Stephen Gaboury

Last updated

Stephen Gaboury
Stephen Gaboury.jpg
Background information
Origin Berkeley, California, United States
Genres Jazz, pop, rock, dance, soul
Occupation(s)Musician, producer, composer, arranger, musical director
LabelsLivewire Production & Recording
Website livewirenyc.com

Stephen Gaboury is an American musician, producer, composer, arranger, and musical director. In 1988, he created Livewire Production & Recording, a full production digital studio located in Manhattan's Tribeca district. [1] Since 2001, Gaboury has toured internationally with Cyndi Lauper, with whom he received a Grammy nomination for best arrangement in 2004. [2] [3] Gaboury also collaborated on selections in Lauper's Broadway musical, Kinky Boots , which earned thirteen Tony nominations and six wins (including Best Original Score and Best Musical) during its first run in New York City in 2013. [4] [5] [6]

Contents

Early career

Gaboury, originally from Berkeley, California, studied composition at San Francisco State University. In the midst of his studies, he played with local jazz and rock ensembles, while also recording and touring with Country Joe and the Fish. [7] He performed with Hoodoo, an Afro-Haitian band, which co-billed various concerts in the Bay Area, including Miles Davis, Weather Report, José Feliciano, Chick Corea, and McCoy Tyner, among others. [8] He later formed and led his own band, Night Flyte, which moved to New York City in 1977 under the management of Bill Graham. [9] [10] In 1978, the band returned to California to perform at the Berkeley Jazz Festival, sharing the stage with such renowned musicians as Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard, and Eddie Jefferson. [11] [12] [13] [14]

Touring Performances

After arriving in New York City in 1977, Gaboury became musical director, co-writer, and keyboardist for Angela Bofill. With Bofill, he toured nationally and appeared on The Merv Griffin Show . For Bofill's performance on The Tonight Show , Gaboury arranged and conducted for Doc Severinsen and The Tonight Show Band. In 1986, Gaboury performed with Wagnerian tenor Peter Hofmann (CBS Records) on a fifty-five city European tour, which resulted in the live album Peter Hofmann. [15] With the advent of keyboard sampling technology, Gaboury covered all required orchestral parts including strings, brass, and orchestral percussion. In 1987, Gaboury joined Hofmann as conductor and arranger on yet another European tour. Later in 1987, Gaboury became musical director and arranger for Peruvian legend Yma Sumac, appearing with her live in New York City, as well as on The David Letterman Show . [16] [17] [18]

The following year, Gaboury toured Europe as pianist and conductor for Broadway and cabaret star Ute Lemper. Soon after, he was invited to be musical director for CBS Records' 25th anniversary in Frankfurt, Germany. Additional touring credits as keyboardist include two international tours in 1990 and 1995 with The Blue Nile, as well as an international tour with Suzanne Vega in 1993. [19]

In 1997, Gaboury served as conductor, arranger, and musical director for the Laura Nyro Memorial Concert at New York City's Beacon Theatre, which featured Patti LaBelle, Rickie Lee Jones, and Phoebe Snow.

As pianist and keyboardist, Gaboury has performed with Rufus Wainwright, Ben E. King, Little Anthony, Chris Botti, Shaggy, Pat Monahan, Sandra Bernhard, Scott Weiland, Earl King, Lenny Welch, Julia Fordham, Jack Donahue, Bonnie Koloc, Vicki Sue Robinson, and Helen Schneider. [20]

In 2004, Gaboury performed with Cyndi Lauper at The Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo with The Norwegian Radio Orchestra, and at the Kennedy Center with the National Symphony Orchestra. He also appeared at the 2005 Great Wall of China Concert, the first international pop concert to take place at the landmark location. In 2011, Gaboury again performed with Lauper at the Human Rights Campaign's 15th Annual National Dinner, featuring a special address by President Barack Obama.

Recording and Producing

As founder of Livewire Production and Recording, Gaboury has produced, arranged, performed, and engineered on projects such as Robert Jospé's album Inner Rhythm, featuring Michael Brecker and John Abercrombie; Jeff Golub's GAIA release Unspoken Words; Bobby Previte's acclaimed album Bump the Renaissance (Newsweek, Downbeat); Wayne Horvitz's Nine Below Zero (German Critics Award) and Todos Santos; and Tom Varner's Covert Action. Since 1988, Gaboury has also engineered and produced over 100 records featuring artists such as Cyndi Lauper, Marianne Faithfull, Laura Nyro, Eric Andersen, Jane Siberry, Phoebe Snow, Freddie Cole, Dianne Reeves, Gato Barbieri, Billy Cobham, and Lenny White.

