is an American rock band; its core members are Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The band's popularity peaked in the late 1970s, with the release of seven albums blending elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop...
's Aja
Aja (album)
-Charts:AlbumPop Singles-Awards:Grammy Awards-External links:**, courtesy of The Museum of Classic Chicago Television...
album – highlighted by Gadd's drum punctuation in the coda
Coda (music)
Coda is a term used in music in a number of different senses, primarily to designate a passage that brings a piece to an end. Technically, it is an expanded cadence...
of the title cut. Corea's straight-ahead jazz albums Friends
Friends (Chick Corea)
Friends is an album recorded and released by Chick Corea in 1978.The album does away with the string and horn sections of previous albums, instead focusing on a quartet with straight-ahead jazz in mind...
and Three Quartets
Three Quartets
Three Quartets is a jazz album released in 1981 by American jazz pianist Chick Corea, in collaboration with saxophone giant Michael Brecker, bassist Eddie Gomez, and drummer Steve Gadd...
, as well as Jim Hall
Jim Hall (musician)
James Stanley Hall is an American jazz guitarist.-Biography:Educated at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Hall moved to Los Angeles where he began to attract national, and then international, attention in the late 1950s...
's 1975 album Concierto
Concierto
Concierto is an album by Jim Hall sextet featuring Paul Desmond, Chet Baker, Ron Carter, Steve Gadd and Roland Hanna, produced by Creed Taylor and recorded at Van Gelder Studios April 16 and 23, 1975...
are some more examples of Gadd's jazz playing. In 1979, Gadd performed a drum solo on Carly Simon
Carly Simon
Carly Elisabeth Simon is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records, and has since been the recipient of two Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for her work...
's "SPY" LP.
1980s
In 1981, Gadd played in the famous Simon & Garfunkel's Concert in Central ParkThe Concert in Central Park
The Concert in Central Park is a live album by Simon & Garfunkel. On September 19, 1981 the folk-rock duo reunited for a free concert on the Great Lawn of New York's Central Park, attended by more than 500,000 people. They released a live album from the concert the following March...
. He was a featured performer and actor in the 1980 motion picture One Trick Pony starring Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
. Simon's hit "Late in the Evening" was the movie's main title in which Gadd implemented the "Mozambique
Mozambique (music)
Mozambique is a vigorous style of Cuban music and dance derived, like the conga, from music of Cuban street carnivals or comparsas. It was invented or developed by Pello el Afrokan in 1963...
", a Cuban dance rhythm, into the song.
1990s
Gadd recorded and toured with Eric Clapton in 1994/1996 and again from 1997 to 2004. 1997 also saw him on a world tour in a trio with the French jazz great Michel PetruccianiMichel Petrucciani
Michel Petrucciani was a French jazz pianist.-Biography:...
and his Paul Simon band colleague, bassist Anthony Jackson (captured on the "Trio in Tokyo" CD and "Live in Stuttgart" DVD/VHS).
2000s
In 2009, Gadd returned to Clapton's band to play 11 nights at the Royal Albert HallRoyal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
and was part of Clapton's touring band throughout May 2009.
Also in 2009, Gadd reunited with his band from 1973, "L'Image", featuring Mike Mainieri
Mike Mainieri
Michael T. Mainieri, Jr. is a vibraphonist best known for his work with the jazz fusion group Steps Ahead....
, Warren Bernhardt
Warren Bernhardt
Warren Bernhardt is a noted pianist in jazz, pop and classical music.His father was a pianist, leading him to have early childhood exposure to piano, and he learned some rudiments of keyboarding from his friends. At five his parents moved to New York City where he began studying seriously under...
, David Spinozza
David Spinozza
David Spinozza is an American musician , who worked with former Beatles Paul McCartney and John Lennon during the 1970s, and had a long collaboration with singer-songwriter James Taylor, producing Taylor's album Walking Man....
and Tony Levin
Tony Levin
Tony Levin is an American progressive rock musician, specializing in bass guitar, Chapman stick and upright bass ....
