David Sancious
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David Sancious (born November 30, 1953 in Asbury Park, New Jersey) 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. Sancious is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known as a keyboard player and guitarist. He left the E Street Band in 1974 to form his own band, Tone, and released several albums. He subsequently became a popular session and touring musician, most notably for Stanley Clarke, Narada Michael Walden, Zucchero Fornaciari, Peter Gabriel, and Sting among many others.
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[edit] Work with Bruce Springsteen
Sancious began to learn classical piano at seven and by eleven he had taught himself guitar. He was only in his teens when he first became involved in the Asbury Park music scene. In the late 1960s and early 1970s he played in various bands that included Springsteen and future members of The E Street Band, as well as Southside Johnny and Bill Chinnock. These bands included Glory Road, Dr.Zoom & The Sonic Boom, The Bruce Springsteen Band and The Sundance Blues Band.
In January 1972 Sancious moved to Richmond, Virginia, where he worked at Alpha Studios as a studio musician doing jingles and sessions. While there he met Ernest Carter. In June 1972 Springsteen asked him to play keyboards on his debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.. However when Springsteen began touring with what is now considered the unofficial start of the E Street Band in October 1972, Sancious was not with them, having in July 1972 returned to Richmond and Alpha Studios and recorded some demos with Carter and Garry Tallent. (Producer/songwriter Wes Farrell owned the rights to these demos and in 1976 he released them as David Sancious without permission.)
Thus, it is debatable whether Sancious was a founding member of the E Street Band, since the band would not be officially known or billed as such until September 1974. In any case, Sancious was certain a member of the early Springsteen musical entourage; indeed, legend has it that the band took its name from the street in Belmar, New Jersey, where Sancious' mother lived, as she had allowed the band to rehearse in her home.
From June 1973 Sancious began to tour regularly with the E Street Band. He added an extra dimension to the band's early sound. Equally influenced by Mozart or Thelonious Monk, he would frequently use classical music or jazz during intros or instrumental breaks. Springsteen's second album, The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle, was a showcase for Sancious' talents. His most notable contributions include an organ solo on "Kitty's Back" and an evocative piano intro on "New York City Serenade". He is also credited with the string arrangement on the latter song, and even played soprano saxophone on "The E Street Shuffle".
In February 1974 drummer Vini Lopez left the E Street Band and Sancious recommended his friend, Ernest Carter, as a replacement. Later in the year Sancious and Carter helped record the title track of Springsteen's third album Born to Run.
[edit] David Sancious & Tone
In August 1974 Sancious and Carter left the E Street Band and formed their own band Tone with Gerald Carboy (bass). At various times the band would feature Patti Scialfa, Gayle Moran (from Return To Forever and The Mahavishnu Orchestra), and future Santana vocalist Alex Ligertwood. Springsteen encouraged Sancious in his solo career and made sure music executives heard his demos, leading to a contract with Epic Records.
Tone's 1975 debut album Forest Of Feelings was produced by Billy Cobham. Sancious' work with Tone was a radical departure from the music he played with Springsteen; Tone explored progressive rock and instrumental jazz fusion and had more in common with Yes or early Genesis then Sancious' former boss.
Another album, Transformation: 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, over ownership rights meant it was shelved. It would not be released until 2004. 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. In December 1980 Sancious was commissioned by radio station WNEW-FM to compose and play a piano piece over the air during the ten minutes' silence in memory of the recently murdered John Lennon.
[edit] Session and touring musician
Sancious has worked on everything from classical to rock, jazz, blues, and funk. While this has, perhaps, hindered his solo career, it has won him the respect of his peers; Peter Gabriel has referred to him as the "musician's musician." Consequently he has never been out of work.
Even when trying to establish himself as a solo artist, his skills were sought after and in the 1970s he was popular among the jazz fusion circuit. He toured and recorded with Stanley Clarke, playing guitar and keyboards in a band that included John McLaughlin and Billy Cobham.
