David Paich

David Paich

David Paich during a live concert
Background information
Born June 25, 1954
Los Angeles
Genres Pop rock, soft rock
Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter, singer, producer
Instruments Vocals, keyboards, synthesizers
Years active 1973–present
Associated acts Toto
Boz Scaggs
Michael Jackson
Notable instruments
Korg Triton
Yamaha Motif 8
Yamaha SY77

David Frank Paich (born June 25, 1954) is an Emmy and Grammy award-winning American keyboardist, singer, composer, recording producer, and arranger, best known for his work with the rock band Toto. With Toto, Paich has released 17 albums and sold over 30 million records. Additionally, Paich has contributed to a host of artists with his songwriting and arrangements including working with Boz Scaggs extensively in the 1970s and Michael Jackson in the 1980s.

He is the son of jazz composer, musician, and arranger Marty Paich.

Biography

Toto

A prolific writer of chart-performing songs, Paich wrote or co-wrote such tracks as "Hold the Line","99", "Lowdown", "Lido Shuffle", "Georgy Porgy", "Rosanna", "Hydra","Holyanna", "Pamela", "Got To Be Real", and "Lady Love Me (One More Time)". He also performed lead vocals on the Toto hits "Africa", "Lovers in the Night", and "Stranger in Town".

Paich remained with Toto up until their disbandment in 2008, although he did not tour extensively with the band in the last few years. Session keyboardist Greg Phillinganes joined Toto in 2004 as an additional keyboardist for both studio projects and tour dates. In 2010, Paich resumed performing with Toto, and is the current keyboard player alongside Steve Porcaro.

Session and side projects

He has co-writing credits with Boz Scaggs on the songs "What Can I Say", "Lowdown", and "Lido Shuffle" from the multi-platinum album Silk Degrees, and occasionally still sits in on keyboards with Boz Scaggs' band. As songwriter he wrote or co-wrote songs for Cher, [The] Jacksons, Andy Williams, George Benson, Glen Campbell, Jon Anderson (Yes), and Chicago. As arranger he worked for Michael Jackson, Rod Stewart, Patti Austin, Donna Summer, and many more.

In the early and mid '80s, Paich often worked with well-known producers Quincy Jones and David Foster. Paich was a part of the session group on the Michael Jackson album Thriller. He played piano, synthesizer, and did some synth and rhythm arrangements.

In 1989, Paich produced and arranged the Oscar-nominated song "The Girl Who Used to Be Me", written by Marvin Hamlisch and Alan & Marilyn Bergman, for the film Shirley Valentine.

As a session musician Paich has played on numerous soundtracks and on albums by many artists, including Elkie Brooks' album Rich Man's Woman; Bryan Adams' song "Please Forgive Me"; Michael Jackson songs "Earth Song", "The Girl Is Mine", "Heal the World", "Stranger in Moscow", and "I Just Can't Stop Loving You"; and the USA for Africa song "We Are the World", as well as work with Aretha Franklin, Boz Scaggs, Quincy Jones, Don Henley, Steely Dan, Elton John, Joe Cocker, and Pink.

David Paich traveled to China where he worked composing theme music for the 2008 Summer Olympics. In 2009, he sang the hit song "Africa" at the Millennium Development Goals awards in New York and co-produced a new tune for George Benson. Paich was involved with the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards as a music producer and keyboardist for the on-stage band.[1]

Equipment

Paich uses primarily a Korg Triton and a Yamaha Motif 8 keyboard for live applications. For studio applications he also uses a 9-foot Baldwin grand piano, Yamaha KX-88 and SY77 keyboards, and a variety of effect and sound generation modules manufactured by Roland Corporation and others.[2] For the 2006 Toto album Falling in Between, he also used a Hammond A-100 organ. Paich has stated that he has used the Baldwin piano on every Toto album.[3]

Awards

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Bolden 2009.
  2. ↑ Equipment 2012.
  3. ↑ Eskow 2009.

Cited sources

External links