. The group performed at the Iridium Jazz Club
Iridium Jazz Club
The Iridium Jazz Club is a jazz club located on Broadway in New York City. The club hosts weekly performances by John Colianni, and also featured weekly performances by Les Paul for nearly fifteen years.- History :...
in New York City, toured Japan, and released the album "L'Image 2.0".
2010s
In 2011, Gadd worked with Kate Bush on her "50 Words for Snow" album. Kate Bush was interviewed by Jamie Cullum and told him that she had wanted to work with Steve Gadd for a long time but had not had the courage to approach him. She described Steve Gadd as "a sweet person, really down to earth" and said that "his interpretation of music is so sophisticated". She said she loved working with him and that there was a real chemistry that started to click in.Equipment
Steve Gadd uses YamahaYamaha Drums
Yamaha Drums is a subsidiary of the Yamaha Corporation founded in 1967. The company manufactures acoustic and electronic drum kits as well as percussion instruments, marching band equipment, and drum hardware.-Production:...
drums, which he has played since 1976. He has recently changed his gear to a setup consisting of "Birch Custom Absolute" toms and a maple bass drum. He also uses a chrome Yamaha Recording Custom Steel Shell snare drum.
He has been asked to contribute his ideas to develop his own signature series Zildjian
Avedis Zildjian Company
The Avedis Zildjian Company is a cymbal manufacturer founded in Istanbul by Armenian Avedis Zildjian in the 17th century during the Ottoman Empire. At nearly 400 years old, Zildjian is one of the oldest companies in the world...
K Custom Session cymbal
Cymbal
Cymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
s.
Gadd also has Vic Firth sticks with his signature on them. The drumsticks are a very light, thin kind, black in color, and normal "wood color" on the tips. There is also an identical model with nylon
Nylon
Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers known generically as polyamides, first produced on February 28, 1935, by Wallace Carothers at DuPont's research facility at the DuPont Experimental Station...
tips. The stick is also slightly shorter than the American Classic 5A, and features a barrel tip for improved recording sound. It is 15+3/4 in long and the diameter is 0.55 in (1.4 cm). Along with having his own signature stick, he also has his own signature brushes. These brushes are intended to solve the problem of wire brushes snagging on new coated drumheads by slightly angling the wires in the top 3/4” (1.9 cm) of the playing end. The wires glide across the head, allowing a smoother sweep and a velvet swish sound.
Gadd uses a variety of Remo
Remo
Remo is a male given name of Latin origin - see Romulus and Remus.Remo may also refer to:* Remo, an American drum skin company* Remo , another name for the German wine grape Riesling* Remo language, a Panoan language of Brazil and Peru...
heads: a coated Powerstroke 3 on the batter side of the snare, coated Pinstripes or coated Ambassadors on the batter sides of toms, and clear Ambassadors for the resonant sides. He uses a Pinstripe on the bass drum.
Discography
As Steve Gadd & Friends- Live At Voce - Deluxe Edition (2010) [BFM Jazz]
As Steve Gadd/ with the Gadd Gang:
- Gadd About (1984)
- The Gadd Gang (1986)
- Pigs and Wizards (1987)
- Here & Now (1988)
- Live at Bottom Line (1988)
- Gadd Gang (1991)
With Stuff
Stuff (band)
Stuff was a New York-based jazz funk band active in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The members were Gordon Edwards , Richard Tee , Eric Gale , Cornell Dupree , Chris Parker , and later Steve Gadd...
:
- Stuff (1976)
- Stuff It (1978)
- Live Stuff 1978)
- Live In New York (1980)
- East (1981)
- Best Stuff (1981)
With B.B. King:
- Riding with the King
With Chick Corea
Chick Corea
Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever...
:
- My Spanish HeartMy Spanish HeartMy Spanish Heart is an album recorded by Chick Corea and released in 1976.The album combines jazz fusion pieces and more traditional Latin music pieces. The album includes use of full brass and string sections on some tracks. "El Bozo" suite relies heavily on the use of synthesizers while "Spanish...
