Jeffrey H. Lorber (born November 4, 1952)[1] is an American keyboardist, composer, and record producer. After six previous nominations, Lorber won his first Grammy Award on January 28, 2018 for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for Prototype by his band the Jeff Lorber Fusion.
Lorber was born to a Jewish family[2] in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, the same suburb as Michael and Randy Brecker, with whom he would later play.[3] He started to play the piano when he was four years old. After playing in a number of R&B bands as a teen, he attended Berklee College of Music, where he developed his love for jazz.[4] At Berklee, he met and played alongside guitarist John Scofield. Lorber moved to Vancouver, Washington, in 1972. For several years, he studied chemistry at Boston University.[5]
In 1984, Lorber released his second solo album, In the Heat of the Night, and Jeff Lorber Fusion compilation album Lift Off. Later that year, he and the production duo of David Frank and Mic Murphy, otherwise known as the System, produced Step by Step.[7] The title track, written with Anita Pointer of the Pointer Sisters, rose to number 31 on the U.S. Billboard R&B chart.[1] The song "Facts of Love" (featuring Karyn White) from the 1986 album Private Passion was his biggest chart hit, reaching No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100[8] and No. 17 on the R&B chart.[1] Several singles from this period also appeared on the Billboard Dance charts. However, Lorber was not satisfied that he was being overtaken by a more vocal and R&B feel on his own albums,[9] so he took a seven-year hiatus.[10] After Step by Step, he quoted Clive Davis as telling him, "We really want you to put more vocals on your records", which Lorber thought was a mistake.[11]
Lorber's keyboard work appeared in the video game Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. His input can be heard during the game's closing theme song "I Am the Wind" (which also featured the saxophonist Gerald Albright).[12]
Two greatest hits compilation albums were released in 2000 and 2002. Flipside (2005) was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Pop Instrumental Album category.[13] At the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, his 2013 album Hacienda was nominated for Best Pop Instrumental Album.[14] In 2018, he received a Grammy for his album Prototype in the Best Contemporary Instrumental Album category.
In 2004, Lorber was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease and received a successful kidney transplant from his wife Mink Lorber.[5]
He has served as a spokesman for the PKD Foundation, an organization for fighting polycystic kidney disease.[17] He has mentioned that the disease is common in his family. His daughters have it and his mother and sister died from it.[18]
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