About Steve Gadd
Stephen Kendall Gadd ) is an American drummer, percussionist, and session musician. Gadd is one of the best-known and highly regarded session and studio drummers in the industry, recognized by his induction into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1984. Gadd's performances on Paul Simon's "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" and "Late in the Evening", Herbie Mann's "Hi-jack" and Steely Dan's "Aja" are examples of his style. He has worked with other popular musicians from many genres including Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor, Chick Corea, Chuck Mangione, Eric Clapton and Michel Petrucciani.
Gadd grew up in Irondequoit, New York. He started playing the drums at a very early age. At age 11, he entered the Mickey Mouse National Talent Round Up contest and was one of the winners; he won a trip to California, where he met Walt Disney and appeared on The Mickey Mouse Club, where he played the drums and did a tap dancing routine. Gadd graduated from Eastridge High School, then attended the Eastman School of Music, graduating in 1968. He was then drafted into the United States Army, where he served the next three years playing drums in the United States Army Field Band stationed at Ft. Meade, MD.
In 1968, Gadd made his first studio recording on Gap Mangione's album Diana in the Autumn Wind.
In 1973, Gadd formed the short-lived jazz fusion band L'Image with Mike Mainieri, Warren Bernhardt, David Spinozza and Tony Levin. Also in 1973, he started playing on numerous albums for the jazz label CTI Records, backing artists like Milt Jackson, Chet Baker, Art Farmer, Jim Hall, and Hubert Laws. Gadd played drums on the title track of Steely Dan's 1977 jazz-rock album Aja; the drum solo he played at the end of the song has become "the stuff of legend", according to a 2019 Jazziz article, with its "explosive tom-tom runs and crisp cymbal grooves". Other notable recordings from the 1970s are Van McCoy's hit "The Hustle" , Paul Simon's "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover" , Rickie Lee Jones' "Chuck E.'s in Love" and the Chick Corea albums "The Leprechaun" , "My Spanish Heart" , "The Mad Hatter" , and "Friends" .
In 1981, he played drums and percussion for Simon and Garfunkel's Concert in Central Park.
Gadd was a member of the Manhattan Jazz Quintet from its founding in 1983 until he left in 1987, replaced by Dave Weckl, although he has reunited with the group several times since then. The group has only officially released its albums in Japan, and is best known there.
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