- FriendsFriends (Chick Corea)Friends is an album recorded and released by Chick Corea in 1978.The album does away with the string and horn sections of previous albums, instead focusing on a quartet with straight-ahead jazz in mind...
- Three QuartetsThree QuartetsThree Quartets is a jazz album released in 1981 by American jazz pianist Chick Corea, in collaboration with saxophone giant Michael Brecker, bassist Eddie Gomez, and drummer Steve Gadd...
- The LeprechaunThe Leprechaun (Chick Corea album)The Leprechaun is an album by Chick Corea recorded and released in 1976.The album was recorded during Corea's time with his jazz fusion group Return to Forever...
- The Mad HatterThe Mad Hatter (album)The Mad Hatter is an album recorded by Chick Corea and released in 1978.The track names for the album, as well as its title, are derived from the children's fairy-tale Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.-Track listing:...
- Rendezvous in New York
- The Ultimate AdventureThe Ultimate AdventureThe Ultimate Adventure is an album recorded by Chick Corea and released in 2006.Like his 2004 album To the Stars, The Ultimate Adventure is a musical tribute to the work of science fiction author and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard...
- (the unreleased version of Hymn of the Seventh GalaxyHymn of the Seventh GalaxyHymn of the Seventh Galaxy is Return to Forever's third studio album.This was the group's first album with a rock influenced sound and without any vocals...
)
With Steely Dan
Steely Dan
Steely Dan is an American rock band; its core members are Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The band's popularity peaked in the late 1970s, with the release of seven albums blending elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop...
:
- AjaAja (album)-Charts:AlbumPop Singles-Awards:Grammy Awards-External links:**, courtesy of The Museum of Classic Chicago Television...
on (title track) - GauchoGaucho (album)Gaucho is the seventh studio album by the American Jazz rock band Steely Dan, released in 1980. The sessions for Gaucho represented the peak of Steely Dan's recording studio perfectionism and obsessive recording techniques...
on ("Glamour Profession", "My Rival", "Third World Man" and 'percussion'Percussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
on "Hey Nineteen")
With Simon and Garfunkel
Simon and Garfunkel
Simon & Garfunkel are an American duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. They formed the group Tom & Jerry in 1957 and had their first success with the minor hit "Hey, Schoolgirl". As Simon & Garfunkel, the duo rose to fame in 1965, largely on the strength of the...
:
- The Concert in Central ParkThe Concert in Central ParkThe Concert in Central Park is a live album by Simon & Garfunkel. On September 19, 1981 the folk-rock duo reunited for a free concert on the Great Lawn of New York's Central Park, attended by more than 500,000 people. They released a live album from the concert the following March...
With The Manhattan Transfer
The Manhattan Transfer
The Manhattan Transfer is an American vocal music group. There have been two manifestations of the group, with Tim Hauser being the only person to be part of both...
:
- Mecca for ModernsMecca for ModernsMecca For Moderns is the sixth album by The Manhattan Transfer. It was released in 1981 on the Atlantic records label.This album was the highest charting album to date for the group, peaking on Billboard Magazine's Top Pop Catalog Albums chart at #22...
- PastichePastiche (Manhattan Transfer album)Pastiche was released by The Manhattan Transfer on January 19, 1978, by Atlantic Records. This was the last studio album recorded with Laurel Massé, who ended her association with the group later that year....
With Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
:
- One-Trick PonyOne-Trick Pony (album)One-Trick Pony is the fifth solo album released by Paul Simon, in 1980.Paul Simon's One-Trick Pony was released concurrently with the film of the same name, in which Simon also starred...
- Still Crazy After All These YearsStill Crazy After All These YearsStill Crazy After All These Years is the fourth studio album by Paul Simon.Recorded in 1975, the album produced four US Top 40 hits, "Gone at Last" , "My Little Town" , "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover" and the title track . It won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1976...
