Steve Gadd

From an early age, Steve Gadd benefited from the advice of a percussionist uncle, and began learning the drums in the late 50s. He soon acquired a taste for the stage when he put on a percussion and tap show with his brother, before experimenting with rock & roll and rhythm & blues. He later enrolled at the Manhattan School of Music, then the Eastman School of Music, to benefit from a solid musical training. It was during this period that he met pianist Chick Corea, but had to interrupt his civilian career to do his national service. On leaving the army, he resumed his activities in a large orchestra, setting up a quartet with Warren Bernhardt, Eddie Gomez and George Young. He moved to New York in the early '70s, took part in a project with trumpeter Chet Baker and joined the Stuff band. He came to prominence again in the late '70s, making records with Chick Corea and Ben Sidran, but it was above all with the jazz fusion group Steps Ahead that SteveGadd gained wider recognition. This seminal group of the 70s and 80s featured such outstanding instrumentalists as Michael and Randy Brecker, Eddie Gomez and vibraphonist Mike Mainieri. In the early '80s, he left the group to record a number of albums, again with Chick Corea, but also with Herbie Hancock, Joe Farrell, George Benson and Ron Carter. After further experience as a leader, he was called upon by popular variety artists such as Stevie Wonder, Al Jarreau, Paul McCartney and Michel Jonasz, a prolific activity crowned by numerous studio recordings and international tours that gradually distanced him from jazz.

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