L to R: Richard Tee, Eric Gale, Cornell Dupree, Steve Gadd, Gordon Edwards

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Stuff was an American, New York City-based jazz-funk band active in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The members were Gordon Edwards (bass), Richard Tee (keyboards), Eric Gale (guitar), Cornell Dupree (guitar), Chris Parker (drums), and later Steve Gadd (drums). (Gadd has confirmed on a recent DVD that Chris Parker was in the lineup first.)

Chris Parker, the Peter Best of Stuff

 

Initially calling themselves The Encyclopedia of Soul, in his liner notes for the 2008 Eagle Rock release Stuff – Live in Montreux 1976, Edwards describes how the band was founded:

I was contracting and playing studio sessions, and hired Cornell for many of the dates – so we started recruiting for the band. One day at Rudy Van Gelder’s – I remember it was a hell of a job; it was for Queen Esther Marrow, great singer. George Benson was on the job, Bernard Purdie, and Richard Tee on keyboards. Esther asked me if she could use the band for a club date she had lined up – a club called Mikell’s, (on the corner of 97th and Columbus Avenue) in New York City.) We did play there, and Richard Tee stopped by one time and he started coming every night. We only worked Monday through Thursday, and Mikell’s was packed, wall to wall, round the block.

After parting ways with Esther the band returned to play there every week.

Steve Gadd came by one night to sit in with us, as did Eric Gale, and they both became a part of the band. We were rolling heavy, and one night I was approached by Michael Lang, the gentleman who put on Woodstock, who said he was sure he could get us a record deal – were we interested. Sure enough Warner Bros. flew in from California to hear us live. They liked us, but we couldn’t use the name The Encyclopedia of Soul – it was too long. I remember we were in a diner that was on the corner by Atlantic Records one day; there was me, Michael Lang, Cornell Dupree and Erma Dupree and we were trying to decide what we would call the band. It was Erma who said, “You know Gordon, you always call everybody stuff, I don’t care who it is. You should call the band STUFF.

Stuff developed a danceable Rhythm and blues and Funk sound, the likes of which had not been heard since the days of the Harlem Swing Bands of the 40s and 50s. Individually and collectively the members of Stuff became some of the most sought after session musicians of that era, playing with a stellar array of artists from Aretha Franklin to John Lennon to Paul Simon to name but three; they backed Joe Cocker during his world tour to promote his Stingray album, performing with Cocker on NBC’s Saturday Night Live in its second season. The band released five albums between 1975 and 1980, all of which went Gold; More Stuff earned a Grammy Nomination. Stuff’s first album was produced by Herb Lovelle in 1976 and went platinum in Japan.

Stuff was closely associated with the New York jazz club Mikell’s, where the city’s top session musicians would meet up for jam sessions with visiting soul, jazz and funk stars.

Later, because of the intricate rhythms many of his newer songs had developed, Paul Simon assembled an all-star band of mostly jazz heroes. He attained three fifths of the Stuff band (Steve Gadd on drums, Richard Tee on keyboards, and Eric Gale on guitar), as well as future King Crimson/Peter Gabriel bassist, Tony Levin.Ace In the HoleOne Trick PonyGod Bless the Absentee

The First album

 

Steve Gadd, Richard Tee

Richard Tee

 Richard on stage

 

Here’s the band at Montreux in 1978for a complete concert –   the director has a hell of a time following who’s soloing for a while, but settles down in time.

More Stuff

 

Stuff It!

Cornell Dupree

Cornell Dupree

Cornell Dupree

 

Live Stuff, Japan 1978

Eric Gale

Either he’s small, or that’s a big-ass guitar!

That’s a Big-Ass Guitar!

Live In New York (in a twofer with More Stuff)

Gordon Edwards

Steve Gadd

Steve Gadd

 This was a band filled with the top musicians of the day.  Those still alive are still kicking ass!  Hope you’ve enjoyed it!

Have a Lovely Weekend;

Ron

THESE SOIREES WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE WITHOUT THE HELP OF GOOGLE, YOUTUBE, WIKIPEDIA AND AN EXTENSIVE MUSIC COLLECTION

A note on Steve Gadd from Wikipedia:  Stephen Kendall “Steve” Gadd (born April 9, 1945, in Irondequoit, New York) is an American musician. Gadd is one of the most well-known and highly regarded session and studio drummers in the industry. A true innovator, his groove on Paul Simon‘s “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover“, and drum solo on Steely Dan‘s “Aja”, are both examples of his seminal sound and signature style. He has worked with popular musicians from a wide range of genres including notably Simon & Garfunkel, Steely Dan, James Taylor, Eric Clapton, Chick Corea and Al Di Meola.

50 Ways To Leave Your Lover

Aja

BONUS: THE GADD GANG IN CONCERT  –  Steve Gadd with Cornell Dupree, Richard Tee, Eddie Gomez on bass, Ronnie Cuber on Baritone saxWatching the River FlowSigned, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours Whiter Shade of PaleMy Girl/ I Can’t Stop Loving YouWay Back Home and a Fantastic solo by Steve

RICHARD TEE with Steve Gadd; Tom Scott, tenor saxophone; John Tropea, Guitar; Will Lee, Bass and Ralph McDonald, percussionLive at the Bottom Line 1990

******NEW DISCOVERY: RICHARD TEE – Contemporary Piano (1984) with Steve Gadd******

A Lesson from the Master Give it almost a minute to cue and you’ll be rewarded with a hell of a piano lesson

BONUS ALBUMS – Steve Gadd and Friends: Joey DeFrancesco, organ; Ronnie Cuber, baritone sax; Paul Bollenbock, guitar and on the final two cuts, Edie Brickell on vocals.  This is a marvelous live experience;  a friend of mine once called it, “go to hell jazz”.

 

Ronnie Cuber, Paul Bollenbock, Steve Gadd

Steve Gadd

Joey DeFrancesco

Ronnie Cuber

Paul Bollenbock

 And for Here I am Now and Down:

Steve and Edie (anybody old enough to get that?)

Edie Brickell again

 Gadditude is a little more laid back, recorded in a week between gigs as James Taylor‘s backup band, it features Walt Fowler, trumpet; Michael Landau, guitar; Larry Goldings, keyboards and Jimmy Johnson, bass.

The James Taylor Band

The Gadd Gang (46 thru 52)

We just found this album which has Steve Gadd, drums; Cornell Dupree, guitar; Richard Tee, keyboards; Eddie Gomez, bass and Ronnie Cuber, baritone sax plus a horn section at times.  I’ve put it on the end of this non-stop playlist.

GADDabout (53 thru 58)

And we found this one, in another pile of CD’s.  The Band is: Steve Gadd, drums; Richard Tee, keyboards, Jeff Mironov, guitar; Neil Jason, bass; George Young, tenor and soprano sax; Ronnie Cuber, baritone sax and Lew Soloff, trumpet

As If (59 thru 66)

This is an album by Masahiko Satoh on piano, Eddie Gomez, bass and Steve Gadd, drums.  It’s a salute to the memory of Bill Evans.

Inside You (67 thru 77)

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