Greg Calbi

Gregory Calbi (born April 3, 1949) is an American mastering engineer at Sterling Sound, New Jersey.

Biography

Greg Calbi was born on April 3, 1949, in Yonkers, New York, and raised in Bayside, Queens, New York. He graduated in 1966 from Bishop Reilly High School in Fresh Meadows. Calbi earned his bachelor's degree in Mass Communications at Fordham University where he studied with Marshall McLuhan and his staff for 3 of those years. He then earned his master's degree in Political Media Studies (Speech Department) at the University of Massachusetts. During these college years, Calbi drove a NYC cab and sold ladies shoes, and was intent on becoming a documentary filmmaker. However, Calbi was asked by someone who worked at the Record Plant to drive a truck to Duke University to record Yes on the Close to the Edge Tour and soon after that began his career in 1972 as an assistant studio engineer at the Record Plant, working alongside engineers Jack Douglas, Jay Messina and Shelly Yakus, and Jimmy Iovine who was an assistant engineer at that time. In two years, Calbi began cutting vinyl in the mastering room with his high school and college friend, Tom Rabstenek, who had taken over The Cutting Room when George Marino left to go to Sterling Sound. During this time, Calbi helped Tom cut the lacquers for Stevie Wonder's ''Innervisions'' among others from the notes that George had left. In his first year as a mastering engineer, Calbi mastered his first platinum record, ''Eric Carmen'' by Eric Carmen, John Lennon's ''Walls and Bridges'' and in 1975, Calbi mastered David Bowie's ''Young Americans'' and Bruce Springsteen's ''Born to Run''. Calbi worked at the Record Plant until 1976 when a position was offered to him by Lee Hulko, owner of Sterling Sound.

During his early years at Sterling, Calbi worked alongside Lee Hulko, George Marino and Ted Jensen, and became known for mastering punk classics for The Ramones, Talking Heads and Patti Smith, as well as Tom Petty, Bill Frisell, Aretha Franklin and Todd Rundgren among others. In 1994, Calbi left Sterling for Masterdisk where he worked until 1998 when Calbi, Ted Jensen and Tom Coyne, along with Murat Aktar (Absolute Audio co-founder) and UK based Metropolis, purchased Sterling Sound from Lee Hulko.

Awards and nominations

TEC Awards

Calbi has garnered 12 Mix Foundation TEC Award nominations for Creative Achievement, winning two of them.

, -
, 2007
, ''Waiting on the World to Change''
, Record Production/Single or Track
,
, -
, 2007
, ''Continuum''
, Record Production, Album
,

Selected works

Calbi has mastered over 7500 albums during his career; a list of noteworthy music Calbi has mastered includes:

