Gary Meek began playing piano at age five. He took up clarinet in junior high school and switched to alto sax to join the high school's jazz band. His early musical influences were a mix of his older sisters pop records and his fathers swing collection. He kept playing both instruments until today. While studying at the Grove School of Music and playing Jazz at the LA Jazz Workshops during the early 80s, he played keyboards to make a living. His big break came in 1986 when he became keyboarder for Dionne Warwicks worldwide tour. When returning from the tour, he started cooperating with Airto Moreira and Flora Purim as well as Jeff Lorber, who also performed on his first solo album. His style combines latin and funk with jazz improvisations. He composes in his home studio with an assortment of keyboards, a Apple Mac computer with "Performer" software and an ADAT recorder. For actual albums he prefers working with real musicians.
Tracklist:1. Shuffle
2. My Song For Donna
3. Struck by Lightning
4. Cats
5. Passage
6. I'll Be Here
7. Triple Play
8. Bingo Bango Bongo
9. Tours From Hell
10. Hey You
11. Fun in the D.D.R.
Personnel:
Gary Meek - soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, keyboards
Flora Purim - vocals
Howard "Buzz" Feiten - guitar
Steve Bach - accordion, piano
Jeff Lorber - keyboards, drums, keyboard programming
Bob Harrison - acoustic bass
Airto Moreira - drums
Michael Shapiro - drums
Brad Dutz - percussion
Yutaka Yokohura - keyboard programming
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Fileserve @ 320K