(50 Ways To Leave Your Lover50 Ways to Leave Your Lover"50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" is a 1975 hit song by Paul Simon, from his album Still Crazy After All These Years. Backing vocals on the single were performed by Patti Austin, Valerie Simpson and Phoebe Snow.-Creation:...
) - Hearts and BonesHearts and BonesHearts and Bones is the sixth solo album by Paul Simon. It was released in 1983.The album was originally intended to be a Simon & Garfunkel reunion album called Think Too Much, following their Central Park reunion concert in 1981, and the world tour of 1982 - 1983. In fact, some of the songs...
- You're the OneYou're the One (album)You're the One is the tenth studio album released in 2000 by Paul Simon, his first successful studio album in 10 years. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2001, with Simon becoming the first artist to be nominated in that category in five consecutive decades...
- Paul Simon's Concert in the Park, August 15, 1991Paul Simon's Concert in the Park, August 15, 1991Paul Simon's Concert in the Park is a live album released in 1991 by Paul Simon. It provided a survey of his two most recent albums, Graceland and Rhythm of the Saints, and also drew liberally from his earlier songbook including a number of tunes from the Simon and Garfunkel era...
- SurpriseSurprise (Paul Simon album)Surprise is the eleventh studio album by American musician Paul Simon, released in May 2006.-History:After the relative success of You're the One, which was released in late 2000 finding Simon back to the Top 20 of the American charts after ten years of absence and also receiving a Grammy...
- Late in the Evening
With Steps Ahead
Steps Ahead
Steps Ahead is a jazz fusion group and the brainchild of vibraphonist Mike Mainieri. According to the liner notes of the group's 1983 debut album , entitled Steps Ahead, "Steps began as a part-time venture in 1979 at Seventh Avenue South, a New York City nightclub." The group began releasing...
:
- Smokin' in the Pit
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....
:
- Bad Benson
- Pacific Fire
- GB
- In Your Eyes
- Livin' Inside Your LoveLivin' Inside Your LoveLivin' Inside Your Love is a double-LP by jazz musician George Benson, which was released in 1979. It was certified Gold by the RIAA.-Side A:# "Livin' Inside Your Love" – 6:37# "Hey Girl" – 4:31...
- Good King Bad
- In Concert-Carnegie Hall
With Joe Brucato:
- Free (2007)
- Acoustic Joe Vol. 1 (2009)
- Thank You Soldier (2010)
With 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...
:
- Live at Hyde Park (DVD)
- PilgrimPilgrim (1998 album)Pilgrim is a rock album by Eric Clapton released in 1998. The album was recorded at Olympic Studio in London in late 1997. Neon Genesis Evangelion character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto designed the cover of the album.-History:...
- ReptileReptile (album)Reptile is a studio album by British musician Eric Clapton, released by Reprise Records on 13 March 2001. The album was produced by Eric Clapton with Simon Climie and is Eric's first album to feature keyboard work by Billy Preston and background vocals by the Impressions.- Track listing :#...
- Riding with the King
- One More Car, One More RiderOne More Car, One More RiderOne More Car, One More Rider is a double live album by Eric Clapton, released on November 5, 2002 on Warner Bros. Records. The album contains songs performed during Clapton's 2001 world tour. The recordings on this album are from two nights at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, August 18 & 19 of 2001...
- Me and Mr. JohnsonMe and Mr. JohnsonMe and Mr. Johnson is an album by Eric Clapton released in 2004. The album is a tribute to legendary bluesman Robert Johnson. According to Clapton's autobiography, the recordings weren't intended to become an album. The band had rented the studio, but Clapton didn't have any songs written, so he...
- Sessions for Robert J.
- Crossroads Guitar Festival 2004
- Back HomeBack Home (Eric Clapton album)Back Home is a studio album by British guitarist-singer-songwriter Eric Clapton. It was released 29 August 2005 internationally and a day later in the US. It is his first album featuring new, original material since Reptile , as the previous release Me and Mr...