As pianist and keyboardist, Gaboury has recorded with Ornette Coleman, Shawn Colvin, Jane Siberry, Suzanne Vega, Michael Shrieve, Dar Williams, Rosanne Cash, Jeffrey Gaines, Jeff Golub, David Broza, Jill Sobule, David Wilcox, Jane Olivor, and Bobby Previte. Gaboury's recordings with Cyndi Lauper include collaborations with Stevie Wonder, Sarah McLachlan, and Norah Jones. [21] [22]

Compositions

Film

With Windham Hill artist Scott Cossu, Gaboury composed the soundtrack for Islands, a Maysles Brothers film documentary on environmental artist Christo's Biscayne Bay project. Gaboury then went on to compose the soundtrack for director Charlotte Zwerin's film Sculpting the Earth (Isamu Noguchi). [23] In 1993, Gaboury composed the music to the short film Temple of Swing, as well as the soundtrack to Tradition on Ice, a documentary on the history of the New York Rangers [24] With Amanda Kravat, he co-wrote the musical score to Eric Schaeffer's Never Again, starring Jill Clayburgh and Jeffrey Tambor. Additional credits include contributions to the soundtracks of feature films American Beauty and Boyhood .

Dance

While in California, Gaboury composed for the School of the Arts at Berkeley High School, writing music for various dance groups. Since 1980, Gaboury has been associated with New York-based dance company Ballets with a Twist, creating music for choreographer Marilyn Klaus's works Silver Thaw, Seven Minute Musical, and The Johnny Show. Gaboury and Klaus also collaborated to create the critically acclaimed Cocktail Hour: The Show, an evening-length ballet featuring Gaboury's original compositions. Cocktail Hour premiered in New York City, in 2009. [25]

Other

Gaboury was composer and co-author (with Rebecca Rifkin) of the 1980 Off-Off Broadway musical Live at Crystal 6.

Activision Video Games commissioned Gaboury to compose the soundtracks to the games Pressure Cooker (1983) and Fireworks.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyndi Lauper</span> American musician and actress (born 1953)

Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her album She's So Unusual (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achieve four top-five hits on the Billboard Hot 100—"Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "Time After Time", "She Bop", and "All Through the Night"—and earned Lauper the Best New Artist award at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards in 1985. Her success continued with the soundtrack for the motion picture The Goonies (1985) and her second record True Colors (1986). This album included the number-one single "True Colors" and "Change of Heart", which peaked at number three. Her cover of the Marvin Gaye song "What's Going On" was a moderate hit in 1987. In 1989, Lauper saw success with "I Drove All Night" and in 1993, had her first dance club hit with "That's What I Think".

The 27th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 26, 1985, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, and were broadcast live in the United States by CBS. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Les Baxter</span> American composer and conductor (1922–1996)

Leslie Thompson Baxter was an American musician, composer and conductor. After working as an arranger and composer for swing bands, he developed his own style of easy listening music, known as exotica and scored over 250 radio, television and motion pictures numbers.

<i>At Last</i> (Cyndi Lauper album) 2003 studio album by Cyndi Lauper

At Last is the seventh studio album by American singer Cyndi Lauper. The album is a collection of covers of jazz standards, in addition to a cover of a contemporary song re-arranged into a jazz song. The album features a duet with Tony Bennett on "Makin' Whoopee" and was co-produced by Lauper with Russ Titelman. The album's longbox was available only at Costco or Sam's Club shops within the first two weeks when it was released. In 2008 Lauper said in an interview with Brazilian newspaper Extra that the album was a special project, with the intervention of the record company and that she does not consider it as a "career album".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yma Sumac</span> Peruvian-born vocalist (1922–2008)

Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chávarri del Castillo, known as Yma Sumac, was a Peruvian-born American-naturalised vocalist, composer, producer, actress and model. She won a Guinness World Record for the Greatest Range of Musical Value in 1956. "Ima sumaq" means "how beautiful" in Quechua. She has also been called Queen of Exotica and is considered a pioneer of world music. Her debut album, Voice of the Xtabay (1950), peaked at number one in the Billboard 200, selling a million copies in the United States, and its single, "Virgin of the Sun God ", reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming an international success in the 1950s. Albums like Legend of the Sun Virgin (1952), Fuego del Ande (1959) and Mambo! (1955), were other successes.

