Eric Gale Biography
During his lengthy career as one of New York’s most in-demand session guitarists, Eric Gale (1938-1994) played on innumerable sessions with a broad range of pop, rock and R&B artists. But it was in the jazz realm that Gale made his most lasting impression, both as a sideman and on a series of his own albums through the ’70s and ’80s.
The Brooklyn-born Gale got his start on the New York scene in the early ’60s, backing such R&B acts as the Drifters, Maxine Brown and Jesse Belvin. His talents won the attention of legendary saxophonist King Curtis and fabled organist Jimmy Smith, who helped Gale to get established as a studio player. His recording credits through the ’60s and ’70s included work with Aretha Franklin, Lena Horne, Quincy Jones, Van Morrison, Esther Phillips, Carly Simon and Paul Simon, in whose film One Trick Pony Gale played a supporting role.
In the late ’60s and early ’70s, Gale became active in the jazz world, recording prolifically with such artists as George Benson, Gary Burton, Hank Crawford, Urbie Green, Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, Yusef Lateef, Herbie Mann, Lalo Schifrin, Tom Scott, Gabor Szabo, Stanley Turrentine, Phil Upchurch and Grover Washington Jr. He also recorded a series of albums as a member of the fusion supergroup Stuff.
Gale began releasing his own albums in 1975, usually showcasing his tough but tender playing and his concise solos in an accessibly melodic R&B/funk vein. But the versatile musician never gave up his parallel career as a session man, continuing to record with a wide array of acts from multiple genres.
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