- Clapton Chronicles
With Dr. John
Dr. John
Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. , better known by the stage name Dr. John , is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist, whose music combines blues, pop, jazz as well as Zydeco, boogie woogie and rock and roll.Active as a session musician since the late 1950s, he came to wider...
:
- City LightsCity LightsCity Lights is a 1931 American silent film and romantic comedy-drama written by, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin. It also has the leads Virginia Cherrill and Harry Myers. Although "talking" pictures were on the rise since 1928, City Lights was immediately popular. Today, it is thought of...
- Tango PalaceTango PalaceTango Palace is a solo album by Canadian jazz pianist Paul Bley recorded in 1983 and released on the Italian Soul Note label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Eugene Chadbourne awarded the album 3 stars stating "An alarm mechanism goes off at the sight of another solo album by this artist; the...
With James Brown:
- Black Caesar
With Al Jarreau
Al Jarreau
Alwin "Al" Lopez Jarreau is a seven-time Grammy Award winning jazz singer.- Background :Jarreau was born in Milwaukee, the fifth of six children. His web site refers to Reservoir, Inc., the name of the street where he lived. His father was a Seventh-Day Adventist Church minister and singer, and...
:
- Tenderness
- Breakin' Away
- Jarreau
- This TimeThis Time (Al Jarreau Album)This Time is the fourth studio album by Jazz vocalist Al Jarreau, released in 1980 on Warner Bros. Records. The release marked a change in Jarreau's sound to a more R&B-oriented flavor. As a result, the album achieved more success on the mainstream charts than his previous works, while also topping...
With Rickie Lee Jones
Rickie Lee Jones
Rickie Lee Jones is an American vocalist, musician, songwriter, and producer. Over the course of a three-decade career, Jones has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, blues, pop, soul, and jazz standards.-Childhood:...
:
- Rickie Lee Jones
- Pirates
- Magazine
With Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
:
- Tug Of War
- Pipes Of Peace
With Chuck Mangione
Chuck Mangione
Charles Frank "Chuck" Mangione is an American flugelhorn player and composer who achieved international success in 1977 with his jazz-pop single, "Feels So Good." Mangione has released more than thirty albums since 1960.-Early life and career:...
:
- Disguise
- Tarantella
- Main Squeeze
- Land of Make Believe
- Alive
- Together
- Friends And Love
With Michel Petrucciani
Michel Petrucciani
Michel Petrucciani was a French jazz pianist.-Biography:...
:
- Trio in Tokyo
- Both Worlds
With Al Di Meola
Al Di Meola
Al Di Meola is an acclaimed American jazz fusion and Latin guitarist, composer, and record producer of Italian origin. With a musical career that has spanned more than three decades, he has become respected as one of the most influential guitarists in jazz to date...
:
- CasinoCasino (Al Di Meola album)Casino is a 1978 album by Latin jazz fusion guitarist Al Di Meola.-Track listing:#"Egyptian Danza" – 5:56#"Chasin' the Voodoo" – 5:05#"Dark Eye Tango" – 5:23#"Señor Mouse" – 7:21...
- Elegant GypsyElegant GypsyElegant Gypsy is the second album by American jazz fusion guitarist Al Di Meola, released in 1977. It was a follow-up album to Di Meola's debut release, Land of the Midnight Sun. The distinctive music in the album is a speedy fusion of jazz and rock, with lightning-fast guitar riffs intermixed with...
- Orange and Blue
- Tour de Force Live
- Electric Rendezvous
- Splendido Hotel
- Land of the Midnight Sun
- Consequence of Chaos
With Lee Ritenour
Lee Ritenour
Lee Mack Ritenour is an American jazz guitarist who has recorded over 42 albums, appeared on over 3000 sessions, and has charted over 30 instrumental and vocal contemporary jazz hits since 1976. One of his most popular songs was the smash hit, “Is It You” in 1981. Ritenour is considered to be a...
