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Eric Gale

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Gale grew up in a diverse household. His paternal grandfather was from Yorkshire, England, that's where the surname Gale came from. He had extended family in Venezuela, when Venezuela was a flourishing and safe place for him as a child. Gale often visited the U.K. and Venezuela as an adolescent, which influenced his style into adulthood. He was fluent in Spanish and German.

Gale started playing the guitar and stand up bass at age 12. At that time, because of his high I.Q. he skipped junior high and was placed in high school. He visited John Coltrane's home after school and sat in on jam sessions, which inspired Gale's readily recognizable style. John Coltrane's wife would provide him with after school snacks which he never forgot. Gale received his Master of Science in chemistry at Niagra University. He was also on the football team. Later, Gale was pursued by Frank Sinatra to work on the hit song "My Way", as mentioned in Frank Sinatra's autobiography. Gale decided to pursue a musical career full-time instead of completing his Ph.D. in Chemistry which did not sit well with his mother, at all.

He was with the Drifters, Jackie Wilson, the Flamingos and Maxine Brown, before playing in the '60s with King Curtis, Jimmy Smith, David "Fathead" Newman, Mongo Santamaria and Aretha Franklin.

In the early '70s Gale became the house guitarist with Creed Taylor's new CTI Records label. Gale’s association with Creed Taylor began when the celebrated producer was working at Verve Records. Curiously, their first sessions together, on August 18 and October 24, 1966, were part of a Johnny Hodges album titled “Blue Notes;” a very peculiar name for a Verve LP!

During the A&M/CTI years, Eric Gale was heard on albums by Herbie Mann, Soul Flutes, Richard Barbary, Quincy Jones, and J.J. Johnson & Kai Winding. When CTI became a completely independent label, he became the house guitarist for one of its subsidiary labels, Kudu Records, appearing on the first album issued under the Kudu logo: Johnny Hammond’s "Breakout." Many other sessions followed and, on January 1973, Creed Taylor finally allowed him to record as a leader.

His album "Forecast," was well received and gained him broader recognition outside of just his sideman role. Even after Eric Gale signed with Columbia, he continued to record as a sideman for Creed. Besides performing as rhythm guitarist on George Benson’s sessions which yielded the albums “Good King Bad,” “Benson & Farrell,” and “Pacific Fire,” he appeared as a featured soloist on Bob James’ last album for CTI, “BJ 4,” as well as on Lalo Schifrin’s two albums for CTI in 1976, “Black Widow,” and “Towering Toccata.” For Kudu, Gale kept recording until 1977, on albums by Grover Washington, Jr. (Soul Box, Mister Magic, Feels So Good, A Secret Place), Esther Phillips (Capricorn Princess), Idris Muhammad (House of The Rising Sun, Turn This Mutha Out), and Hank Crawford (I Hear A Symphony, Hank Crawford’s Back, Tico Rico).

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118
Album Review

Johnny Hammond: Breakout

Read "Breakout" reviewed by Jim Santella


The CTI jazz catalog holds many surprises. This one features a strong 8-piece band led by organist Johnny Hammond (1933-1997), who was known earlier as Johnny “Hammond" Smith. Recorded in 1971, the album emphasized swinging mood music with a flair for popular sounds. It marked a turning point in the career of Grover Washington, Jr. He, Hank Crawford and Eric Gale are all over the place, alongside Hammond's B-3. It’s a party. A previously unissued track, recorded shortly after the ...

110
Album Review

Johnny Hammond: Breakout

Read "Breakout" reviewed by David Rickert


A prime example of the CTI label’s indulgence in the commercial possibilities of jazz, Breakout gave Johnny Hammond the opportunity to escape from the long shadow cast by Jimmy Smith. Sticking with the Hammond B-3, by this time a bit old-fashioned as many had become enchanted with the Fender Rhodes, Hammond and his band contribute an album’s worth of soul jazz workouts. By this time, rock tunes had become the new would-be standards and Hammond proves that such unlikely candidates ...

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Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Breakout

CTI Records
2002

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Forecast

Challenge Jazz
2001

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Jazz Budget Line...

CTI Records
1996

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In A Jazz Tradition

Challenge Jazz
1988

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Island Breeze

Challenge Jazz
1983

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