By the late 1970s, trailblazing keyboardist/composer/producer Jeff Lorber had become a prominent figure in the new movement known as jazz fusion – a marriage of traditional jazz with elements of rock, R&B, funk and other electrified sounds. Lorber and his band, the Jeff Lorber Fusion, first honed their craft in the Portland, Oregon, club scene and rapidly expanded their reach to a national and international audience via a combination of complex harmonies, unconventional time signatures and compelling rhythms.
In subsequent years, Lorber dropped the term “fusion” from his billing as the movement evolved into what is currently known as contemporary jazz. Still, he continued to explore the innovative, improvisational potential of grafting other musical forms to the jazz idiom.
More than three decades after his earliest recordings, Lorber has come full circle. His new recording, Hacienda, set for release August 27, 2013, on Heads Up International, a division of Concord Music Group, revisits a sound he helped pioneer. The album takes the experiment that he started with his GRAMMY®-nominated CD, Now is the Time, and his 2012 album, Galaxy, up a notch with 11 exciting and energetic new compositions performed by some of the biggest names in jazz today. Co-produced by Lorber and bassist/composer Jimmy Haslip, Hacienda also features saxophonist Eric Marienthal, a longtime collaborator with Lorber and his collective. Other guests include premier jazz-rock violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, drummers Vinnie Colaiuta and Dave Weckl, and an impressive cadre of other stellar players.
Lorber’s music reaches a new level by crystallizing jazz, funk, and Latin rhythms with some killer melodies that will certainly translate to live performance. Obviously, time spent touring together has made Lorber, Haslip and Marienthal into a tight unit, which is evident from this latest recording.
Stretching the envelope has been Lorber’s strategy from the very beginning. Born in Philadelphia in 1952, Lorber began playing piano when he was just four years old. By his teen years, he had hooked up with several local R&B bands, but his tastes trended more toward jazz when he studied at Berklee College of Music.
After college, he relocated to Portland, Oregon, where he formed the Jeff Lorber Fusion. The group released their self-titled debut album in 1977, and quickly became one of the most popular acts in the jazz fusion scene, due in large part to relentless touring and a string of artistically daring and commercially successful recordings.
The entity formerly known as the Jeff Lorber Fusion became Lorber’s solo career with the release of It’s a Fact in 1982. After a brief but prolific stretch culminating with the highly successful Private Passion in 1986, Lorber took a break from recording his own material, opting instead to do session work and produce other artists. He resumed his solo career in 1991 with Worth Waiting For, although he continued to produce for the remainder of the decade.
Lorber has been just as prolific and innovative in the new century as he was in the last, with recordings on Narada (Philly Style, Flip Side), Blue Note (He Had a Hat) and Peak(Heard That).
ERIC MARIENTHAL : shows listeners that he plays crossover jazz as well being a capable and creative improviser. Marienthal attended the Berklee College of Music for two years, and earned a Berklee Distinguished Alumnus Award for outstanding achievements in contemporary music. Following his departure from Berklee, he went on tour for seven months and played live in New Orleans for just under five years as a member of Al Hirt’s band. Marienthal moved to Los Angeles in 1980 after his tenure with Hirt, and auditioned for the Disneyland Band. He got the gig, and worked full-time as both a staff member at Disney and a studio and live musician.
In 1986, he met Chick Corea, and soon thereafter earned a spot in Corea’s Elektric Band. He recorded six albums and made several world tours as a member of that group. He also landed his own recording contract with GRP during this period. His first date as a leader was Voices of the Heart in 1988, which was produced by Corea. Marienthal’s next two offerings, 1989’s Round Trip and 1990’s Crossroads, were co-produced by himself and fellow Elektric Band member John Patitucci. This was a busy period for Marienthal: he became a regular GRP studio musician in addition to his Elektric Band membership, and toured with the GRP All-Star Big Band, Lee Ritenour’s and David Benoit’s bands, and his own group. He enlisted the help of Jeff Lorber and Russell Ferrante for 1991’s Oasis. The album was his most successful to that point; it placed in the Top Five of the contemporary jazz charts, and two of its tracks placed in the Top Ten of the national contemporary jazz radio charts. Lorber produced two more GRP dates for Marienthal, 1993’s One Touch, and 1994’s Street Dance.
Marienthal left GRP for Ritenour’s new Verve-distributed imprint ie: Music. The guitarist produced Easy Street for release in 1997; its title track was a hit at contemporary jazz radio. His next offering as a leader for the label was 1998’s Walk Tall, a heartfelt tribute to Cannonball Adderley. Produced by Harvey Mason, the single “Here in My Heart” stayed at number one on the national Contemporary Jazz charts for three weeks, and a cover of Adderley’s classic “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” reached number five.
Marienthal spent the next five years as a studio and touring musician with various acts, including being the lead alto player in composer Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band. He also served as the musical director of an annual fundraising concert for High Hopes, the California non-profit organization those who have suffered traumatic head injuries.
In 2002, Marienthal signed with Rippington member Russ Freeman’s Peak label. There he recorded four albums: 2003’s Sweet Talk, 2005’s Got You Covered (leading an all-star band through a collection of cover tunes), 2007’s Just Around the Corner, and 2011’s Turn Up the Heat; the latter featured Robben Ford and Lorber. In 2012, Marienthal’s It’s Love was released on eOne Entertainment, on the very same day as Lorber’s revamped Jeff Lorber Fusion’s Galaxy was released; the saxophonist is a member of that band.
JIMMY HASLIP : Best known as the bassist, co-producer, and composer for the Yellowjackets, Jimmy Haslip also recorded on his own, releasing albums like 1993’s Arc and 2000’s Red Heat, a Latin-inspired set that featured performances from Luis Conte, Gino Vannelli, Vince Mendoza, Russell Ferrante, and Justo Almario. Haslip released Red Heat in mid-2000.
LIONEL CORDEW : Lionel Cordew, a righty who plays drums left-handed, has been playing since the age of five. Lionel Cordew grew up with some of jazz’s greatest legends as neighbors, namely Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, or James Brown a.m.o.
Cordew is a versatile, high energy drummer with an instinct for rhythms, perhaps stemming from his Caribbean heritage. He has broad musical interests and a particular zeal for contemporary jazz, fusion, r&b, blues, rock, pop, classical, and modern percussion. He has also toured, performed and/or recorded with Mike Stern, Klye Eastwood Gino Vanelli, Angelique Kidjo,Lonnie Plaxico, Cassandra Wilson, Roberta Flack, Bill Evans, Gato Barbieri,Chico DeBarge, Kelly Price, Warren Hill, Jon Lucien, Nelson Rangell, Special EFX, The Fantasy Band, Leni Stern, Kirk Whalum, Mark Johnson, New York Voices, George Jinda, Chuck Loeb, Marion Meadows, Christoph Spendel, Chieli Minucci, Jeff Lorber Fusion, Wayne Krantz, Regina Carter, and many others.