:
- Feel the Night
- Captains Journey
- Friendship
With Bob James
Bob James (musician)
Robert McElhiney James is a jazz keyboardist, arranger and producer.-Biography:During the 1970s, Bob James played a major role in establishing the smooth jazz genre. "Angela", the instrumental theme from the sitcom Taxi, is probably Bob James' most well-known work to date...
- BJ4 (1977)
- Touchdown (1978)
- Lucky Seven (1979) (Tracks "Rush Hour" and "Blue Lick")
With Michel Jonasz
Michel Jonasz
Michel Jonasz is a French composer-songwriter, singer and actor. His compositions include: La boîte de jazz, Joueurs de blues and Les vacances au bord de la mer....
:
- Michel Jonasz au Zénith (1993)
- Où vont les rêves (2002)
With Sunlightsquare
Sunlightsquare
Sunlightsquare are a Soul and Latin jazz band led by Italian producer Claudio Passavanti. While the band is sometimes cited as "Sunlight Square", the name is presented as "Sunlightsquare" on their releases....
:
- Urban Sessions (2006)
With Weather Report
Weather Report
Weather Report was an American jazz-rock band of the 1970s and early 1980s. The band was co-led by the Austrian-born keyboard player Joe Zawinul and the American saxophonist Wayne Shorter...
- Mr Gone (1978) (Tracks "Young and Fine" and "And Then")
With Funk Factory
- Funk Factory (1975) (Tracks "Watusi Dance", "Rien Ne Va Plus", "Funk It" and "Lilliput")
With James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
- New Moon ShineNew Moon Shine-Track listing:All songs by James Taylor unless otherwise noted.#"Copperline" – 4:22#"Down in the Hole" – 5:15#" Stop Thinkin' 'Bout That" -Track listing:All songs by James Taylor unless otherwise noted.#"Copperline" (Reynolds Price, J. Taylor) – 4:22#"Down in the Hole" – 5:15#"(I've Got to) Stop...
, 1991 - October Road, 2002
- James Taylor: A Christmas AlbumJames Taylor: A Christmas AlbumJames Taylor: A Christmas Album is singer-songwriter James Taylor's 21st album and first Christmas album. It was released on a limited-edition basis in 2004, with distribution through Hallmark Cards.-Track listing:...
, 2006 - CoversCovers (James Taylor album)Covers is the sixteenth album and the first "covers" album by singer-songwriter James Taylor, released on September 30, 2008. The album was recorded by Taylor's regular touring band. Some of the tunes Taylor had been performing off and on in concerts for years, while others were new to his repertoire...
, 2008 - Other CoversOther CoversOther Covers is the second covers album by singer-songwriter James Taylor, released in April 2009 as a follow-up to the previous year's Covers.-History:...
, 2009
With Art Garfunkel
Art Garfunkel
Arthur Ira "Art" Garfunkel is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and actor, best known as being a member of the folk duo Simon & Garfunkel...
- Some Enchanted Evening, 2007
- Songs from a Parent to a Child, 1997
With L'Image
- L'Image 2.0, 2009
With Lesley Meguid
- The Truth About Love Songs, 2010
With Chet Baker
Chet Baker
Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker, Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and singer.Though his music earned him a large following , Baker's popularity was due in part to his "matinee idol-beauty" and "well-publicized drug habit."He died in 1988 in Amsterdam, the...
- She Was Too Good to Me, 1974
With Masahiko Satoh
- Amorphism, 1985
With Kate Bush
Kate Bush
Kate Bush is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years.In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart...
:
- 50 Words for Snow(2011 album)
External links
- Gadd's official website
- Steve Gadd at Drummerworld - contains video and sound clips.
- Steve Gadd page on The Party Of The Century project - contains video and sound clips.
- Steve Gadd at OnlineDrummer - contains video clips.
- Steve Gadd at BehindTheDrums - contains discography and equipment list.
- BFM Jazz