Tone (also known as David Sancious and Tone) was a jazz-fusion band founded in 1974 by former

E Street Band The E Street Band is an American rock band that has been the primary backing band for rock musician Bruce Springsteen since 1972. In 2014, the E Street Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For the bulk of Springsteen's recordin ...

keyboardist

David Sancious David Sancious (born November 30, 1953) is an American musician. He was an early member of Bruce Springsteen's backing group, the E Street Band, and contributed to the first three Springsteen albums, and again on '' Human Touch'' (1992), '' Tr ...

and drummer Ernest "Boom" Carter. They made half a dozen albums between 1974 and 1980, some of which were billed as Sancious solo projects.

History

In August 1974 Sancious and Carter left the E Street Band and formed their own band Tone with bassist Gerald Carboy. At various times the band would feature Gail Boggs, Brenda Madison, Patti Scialfa, Gayle Moran (from

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 Headhun ...

and The Mahavishnu Orchestra), former Brian Auger, and future

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer * Sailboat designs by W. D. Schock Corp ** Santana 20 ** Santan ...

vocalist Alex Ligertwood.

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

encouraged Sancious in his solo career and made sure music executives heard his demos, leading to a contract with

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

. Tone's 1975 debut album ''Forest of Feelings'' was produced by

Billy Cobham William Emanuel Cobham Jr. (born May 16, 1944) is a Panamanian–American jazz drummer who came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. He was inducted into the '' Mode ...

. Sancious' work with Tone was a radical departure from the music he played with Springsteen; Tone explored progressive rock, gospel chorus (Fade Away, Sound of Love), and instrumental jazz fusion and had more in common with

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 Headhun ...

than Sancious' former boss. Another album, '' Transformation (The Speed of Love)'', followed in 1976, and a third album, ''Dance of the Age of Enlightenment'', was recorded. However a dispute between Epic and Sancious' new label,

Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

, over ownership rights meant it was shelved. It would not be released until 2004 (when it briefly appeared as a Japanese bootleg CD). One more Tone album, ''True Stories'', came out in 1978 but the band subsequently broke up. Sancious released two solo albums, ''Just As I Thought'' (1979) and ''The Bridge'' (1980), and then put his solo career on hold. On Sunday, December 14, 1980, during the ten minutes' silence organized in memory of the recently murdered

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

, Sancious performed an extended improvisation based upon Lennon's

Across the Universe "Across the Universe" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. It was written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song first appeared on the 1969 various artists' charity compilation album ''No One's Gonna Change Our W ...

. Commissioned by New York radio station

WNEW-FM WNEW-FM (102.7 FM broadcasting, FM, ''NEW 102.7'') is a hot adult contemporary-Radio format, formatted radio station, City of license, licensed to New York, New York and owned by Audacy, Inc. The station's studios are located at the Audacy faci ...

, the solo piano performance was broadcast live, with no audience present, from the empty stage of the

Capitol Theatre (Passaic) The Capitol Theatre was an entertainment venue located at the intersection of Monroe Street and Central Avenue in Passaic, New Jersey. Opened in 1921 as a vaudeville house, the Capitol later served as a movie theater, and then as a venue for roc ...

Discography

David Sancious and Tone

* '' Transformation (The Speed of Love)'' (1976) * ''Dance of the Age of Enlightenment'' (1977) * ''True Stories'' (1978)

David Sancious

* ''Forest of Feelings'' (1975) * ''Just as I Thought'' (1979) * ''The Bridge'' (1981)

References

Jazz fusion ensembles {{US-band-stub