Jeffrey H. Lorber (born November 4, 1952) is an American keyboardist, composer, and record producer. After six previous nominations, Lorber won his first

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

on January 28, 2018 for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for '' Prototype'' by his band the Jeff Lorber Fusion. Many of his songs have appeared on

the Weather Channel The Weather Channel (TWC) is an American pay television channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. The channel's headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia. Launched on May 2, 1982, the channel broadcasts weather foreca ...

's ''Local on the 8s'' segments and on the channel's compilation albums, '' The Weather Channel Presents: The Best of Smooth Jazz'' and '' The Weather Channel Presents: Smooth Jazz II''. He was nominated for a Grammy Award for his album '' He Had a Hat'' (Blue Note, 2007)

Early life

Lorber was born to a Jewish family in

Cheltenham, Pennsylvania Cheltenham is an unincorporated community in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania, United States, with a ZIP code of 19012. It is located directly over the city line (Cheltenham Avenue) of Philadelphia. It also borders Northeast Philadelphia over th ...

, the same suburb as

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

and

Randy Brecker Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock, and R&B. Early life Brecker was born on N ...

, with whom he would later play. 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 Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cou ...

, where he developed his love for

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

. At Berklee he met and played alongside guitarist

John Scofield John Scofield (born December 26, 1951), sometimes referred to as "Sco", is an American guitarist and composer whose music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention in ...

. He moved to Vancouver, Washington in 1972. For several years he studied chemistry at Boston University.

Jeff Lorber Fusion

His first group, the Jeff Lorber Fusion, released their self-titled debut album ''

The Jeff Lorber Fusion Jeffrey H. Lorber (born November 4, 1952) 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' ...

'' in 1977 on

Inner City Records Inner City Records was a jazz record company and label founded by Irv Kratka in 1976 in New York City. The company was a division of Music Minus One and also owned the label Classic Jazz. It started with reissues, then moved on to new recordi ...

. Supported by a revolving cast of musicians, including drummer Dennis Bradford, he recorded five studio albums under this moniker. These early albums showcased a funky sound influenced by other

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and key ...

practitioners such as

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he hel ...

Weather Report Weather Report was an American jazz fusion band active from 1970 to 1986. The band was founded in 1970 by Austrian virtuoso keyboardist Joe Zawinul, American saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Czech bassist Miroslav Vitouš, American drummer and voca ...

, and

Return to Forever Return to Forever was an American jazz fusion band that was founded by pianist Chick Corea in 1972. The band has had many members, with the only consistent bandmate of Corea's being bassist Stanley Clarke. Along with Weather Report, The Hea ...

, the latter's

Chick Corea Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz composer, pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", "500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba", and " ...

appearing on several songs. Like his contemporaries, Lorber performed on multiple keyboard instruments, including piano,

Rhodes piano The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, th ...

, and

analog synthesizer An analog (or analogue) synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog signals to generate sound electronically. The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s, such as the Trautonium, were built with a variety of ...

s, often favoring the

Minimoog The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. Designed as a more affordable, portable version of the modular Moog synthesizer, it was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first popul ...

and

Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 The Prophet-5 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the American company Sequential. It was designed by Dave Smith and John Bowen in 1977, who used microprocessors, then a new technology, to create the first polyphonic synthesizer with fu ...

. The Jeff Lorber Fusion's 1980 album, ''

Wizard Island Wizard Island is a volcanic cinder cone which forms an island at the west end of Crater Lake in Crater Lake National Park, Oregon. The top of the island reaches above sea level, about above the average surface of the lake. The cone is capp ...

'', introduced saxophonist Kenneth Bruce Gorelick, better known as

Kenny G Kenneth Bruce Gorelick (born June 5, 1956), known professionally as Kenny G, is an American smooth jazz saxophonist, composer, and producer. His 1986 album '' Duotones'' brought him commercial success. Kenny G is one of the best-selling arti ...

Solo career

In 1984 he 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''. The title track, written with

Anita Pointer Anita Marie Pointer (January 23, 1948December 31, 2022) was an American singer-songwriter, best known as a founding member of the vocal group the Pointer Sisters. She co-wrote and was the lead singer on their hit song " Fairytale", which garner ...

the Pointer Sisters The Pointer Sisters are an American pop and R&B singing group from Oakland, California, that achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. Their repertoire has included such diverse genres as pop, jazz, electronic music, bebop, blu ...

