Vibraphonist and composer Steve Shapiro has recorded with such diverse artists as Steely Dan, Ornette Coleman, Phil Collins, Spyro Gyra, Regina Belle and They Might Be Giants. Shapiro is also an accomplished producer and arranger whose work has appeared in hundreds of television and film projects.
In addition to having performed with the likes of Curtis Fuller, Jimmy Heath, and Marc Johnson, Shapiro has also notably collaborated with Nashville guitarist Pat Bergeson (Bill Evans, Chet Atkins, Bill Frisell, Lyle Lovett, Alison Krauss), with whom he has released three CDs, including BACKWARD COMPATIBLE (Apria Records) in 2009.
Before moving to New York City in 1985, Steve grew up in Connecticut and was a member of an award-winning high school ensemble that produced many fine musicians (including pianist Brad Mehldau). During this time, he studied percussion with artists Bob Moses, Dave Samuels, and David Friedman, and with composers Steve Swallow and Anthony Davis.
Steve's credits span many areas of the music & recording business, including major jazz and pop artists, television, feature films, commercials, multimedia, and education. He appeared on Steely Dan's Two Against Nature, which received 4 Grammy Awards including Album-of-the-Year. He has composed music for many television series, films, TV commercials and trailers, and is a long- time producer/arranger for the Walt Disney Company, with credits on projects related to over thirty-five feature film releases.
Steve has received awards from Berklee College of Music and IAJE, and has been featured and reviewed in magazines such as Downbeat, JazzTimes, Mix, JazzEd, Video-Systems and Modern Drummer.
STEVE SHAPIRO / PAT BERGESON:
Respected studio musicians from New York and Nashville, Steve
Shapiro & Pat Bergeson have worked with artists such as: Alison
Krauss, Madeleine Peyroux, Steely Dan, Bill Frisell, Lyle Lovett, Bill Evans,
They Might Be Giants, SpyroGyra, Chet Atkins, and Michael McDonald.
Their collaborative sound is an original mix of retro and modern, infused
with the lush voice of rising-star jazz vocalist Annie Sellick. Their
repertoire is influenced by jazz standards, swingsters like George
Barnes and Victor Feldman, and songwriters like Joni Mitchell and
James Taylor. On their latest CD, BACKWARD COMPATIBLE, the
musicians include bassists Marc Johnson, Doug Weiss, Tim Ferguson, drummers Clint deGanon, Jochen Rueckert, accordionist Will
Barrow, saxophonist Scott Kreitzer, and Sting’s backup singers, Jan
ice Pendarvis and Vaneese Thomas. Their previous release, LOW
STANDARDS, received praise from many critics. Steve & Pat have been playing together since the late ‘80’s, when
they were regulars at New York clubs such as Mikell’s, Visiones,
The Bitter End, and the 55-Bar. In 1992, Pat joined the group of
guitar legend Chet Atkins, and moved to Nashville, where he met
Annie. Then, after her stunning 2003 recording, “No Greater
Thrill” (with Pat and organist Joey DeFrancesco), Steve suggested
that Pat & Annie come to New York to collaborate. They have been
doing so ever since. In the meantime, Annie has followed her own
celebrated career. The LA Times said, “She’s a comer.” And The
Village Voice raved, “Annie Sellick has the most pleasing standards
voice I’ve heard in a long time.”
-- “Its a real shame this music isn't more widely known because these guys
are doing something both original and fresh. Players of uncommon presence
and a distinct voice on their respective instruments, leaders Shapiro and
Bergeson are both fine jazz musicians. Beyond that their concept of
revitalizing various popular, jazz standard, and obscure musical numbers,
plus their own slightly loopy tunes....adds up to a kind of musical
genius....Music of very high accomplishment.” (Audiophile Audition)
-- “Bergeson and vibist Steve Shapiro lead their
low-key band through
Latinized classics and
lush, leisurely originals with lucid grace....
When they
back Sellick on shorter alternating
tracks, they ease into overdrive for her
insinu-
ating smears and hints of Diana Krall and
savvy Carmen McRae snap.”
-Downbeat
-- “From the moment you hear Annie Sellick sing the opening lines from Joni
Mitchells song Free Man In Paris, you feel like she is speaking directly to you.
As the song progresses, it becomes impossible to escape Sellicks powers of
seduction, and vibraphonist Steve Shapiro and guitarist/harmonica player Pat
Bergeson are perfect accomplices during the takeover. Their blend of jazz,
country-folk, and a wee bit of swing makes their latest release Backward
Compatible an album that you will want to pass onto your children.”
(jazzreview.com)
--“Warm and tasteful...fi lled with the kind of
retro-cool in-the-pocket
grooves that will have
listeners poised for more of Shapiro’s triple-
threat
musicality... This CD is definitely saying
something.” -All Music Guide
--FIVE STARS *****
(FonoForum, Germany)
--“Puts you right in th’ mood... It’s not just the
great recording/production
on the album that
will make it a (real) KEEPER, it’s also the fact
that all the
players understand how important
it is to have “the groove” together!... A
really
GREAT jazz album that gets a MOST HIGHLY
RECOMMENDED from us.”
-
Improvijazzation Nation
[ 
