Eric Gale
Gale in Montreux, Switzerland, 1976
Gale in Montreux, Switzerland, 1976
Background information
Born(1938-09-20)September 20, 1938
Brooklyn, New York or Venezuela
DiedMay 25, 1994(1994-05-25) (aged 55)
Baja California, Mexico
GenresJazz fusion, smooth jazz, crossover jazz, jazz
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)Gibson L5 and Gibson Super 400 guitar
Years active1960s–1990s
LabelsCTI, Kudu, Columbia, Elektra/Musician, Klik

Eric Gale (September 20, 1938 – May 25, 1994) was an American jazz and jazz fusion guitarist.

Early life and career

Born in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York.[1]

An article published by the Los Angeles Times in 1987 claims that Gale was born in Venezuela and immigrated with his family to the US when he was 6 years old.[2]

Gale started playing the guitar at age 12.[1] At that time, he skipped junior high school. Soon after, in high school, he visited John Coltrane's home after school and sat in on jam sessions, which inspired Gale's readily recognizable style.[3] Gale received his Master of Science in chemistry at Niagara University.[1] Later, Gale was pursued by Frank Sinatra to work on the hit song "My Way", as mentioned in Frank Sinatra's autobiography. Gale decided to pursue a musical career full-time instead of getting his Ph.D. in Chemistry.

A close friend of Gale, Roberta Flack, asked Gale to work with her on the Killing Me Softly album.[4] He had just finished recording his Negril album with the Wailers Band, along with Peter Tosh on vocals, in Kingston, Jamaica. He flew out to Montego Bay, Jamaica, to clear his mind and reconnect with nature, then was able to finish an album in Kingston with his friends who understood politics and injustice. This was mentioned in the Aston "Familyman" Barrett's autobiography. After that, Flack called Gale and begged him to come back home to New York to help her with the Killing Me Softly album. Gale was reluctant so she flew the band members to him instead. After some persuading, they ended up returning to the United States. The album was a hit.

Gale often worked as a session musician, recording with musicians such as Bobby Lewis, Bobby Timmons, George Benson, Joe Cocker, King Curtis, The Drifters, The Flamingos, Ashford & Simpson, Lena Horne, Illinois Jacquet, Billy Joel, Quincy Jones, Herbie Mann, David "Fathead" Newman, Patti Austin, Mongo Santamaria, Paul Simon, Nina Simone, Jimmy Smith, Clark Terry, and Jackie Wilson.[5] In the 1970s he became a studio guitarist for CTI Records, recording with Bob James, Stanley Turrentine, and Grover Washington Jr., and was a member of the R&B band Stuff and Fania All-Stars[6] His first of many albums as a solo act was released by Kudu.[6]

Gale died of lung cancer in 1994 at the age of 55 and is survived by his wife Masako Murakami-Gale, their three daughters, and two grandchildren.[5][7]

Discography

As leader

With Stuff

As sideman

With Ashford & Simpson

With Patti Austin

With George Benson

With Ron Carter

With Hank Crawford

With Fania All-Stars

With Roberta Flack

With Jun Fukamachi

With Freddie Hubbard

With Bob James

With Quincy Jones

With Gladys Knight & the Pips

With Yusef Lateef

With Ralph MacDonald

With Van McCoy

With David "Fathead" Newman

With Esther Phillips

With Diana Ross

With David Ruffin

With Mongo Santamaria

With Shirley Scott

With Tom Scott

With Johnny "Hammond" Smith

With Richard Tee

With Stanley Turrentine

With Grover Washington Jr.

With Sadao Watanabe

With others

References

  1. ^ a b c Colin Larkin, ed. (1993). The Guinness Who's Who of Soul Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 97. ISBN 0-85112-733-9.
  2. ^ "'You Call, I Come' : Guitarist a Working Man's Musician". Los Angeles Times. 20 May 1987.
  3. ^ Will, Patrick T.; Kernfeld, Barry (2002). "Gale, Eric". In Barry Kernfeld (ed.). The new Grove dictionary of jazz, vol. 2 (2nd ed.). New York: Grove's Dictionaries Inc. p. 5. ISBN 1561592846.
  4. ^ "Killing Me Softly - Roberta Flack". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  5. ^ a b Yanow, Scott (2013). The Great Jazz Guitarists. San Francisco: Backbeat. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-61713-023-6.
  6. ^ a b Feather, Leonard; Gitler, Ira (2007). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford University Press. p. 242. ISBN 978-0-19-507418-5.
  7. ^ "Eric Gale, 55, Dies; Versatile Guitarist". The New York Times. 3 June 1994.
  8. ^ "Billboard". Books.google.com. 1971-08-07. p. 61. Retrieved 2016-07-26.

See also

External links

Authority control databases
Categories