Five times Grammy Award winning Steve Lukather is the consummate guitarist; He’s the unsung hero of Pop/Rock over the last 30 years. Luke has lent his talents to scores of Top 40 albums, and has recently been acknowledged as “The Reigning King of Session Guitar” (Guitarist magazine, April 2005) in addition to the plaudits of his peers, such as Brian May and Eddie Van Halen.
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As well as being an original member of Toto from 1977, who are currently one of the highest grossing rock bands in the world, Luke’s playing can be heard on albums as diverse as Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Lionel Richie’s Can’t Slow Down, Randy Newman’s Trouble in Paradise and literally hundreds of other recordings by legendary artists such as Elton John, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker, The Yardbirds and Diana Ross; He has also been employed to produce albums by artists as varied as Cher, Jeff Beck and Spinal Tap. Lukather has also recorded 4 solo albums since 1989 and won a Grammy for his live album with Larry Carlton in 2001.
In addition to touring the world several times over with Toto over the last 4 decades, Luke has toured with his own Los Angeles club band, Los Lobotomys (1994), Boz Scaggs (1977), Edgar Winter (2000), Larry Carlton (1998 & 2001), Nuno Bettencourt (2004). Lukather has performed live at numerous Jimi Hendrix Tribute concerts and also with Paul Rodgers, Jeff Beck, Santana and many others too numerous to mention. This tour, taking in England, France, Holland, Germany and Switzerland in June & July 2005 will provide a rare opportunity for fans in Europe to experience Lukather in club settings and away from the relative confines of Toto performances. The tour includes festival headline performances at Bospop and Leverkusen.
Lukather’s abundant virtuosity and diversity of musical interests has made him the “guitarist’s Guitarist”, a status which he would be quick to humbly decline. Sharp witted, with boundless energy and always affable, Luke is an extremely gifted entertainer who is loved by his fans and much admired by his peers.
Despite being renowned as a first-call studio legend, Lukather’s passion is performing live where he can stretch out to tackle new musical challenges, casting aside the restrictions of performing on hit records. It is his enthusiasm to explore yet further new avenues which has compelled Luke (guitars, vocals) to seek out some of the finest Los Angeles session musicians for this venture, from diverse backgrounds; Steve Weingart (keyboards), Joey Heredia (drums) and Oskar Cartaya (bass).
This collaboration will stimulate highly improvised performances in a hard rock fusion of jazz and Latin influences, performing Lukather’s own material interspersed with covers of Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck and Mike Landau songs. An intoxicating meeting of musical cultures is guaranteed, and virtuosity and fun will be served in large portions.