Stephen "Steve" Rucker (born 2 March 1954) is an American musician and drummer who served as a drummer with many artists. His biggest and well known act was the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era in ...

. With the Bee Gees band, he appeared on '' The Tonight Show'', ''

Late Night with David Letterman ''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on NBC, the first iteration of the ''Late Night'' franchise. It premiered on February 1, 1982, and was produced by Letterman's production company ...

'',

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...

The Rosie O'Donnell Show ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show'' is an American daytime variety television talk show created, hosted, and produced by actress and comedian Rosie O'Donnell. It premiered on June 10, 1996, and concluded after six seasons on May 22, 2002. This talk sh ...

, the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...

induction and a

Royal Variety Performance The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal f ...

. Rucker appears on the Bee Gees' '' One Night Only'' recording and DVD. He is currently the Drumset Studies director of the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

Frost School of Music Frost School of Music is the music school at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. From 1926 to 2003, it was known as University of Miami School of Music. Academics and programs The University of Miami's Frost School of Music was on ...

Early life

Originally from

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, Rucker attended

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, and holds an Undergraduate Degree in Studio Music and Jazz and a master's degree in Jazz Performance from the University of Miami Frost School of Music. From September 1974 until May 1975, Rucker toured with the Charlotte NC based band, Sugarcreek. During this period he became the musical arranger for the seven-piece horn band, and wrote and recorded their first single, "Runnin' Out of Time".

Florida

Rucker moved to

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

in 1976. Soon after, he was voted "Best Jazz Performer" and "Most Versatile Artist" in South Florida polls. In the early 1980s, Rucker was a member of the Ross-Levine band, a ground-breaking jazz-fusion group. In addition to numerous appearances with them, he recorded "That Summer Something" and "Humidity".

Ocean Sound Band

While a member of

Randy Bernsen Randy Bernsen (born July 15, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist. Career Bernsen was born in Needham, Massachusetts and grew up in Florida. He attended high school in Plantation and was active in the clubs of South Florida, starting at age 1 ...

's Ocean Sound Band in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he recorded tracks on "Paradise Citizens" and "Calling Me Back Home", and performed in many concerts internationally, including a billing with Miles Davis. In 1992, he recorded "Blues Hat Dances 'Round Midnight" with Randy Bernsen and Onorino Tiburzi in Italy. In 1990, he recorded "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me" with Gloria Estefan. For many years, he performed nationwide with Ben Vereen, and appeared with Mr. Vereen with the Atlanta Symphony and the Dallas Symphony.

Active Ingredient

Rucker founded and

produced Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

the

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

ensemble Active Ingredient, a group of musicians from the University of Miami. The band debuted on Bainbridge Records in 1988 with "Building Houses," followed by "Extra Strength" in 1990.

Bee Gees

In 1997, Rucker appeared on a Bee Gees concert at the

MGM Grand Las Vegas The MGM Grand Las Vegas is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The MGM Grand is the largest single hotel in the world with 6,852 rooms. It is also the third-largest hotel complex in the world by number of rooms ...

which was shown on pay-per-view television, HBO, and was mastered as a live album. The recording of this performance sold over 5 million copies. This led to a world tour of "One Night Only" concerts. The tour included playing to 56,000 people at London's Wembley Stadium on 5 September 1998 and concluded in the newly built Olympic Stadium in Sydney, Australia in March 1999. Rucker also performed or recorded with

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

, Paquito D'Rivera, Barry Gibb, Jaco Pastorius,

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

, Joe Sample,

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

, Ben Vereen, Bo Diddley, Freda Payne, the

Woody Herman Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading groups called "The Herd", Herman came to prominence in the late 1930s and was active until his dea ...

Big Band, the

Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombo ...

Big Band (with

Warren Covington Warren Covington (August 7, 1921 – August 24, 1999) was an American big band trombonist. He was active as a session musician, arranger, and bandleader throughout his career. Biography Covington, who was born in Philadelphia, played early on ...

Sam Moore Samuel David Moore (born October 12, 1935) is an American vocalist who was a member of the soul and R&B group, Sam & Dave, from 1961 to 1981. He is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Grammy Hall of Fame (for " Soul Man"), and the Voc ...

and Bob James.

University of Miami

Since 1979, Rucker has been the Director of Drumset Studies at the

. He directs the Funk/Fusion Ensemble, which has won over 20 Downbeat Student Awards. In previous years has created Tower of Power Ensemble and Weather Report Ensembles. Steve also directs the RUCK Ensemble, a hip hop / funk aggregation that features original music by the members of the group.

Late career

In 2008, Rucker created an avant garde duo with guitarist Tom Lippincott. In 2010, Rucker recorded an album with composer Ron Miller, entitled "Peacock Park the Music of Ron Miller." Rucker completed an album in 2013 entitled "Conversions" with singer/pianist Hal Roland, in a live jazz quartet configuration. In 2015, in collaboration with former student Jonathan Joseph, Rucker wrote and published "Exercises in African-American Funk," which contains a set of exercises for developing a fusion of African and American funk drumming elements.

References

External links

Steve Rucker Interview - NAMM Oral History Library (2016)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rucker, Steve People from Miami University of Miami Frost School of Music alumni Living people 1954 births People from Charlotte, North Carolina Berklee College of Music alumni University of Miami faculty 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 20th-century American male musicians