A Breath of Fresh Air Apr 16

A Breath of Fresh Air With Sandy Kaye
bombshellradio.com
Tuesdays 1pm EST
and Fridays 8pm EST

Archival shows : bombshellradiopodcasts.com

Leland Sklar has been a prominent figure among Hollywood session bassists dating back to the 1970s and ever since. Born in 1947 in Milwaukee, Lee has more than 2000 albums to his credit (and still counting) and is considered to be one of the “A” players in the highly selective L.A. rock music community where the competition for recording dates is fierce, and where only the strongest survive. His very recognisable bass playing style has been heard on hits by Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Hall & Oates, Jackson Browne, Carole King, Phil Collins, Keith Richards and Reba McEntire to name just a few.

Leland has played on TV shows like Hill Street Blues, Knight Rider, Simon and Simon, and also on many films, including Forrest Gump, Ghost, Kindergarten Cop, and My Best Friend’s Wedding.

Leland moved to Los Angeles when he was very young and started playing piano at age four. It was toward the end of the ’60s that Lee met James Taylor and the pair started playing gigs together. When James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain” became a huge hit record, Leland Sklar’s career also began to take off. The buzz surrounding this new bass player didn’t take long to spread around Hollywood, and he quickly became one of the “A” list session musicians around town.

Over the years Leland has worked with most of the top session players in Hollywood and is especially close to his long-time friends and members of The Immediate Family – drummer Russ Kunkel, guitarists Dan Kortchmar and Steve Postell. In the early 70s, Sklar, Kunkel, and Kortchmar, along with in-demand session keyboardist Craig Doerge, also had a band known as The Section, which released several albums of instrumental rock/funk/jazz fusion music.

Today the Immediate Family can legitimately be called a supergroup. They have a new album and are the subject of a brand new documentary.

Sandy Kaye
sandy@abreathoffreshair.com.au