<i>Sisters of Avalon</i> 1996 studio album by Cyndi Lauper

Sisters of Avalon is the fifth studio album by American singer Cyndi Lauper. It was released in Japan on October 15, 1996, and worldwide on April 1, 1997, by Sony Music Entertainment. Thematically the album expounded on the issue of complacency and ignorance in popular culture and the discrimination of minorities, gays, and women. Songs like "Love to Hate" and "You Don't Know" address the entertainment industry and media and their corruption. "Ballad of Cleo and Joe" is a song about the double life of a cross dresser. "Say a Prayer" is about the AIDS epidemic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Time After Time (Cyndi Lauper song)</span> 1984 single by Cyndi Lauper

"Time After Time" is a song by American singer Cyndi Lauper from her debut studio album, She's So Unusual (1983). It was released as the album's second single in March 1984, by Epic and Portrait Records. Written by Lauper and Rob Hyman, who also provided backing vocals, the song was produced by Rick Chertoff. It was written in the album's final stages, after "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "She Bop" and "All Through the Night" had been written or recorded. The writing began with the title, which Lauper had seen in TV Guide, referring to the 1979 film Time After Time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disco Inferno</span> 1976 single by the Trammps

"Disco Inferno" is a song by American disco band the Trammps from their fourth studio album of the same name (1976). With two other cuts by the group, it reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart in early 1977, but had limited mainstream success until 1978, after being included on the soundtrack to the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever, when a re-release hit number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Jeff Bova is an American musician. He has been active in the music industry since the mid-1970s, contributing to recordings by significant mainstream artists like Celine Dion, Michael Jackson, Blondie, Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker, Cyndi Lauper, Bill Laswell and Herbie Hancock, Bernard Edwards and Tony Thompson, Meat Loaf, Missing Persons, Iron Maiden and Billy Joel among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Rosenthal (musician)</span> Musical artist

David Rosenthal is an American keyboardist, musical director, music producer, synthesizer programmer, orchestrator, and songwriter, mostly known for working with the hard rock band Rainbow and Billy Joel. Rosenthal has been nominated for three Grammy Awards, and in addition to Rainbow and Joel, has worked with Bruce Springsteen, Enrique Iglesias, Robert Palmer, Steve Vai, Cyndi Lauper, Whitesnake, Little Steven, and Happy the Man. Additionally, Rosenthal has perfect pitch.

<i>Bring Ya to the Brink</i> 2008 studio album by Cyndi Lauper

Bring Ya to the Brink is American singer Cyndi Lauper's tenth studio album, released on May 14, 2008 in Japan, and 13 days later worldwide. The album is a collection of dance-oriented songs and features collaborations with Basement Jaxx, Richard Morel, Max Martin and Kleerup, among others. Regarded as one of the singer's best works at the time it was released, the Songwriters Hall of Fame has regarded the album track "High and Mighty" as one of Lauper's key songs. The album received a nomination for Best Dance/Electronica Album at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards. The song "Set Your Heart" was released as a promotional single in Japan in early 2008, while "Same Ol' Story" was the first official single released on May 6, 2008. "Into the Nightlife" was released as the second single.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marco Rizo</span>

Marco Rizo Ayala was a Cuban-born pianist, composer, and arranger. He mastered the 19th century works of composers Manuel Saumell and Ignacio Cervantes. He is best known for his role as pianist, arranger and orchestrator for the American television sitcom I Love Lucy which aired from 1951 to 1957.

<i>Memphis Blues</i> (album) 2010 studio album by Cyndi Lauper

Memphis Blues is the eleventh studio album by American singer Cyndi Lauper, containing cover versions of classic blues songs. Regarded as a continuation of her 2008 comeback, the album was a nominee for the Grammy Awards 2010 and was released on her 57th birthday, June 22, 2010. According to the Brazilian daily newspaper O Globo, the album had sold 600,000 copies worldwide by November 2010. Memphis Blues was voted the 7th best album of 2010 by the New York Post, and it went on to become Billboard's biggest selling blues album of 2010. To support the album, Lauper made her biggest tour ever, the Memphis Blues Tour, which had more than 140 shows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Memphis Blues Tour</span> 2010–11 concert tour by Cyndi Lauper

The Memphis Blues Tour was the eleventh concert tour by American recording artist Cyndi Lauper, in support of her eleventh studio album. The tour visited the Americas, Asia, Australia and Europe. During the trek, Lauper performed at numerous jazz festivals including the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Jazz à Vienne and Jazz Fest Wien. In the fall of 2011, Lauper continued the tour as a co-headlining show with Dr. John titled From Memphis to Mardi Gras. Lauper performed over a hundred concerts beginning in June 2010 and ending in November 2011.

Alan Eichler is an American theatrical producer, talent manager and press agent who has represented several stage productions, produced Grammy-winning record albums and managed singers including Anita O'Day, Hadda Brooks, Nellie Lutcher, Ruth Brown, Johnnie Ray and Yma Sumac. He is a cousin of California architect Joseph Eichler and nephew of writer Lillian Eichler Watson and advertising executive/novelist Alfred Eichler.

