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Luico Hopper
After college, Hopper moved to New York City to become a professional musician. In the '80s and '90s his career was established as a studio bassist recording on scores of radio and television commercials. During this time, Hopper also recorded and toured with a number of artists including Phyllis Hyman, Gato Barbieri, Roberta Flack, Gil Evans, Diana Ross, Earl Klugh, Jonathan Butler, Stephanie Mills, Johnny Gill, Gloria Lynne, Luther Vandross and Bryan Ferry.
In the mid-eighties, Hopper became increasingly sought after to perform on Broadway beginning with the original hit musical Dreamgirls. He was the featured bassist in the Broadway hit, Five Guys Named Moe and later performed in numerous other Broadway hits including Bring In Da Noise, Bring In the Funk, The Lion King, Shrek the Musical and Priscilla Queen of the Desert. In 2013, Hopper accepted the coveted bass chair for the hit sensation Motown the Musical, a role that was particularly meaningful since his childhood musical inspiration was the legendary Motown bassist, James Jamerson.
In 1995, Hopper released his first solo album, Lessons of Light, featuring his multiple talents as a musician, composer and producer. His second solo album, Reflections, was released in 2001.
In recent years Hopper has played several concerts with the legendary Smokey Robinson and most recently contributed to the 2020 soundtrack for The Glorias, a documentary about the life of Gloria Steinem. To this day, Hopper continues to pursue his craft with enormous passion, dedication and discipline reflective of the artist he was born to be.
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Luico Hopper: Reflections
by AAJ Staff
It’s significant that bassist Luico Hopper covers a Bill Withers tune (“Lovely Day”) on his new disc. Like that master of earthy soul, Hopper’s approach to his own idiom – smooth jazz, to pick an umbrella term – has an honest, downhome feel to it. The requisite surface features are there (drum programming, keyboards, easy grooves), but the result stands out by virtue of its human warmth.
Hopper’s writing palette allows for a wide variety of colors, as on the ...
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