During the early 1980s he linked up again with Billy Cobham as a member of Jack Bruce & Friends and played with the band on The Old Grey Whistle Test and Rockpalast. He was then reunited with Alex Ligertwood when both were members of Santana.
In 1977 Sancious guested on the debut album by Narada Michael Walden. This was the first of several collaborations with the producer/songwriter. In the 1980s Walden regularly used a group of session musicians that included Sancious, Randy Jackson, and Corrado Rustici. These musicians recorded sessions with, among others, Aretha Franklin, Patti Austin, and E Streeter Clarence Clemons, all produced by Walden. Rustici also established himself as a producer, most notably with fellow Italian, Zucchero Fornaciari. Sancious, Walden, and Jackson played on Zucchero's Rispetto, produced by Rustici. This was the first of several albums Sancious would record with Zucchero.
By 1988 Sancious was a member of Peter Gabriel's touring band and he played with the singer during the Amnesty International Human Rights Now! Tour. This led to a mini-reunion with Springsteen and the E Street Band, with Sancious sitting in on several occasions throughout the tour. He also recorded some new sessions with Springsteen which were later released on Human Touch and Tracks.
He would also record and tour with two of that tour's other headliners, Sting and Youssou N'Dour. He played keyboards on Sting's well-reviewed The Soul Cages and Ten Summoner's Tales albums and toured with Sting in support of both.
Other session and touring work Sancious has done includes Living Colour, Seal, Bryan Ferry, Julia Fordham, Robbie Dupree, Natalie Merchant, Eric Clapton, Jon Anderson of Yes, and Hall & Oates.
More recently Sancious has released two new solo recordings, Nine Piano Improvisations (2000) and Cinema (2005). In 2006, Sancious teamed up with guitarist and singer /songwriter Francis Dunnery to play keyboards and make a several live appearances for Dunnery's "The Gulley Flats Boys".
In 2005 Sancious would be interviewed for, and featured in, the Wings For Wheels documentary included on the Born to Run 30th Anniversary Edition re-release of the famed Springsteen song and album.
[edit] Discography
[edit] With Bruce Springsteen
- Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1973)
- The Wild, The Innocent & The E-Street Shuffle (1973)
- Born to Run (1975)
- Human Touch (1992)
- Greatest Hits (1995)
- Tracks (1998)
- 18 Tracks (1998)
- The Essential Bruce Springsteen (2003)
[edit] David Sancious & Tone
- Forest Of Feelings (1975)
- Transformation: Speed Of Love (1976)
- True Stories (1978)
- Dance Of The Age Of Enlightenment (2004)
[edit] David Sancious
- David Sancious (1977) (unauthorized)
- Just As I Thought (1979)
- The Bridge (1980)
- Nine Piano Improvisations (2000)
- Cinema (2005)
[edit] David Sancious / Zucchero
- Snackbar Budapest (soundtrack)(1988)
[edit] With Stanley Clarke
- Journey To Love (1975)
- Schooldays (1976)
- Live 1975-76 (1976)
- Hideaway (1988)
- The Bass-ic Collection (1997)
- Guitar & Bass (2004)
- Trios (2004)
[edit] With Zucchero Fornaciari
- Rispetto (1986)
- Blue's (1987)
- Oro Incenso & Birra (1989)
- Zucchero (1990)
- Live At The Kremlin (1991)
- Miserere (1992)
- Diamante (1994)
- Spirto DiVino (1995)
- The Best Of Zucchero (1996)
- Shake (2001)
- Zucchero & Co (2004)
[edit] With Peter Gabriel
- Passion (1989)
- Us (1992)
- Up (2002)
- Long Walk Home (2002)
- Hit (2003)
[edit] With Sting
- The Soul Cages (1991)
- Ten Summoner's Tales (1993)
[edit] With Francis Dunnery
- The Gulley Flats Boys (2006)