John McCurry is an American musician, songwriter and composer based in New York City. He has worked with many well-known musical artists, including Chicago, Cyndi Lauper, Billy Joel, David Bowie, Alice Cooper, John Waite, Belinda Carlisle, Julian Lennon, Joss Stone, Katy Perry, The Jonas Brothers, and Elliott Yamin.

<i>Kinky Boots</i> (musical) Stage musical

Kinky Boots is a musical with music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper and book by Harvey Fierstein.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ballets with a Twist</span>

Ballets with a Twist is a New York City-based company that performs the work of Artistic Director Marilyn Klaus throughout the United States. Klaus founded Ballets with a Twist in 1996, in association with Grammy-nominated composer Stephen Gaboury. The company performed the first incarnation of its signature work, Cocktail Hour: The Show, a collection of theatrical dance vignettes celebrating iconic American social culture, in Manhattan, in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elisabeth Waldo</span> American violinist (born 1918)

Elisabeth Ann Waldo is an American former violinist, composer, conductor, and ethnomusicologist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Detour Tour</span> 2016 concert tour by Cyndi Lauper

The Detour Tour was the thirteenth concert tour by American recording artist Cyndi Lauper. The tour supports her eleventh studio album, Detour. The tour begins May 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee and continues with shows in North America and Europe.

References

  1. Weiss, David. "Steve Gaboury's Livewire." Mix Magazine , 1 Apr. 2008. Web: 21 Dec. 2012.
  2. Breslin, Tom. "Synths, stars, and true colors, continued: Cyndi Lauper and Vince Clarke discuss analog synths and fruitful mistakes, past and present." Keyboard Magazine , 1 Nov. 2007.
  3. Jones, Kenneth. "Cast Albums for Avenue Q, Assassins, Boy From Oz, Wicked, Wonderful Town All Grammy Nommed." Playbill , 7 Dec. 2004. Web: 19 Dec. 2012.
  4. Cubarrubia, RJ. "Cyndi Lauper Musical Kinky Boots Leads Tony Nominees With 13." Billboard , 30 Ap. 2013. Web: 8 June 2013.
  5. "Tony Awards 2013: The Complete List of Winners." Time , 9 June 2013. Web: 10 June 2013.
  6. Lauper, Cyndi. Cyndi Lauper: A Memoir. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2012.
  7. Paradise with an Open View. The Grateful Dead Family Discography. Web: 18 Dec. 2012.
  8. Larson, Gary O. "Jazz Notes." The Daily California Arts Magazine, 2 Feb. 1973.
  9. Goines, Lincoln. "Exclusive Interview with FBPO’s Jon Liebman." John Liebman's For Bass Players Only, 10 Feb. 2012. Web: 18 Dec. 2012.
  10. "Nite Flyte Goes to NY." Berkeley Gazette , 14 July 1977.
  11. "Berkeley Jazz Festival." Billboard , 10 June 1978.
  12. Devener, Music Man Dean. "What's Happening: Nite Flyte." Marin Life, Dec. 1976.
  13. Raddue, Gordon. "A Going-Away Bash for Night Flyte." Richmond Independent Gazette, 19 Aug. 1977, p. 16.
  14. "Night Flyte returns to Bay Area for the Berkeley Jazz Festival." BAM Magazine , 5 May 1978, p. 22.
  15. "Peter Hofmann." DISMARC. Web: 19 Dec. 2012.
  16. Robbins, Wayne. "Yma Sumac's Five Octaves." Newsday , 19 Feb. 1987, p. 7.
  17. Holden, Stephen. "Cabaret: Yma Sumac." New York Times , 19 Feb. 1987. Web: 18 Dec. 2012.
  18. Limansky, Nicholas. Yma Sumac: The Art Behind the Legend, New York: YBK Publishers, Inc., 2008.
  19. Boehm, Mike. "A Study in Contradictions: Suzanne Vega Plays to Paradoxical Type in a Musically Multifaceted Show at the Coach House." Los Angeles Times , 18 Feb. 1993. Web: 18 Dec. 2012.
  20. McBride, Murdoch. "Jack Donahue Returns to Firebird Cafe Jan 5–26." Playbill , 11 Jan. 2000. Web: 19 Dec. 2012.
  21. "Steve Gaboury." Album Credits, All Media Guide, LLC, Web: 18 Dec. 2012.
  22. "Steve Gaboury." CD Universe. Web: 18 Dec. 2012.
  23. "Isamu Noguchi videorecording : the sculpture of spaces / Sapporo Television Broadcasting and Alternate Current." Chicago Public Library . Web: 18 Dec. 2012.
  24. Anderson, Jack. "In Performance; Dance." New York Times , 20 Mar. 1996. Web: 18 Dec. 2012.
  25. Levine, Debra. "Ballets with a Twist Serves Drinks All Around." Huffington Post , 16 Sep. 2010. Web: 18 Dec. 2012.