* 1973 ''Feeling the Space'' – Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band
* 1973 ''Berlin'' – Lou Reed
* 1973 ''Witness'' – Spooky Tooth
* 1973 ''Unbonded -'' The Chambers Brothers
* 1974 ''Pussy Cats'' – Harry Nilsson
* 1974 '' Hard Labor'' – Three Dog Night
* 1974 ''Kansas'' – Kansas
* 1974 ''Starting Over'' – Raspberries
* 1974 ''Eric Carmen'' – Eric Carmen
* 1974 ''Walls and Bridges'' – John Lennon
* 1974 ''Blood on the Tracks'' – Bob Dylan
* 1974 '' Inseparable'' – Natalie Cole
* 1975 ''Teaser'' – Tommy Bolin
* 1975 ''Rock 'n' Roll'' – John Lennon
* 1975 ''Born to Run'' – Bruce Springsteen
* 1975 ''Jasmine Nightdreams'' – Edgar Winter
* 1975 ''Go Girl Crazy!'' – The Dictators
* 1975 ''New City'' – Blood, Sweat & Tears
* 1975 ''On Your Feet or on Your Knees'' – Blue Öyster Cult
* 1975 ''Young Americans'' – David Bowie
* 1976 ''Yesterday and Today'' – Y&T
* 1976 '' Greatest Stories Live'' – Harry Chapin
* 1976 '' Blondie'' – Blondie
* 1976 ''Solo'' – Don McLean
* 1976 ''Dedication'' – Bay City Rollers
* 1976 ''Night Shift'' – Foghat
* 1976 '' Ramones'' – Ramones
* 1976 ''Images'' – Dan Hartman
* 1976 '' Captured Live!'' – Johnny Winter
* 1976 ''Even in the Quietest Moments'' – Supertramp
* 1977 ''Hard Again'' – Muddy Waters
* 1977 ''38 Special'' – 38 Special
* 1977 ''Low'' – David Bowie
* 1977 ''The Geese & the Ghost'' – Anthony Phillips
* 1977 ''Marquee Moon'' – Television
* 1977 ''Rocket to Russia'' – Ramones
* 1977 '' Beauty on a Back Street'' – Hall & Oates
* 1977 ''On Stage'' – Rainbow
* 1977 ''Nothin' but the Blues'' – Johnny Winter
* 1977 ''"Heroes"'' – David Bowie
* 1977 ''Lust for Life'' – Iggy Pop
* 1977 ''Blank Generation'' – Richard Hell and the Voidoids
* 1977 ''Go Too'' – Go
* 1978 ''Road to Ruin'' – Ramones
* 1978 ''White, Hot and Blue'' – Johnny Winter
* 1978 '' Meco Plays The Wizard of Oz'' – Meco
* 1978 ''Special Delivery'' – 38 Special
* 1978 ''David Johansen'' – David Johansen
* 1978 '' Sayin' It with Love'' – Steve Camp
* 1978 '' Grab It for a Second'' – Golden Earring
* 1978 ''Symphony of Love'' – Miquel Brown
* 1978 ''Easter'' – Patti Smith Group
* 1978 ''The Godz'' – The Godz
* 1978 '' All Mod Cons'' – The Jam
* 1978 ''Plastic Letters'' – Blondie
* 1978 '' Cosmic Messenger'' – Jean-Luc Ponty
* 1978 ''I'm Ready'' – Muddy Waters
* 1978 ''Elements'' – Roger Glover
* 1978 '' Breakfast in America'' – Supertramp
* 1979 ''Lodger'' – David Bowie
* 1979 ''Setting Sons'' – The Jam
* 1979 '' Damn the Torpedoes'' – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
* 1979 ''Do It Yourself'' – Ian Dury and The Blockheads
* 1979 ''Down to Earth'' – Rainbow
* 1979 ''A Taste for Passion'' – Jean-Luc Ponty
* 1979 ''TRB Two'' – Tom Robinson Band
* 1979 ''Electric Dreams'' – John McLaughlin
* 1979 '' Journey to the Land Of... Enchantment'' – Enchantment
* 1979 '' Superman & Other Galactic Heroes'' – Meco
* 1979 ''Alchemy'' – Richard Lloyd
* 1979 ''Fear of Music'' – Talking Heads
* 1980 ''Making Movies'' – Dire Straits
* 1980 ''Sugarhill Gang'' – The Sugarhill Gang
* 1980 '' Beauty and the Beat'' – Go-Go's
* 1980 ''Scissors Cut'' – Art Garfunkel
* 1980 ''Willie Nile – Willie Nile''
* 1980 ''Remain in Light'' – Talking Heads
* 1980 ''Growing Up in Public'' – Lou Reed
* 1981 '' Concert in Central Park'' – Simon & Garfunkel
* 1981 ''Forever, for Always, for Love'' – Luther Vandross
* 1982 '' The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect'' – Todd Rundgren
* 1982 ''Mesopotamia'' – The B-52's
* 1982 '' The Blue Mask'' – Lou Reed
* 1983 ''Close to the Bone'' – Tom Tom Club
* 1983 ''Faster Than the Speed of Night'' – Bonnie Tyler
* 1983 ''Colour by Numbers'' – Culture Club
* 1983 ''Legendary Hearts'' – Lou Reed
* 1983 ''Murmur'' – R.E.M.
* 1983 ''Hearts and Bones'' – Paul Simon
* 1984 ''Human's Lib'' – Howard Jones
* 1984 ''Footloose'' – Original Soundtrack
* 1984 ''Feeling Cavalier'' – Ebn Ozn
* 1984 '' Milk and Honey'' – John Lennon/Yoko Ono
* 1984 '' Serious Business'' – Johnny Winter
* 1984 '' Suzanne Vega'' – Suzanne Vega
* 1984 ''Who's Zoomin' Who?'' – Aretha Franklin
* 1984 '' Perfect Strangers'' – Deep Purple
* 1985 ''7800° Fahrenheit'' – Bon Jovi
* 1986 ''Graceland'' – Paul Simon
* 1987 ''Before We Were Born'' – Bill Frisell
* 1987 ''Crossroads'' – Eric Clapton
* 1988 ''State of Euphoria'' – Anthrax
* 1988 ''Ramones Mania'' – Ramones
* 1988 ''Vivid'' – Living Colour
* 1989 '' Force Majeure'' – Doro
* 1989 '' Let Love Rule'' – Lenny Kravitz
* 1990 ''Paul Simon's Concert in the Park'' – Paul Simon
* 1991 ''Attack of the Killer B's'' – Anthrax
* 1991 '' The Human Factor'' – Metal Church
* 1991 '' Mama Said'' – Lenny Kravitz
* 1992 ''Gordon'' – Barenaked Ladies
* 1992 ''Over My Heart'' – Laura Branigan
* 1993 ''Fumbling Towards Ecstasy'' – Sarah McLachlan
* 1994 ''Pearls'' – David Sanborn
* 1994 ''Wild Onions'' – Jeff Greene
* 1995 ''New Moon Daughter'' – Cassandra Wilson
* 1996 ''Songs from the Night Before'' – David Sanborn
* 1996 ''Flaming Pie'' – Paul McCartney
* 1997 '' Gone, Just Like a Train'' – Bill Frisell
* 1997 '' Rant and Roar'' – Great Big Sea
* 1998 ''Chasin' Gus' Ghost'' – John Sebastian

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