Artist: Jeff Lorber

New Album: State of Grace

Jeff Lorber is a musician who resists any single musical categorization. Indeed, the Philadelphia native has come a long way from his first album, The Jeff Lorber Fusion, an entirely instrumental effort which garnered him critical acclaim and recognition. After gaining his reputation as a founder of jazz/fusion music in the '70's and early '80's Jeff has expanded his musical horizons as a multi-faceted artist venturing into R&B; and urban pop domains. Jeff started taking classical piano lessons at the age of four. During his junior high and high school years he also studied bass violin and guitar, and started to play in R&B; and blues bands. Upon graduation from high school in Philadelphia, he attended Berklee School of Music in Boston where his studies began to focus on jazz. During that period, he studied with several very accomplished pianists and teachers: Ray Santisi, Madam Chaloff, and Ran Blake. Later, Lorber moved cross country to Portland, Oregon and formed his own group, The "Jeff Lorber Fusion." The Portland club scene was alive with a funky, bluesey blend that characterized the early 70's. "The initial gigs we performed in Portland were characterized as jazz and R&B;" he remembers. It didn't take long for a recording contract to follow with Inner City Records. His first two albums, Jeff Lorber Fusion and Soft Space, won Jeff critical acclaim and enthusiastic public response. They were followed by a series of progressively more successful albums on Arista Records: Water Sign (with guest starts Freddie Hubbard and Joe Farrell,) and Wizard Island (a number one LP on the Billboard jazz charts.) Galaxian was named by Record World as Jazz Album of the Year. Jeff's band was also named by Record World as Jazz Group of the Year. His LP's, Its a Fact, In the Heat of the Night, and Step by Step , continued his growth and development as a multi-formatted and multi-talented artist. Moreover, Lorber was nominated for a Grammy for Best R&B; instrumental for the song, "Pacific Coast Highway." "Facts of Love," was a crossover pop and R&B; hit that reached the top of both charts and launched Karyn White's career. But perhaps Jeff's most important forward step was his move, from the Northwest to Los Angeles in the summer of 1983. Since that move, Jeff has immersed himself into the mainstream of L.A. studio work. Jeff has produced artists such as Herb Alpert, Tower of Power, Michael Franks and Karyn White, and his keyboard work can be heard on a wide variety of projects including many 12" remixes. Jeff also operates his own 48 track recording facility, JHL Sound, where he does most of his work. Throughout his career Jeff has always been known for his great bands. Some of the artists who started with Jeff and went on to their own recording projects are Kenny G, Karyn White, Gerald Albright, and just recently, saxophonist David Koz, who's album on Capitol records was produced by Jeff. His ever-expanding musical horizons promise many great things to come in the near future. Whatever it is, it will always be fresh and exciting. With the explosion of R&B; dance/pop music on the contemporary scene, together with the resurgence of jazz, Jeff is in a unique position to take advantage of the confluence of his diverse skills as an instrumentalist, writer, arranger and discoverer of major talent.
	Please visit Jeff's Web site! http://www.lorber.com