Abraham Laboriel
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Abraham Laboriel, Sr. (b. July 17, 1947) is a Mexican bassist who has played on over 4,000 recordings and soundtracks. Guitar Player Magazine described him as: "the most widely used session bassist of our time". Laboriel is the father of drummer Abe Laboriel Jr.and of producer, songwriter,and film composer Mateo Laboriel.
Laboriel was born in Mexico City. Originally a classically trained guitarist, he switched to bass guitar while studying at the Berklee School of Music. Henry Mancini encouraged Laboriel to move to Los Angeles, California and pursue a recording career. [1] Since then, he has worked with artists as diverse as Donald Fagen, Lee Ritenour, Larry Carlton, Dave Grusin, Andy Pratt, Stevie Wonder, Barbra Streisand, Al Jarreau, Billy Cobham, Dolly Parton, Elton John, Ray Charles, Madonna, Paul Simon, Keith Green, Alvaro Lopez and Res-Q Band, Lisa Loeb, Quincy Jones, Russ Taff, Engelbert Humperdinck, Ron Kenoly, Rabito, Mylène Farmer, Crystal Lewis, Chris Isaak, Paul Jackson Jr. and Michael Jackson. When Laboriel recorded his three solo albums (Dear Friends, Guidum ,and Justo & Abraham), he recruited a cast of musicians that included Alex Acuna, Al Jarreau, Jim Keltner, Phillip Bailey, and others.
Laboriel was a founding member of the bands, Friendship and Koinonia. He plays live regularly with Greg Mathieson, drummer Abe Laboriel Jr.,and Justo Almario.
In 2005, Abraham was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music by the Berklee College of Music. [2]