, rose to number 31 on the U.S. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' R&B chart. The song "Facts of Love" (featuring

Karyn White Karyn Layvonne White (born October 14, 1965) is an American singer who was popular during the late 1980s and early 1990s. She is known for several hit singles including "Superwoman" (1988), " Secret Rendezvous" (1989), " The Way You Love Me" (19 ...

) from the 1986 album ''Private Passion'' was his biggest chart hit, reaching No. 27 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 17 on the R&B chart. 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, so he took a seven-year hiatus. After ''Step by Step'', he quoted

Clive Davis Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer, in 2000. From 1967 to 19 ...

as telling him, "We really want you to put more vocals on your records", which Lorber thought was a mistake. 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 Gerald Albright is an American jazz saxophonist. He earned Grammys for 24/7 in 2012 and Slam Dunk in 2014 and has been nominated for New Beginnings in 2008 and for Sax for Stax in 2009. Biography Born in Los Angeles, Albright grew up in its ...

). 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 The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album (previously: Best Pop Instrumental Album) is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording arti ...

category. At the

56th Annual Grammy Awards The 56th Annual Grammy Awards presentation was held on January 26, 2014, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT and was hosted for the third time by LL Cool J. The show was moved to January to avoid comp ...

, his 2013 album ''

Hacienda An ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or '' finca''), similar to a Roman '' latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchard ...

'' was nominated for Best Pop Instrumental Album. In 2018, he received a Grammy for his album '' Prototype'' in the Best Contemporary Instrumental Album category. Lorber has done extensive production and session work for other musicians, including

Dave Koz David Stephen Koz (born March 27, 1963) is an American smooth jazz saxophonist, composer, record producer, and radio personality based in California. Early life Dave Koz was born in Encino, California, to Jewish parents: Norman, a dermatologist ...

Eric Benét Eric Benét Jordan (born October 15, 1967) is an American R&B/neo soul singer-songwriter and actor, who has received a total of four Grammy nominations to date for his musical work. Biography Early life Benét was born on October 15, 1966 ...

Herb Alpert Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass in the 1960s. During the same decade, he co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss. Alpert has recorded 28 albums that have landed on the ...

Carol Duboc Carol Duboc is a singer and composer. She has co-written several hit songs, including "Precious", sung by Chanté Moore, which was certified gold in 1994 and reached No. 20 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart in 1993; "That Boy" by Jade (plat ...

and

Laura Branigan Laura Ann Branigan (July 3, 1952 – August 26, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her signature song, the platinum-certified 1982 single "Gloria", stayed on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for 36 weeks, then a record for a ...

. He hosts a show on

Sirius Satellite Radio Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio (SDARS) and online radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Holdings. Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, Sirius ...

Personal life

In 2004, Lorber was diagnosed with

polycystic kidney disease Polycystic kidney disease (PKD or PCKD, also known as polycystic kidney syndrome) is a genetic disorder in which the renal tubules become structurally abnormal, resulting in the development and growth of multiple cysts within the kidney. These ...

and received a successful kidney transplant from his wife Mink Lorber. He has served as a spokesman for the PKD Foundation, an organization for fighting polycystic kidney disease. He has mentioned that the disease is common in his family. His daughters have it and his mother and sister died from it.

Discography

Jeff Lorber Fusion - albums

Jeff Lorber - solo albums

Jazz Funk Soul - albums

Jeff Lorber, Everette Harp, Chuck Loeb (2014—2017), and now Paul Jackson, Jr.

Singles

Solo Jeff Lorber Fusion Jazz Funk Soul

References

External links

Official site

Jeff Lorber Interview at allaboutjazz.com

Jeff Lorber & Jeff Lorber Fusion biography, discography and album reviews, credits & releases
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

Jeff Lorber discography, album releases & credits
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

Jeff Lorber Fusion discography, album releases & credits
at

Jeff Lorber albums to be listened
as stream on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

Jeff Lorber Fusion albums to be listened
as stream on

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lorber, Jeff 1952 births 20th-century American pianists American jazz keyboardists American jazz pianists American male pianists American radio personalities Berklee College of Music alumni Crossover jazz pianists Jazz fusion pianists Jazz-pop pianists Jewish American musicians Jewish jazz musicians Living people Musicians from Philadelphia Musicians from Portland, Oregon Narada Productions artists Kidney transplant recipients People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania People from Vancouver, Washington Smooth jazz musicians Smooth jazz pianists Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Jazz musicians from Washington (state) 21st-century American Jews