Paul Pesco
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Paul Pesco (born May 13, 1959) is an American
session guitarist Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...
, singer-songwriter,
film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...
composer and record producer.


Biography

Pesco was born in Canandaigua,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
, to a Sicilian father (an opera singer and voice instructor) and Korean mother (an author).Waugh, Lisa
Paul Pesco – Musician Extraordinaire
, rockworldmagazine.com, August 18, 2011 (accessed January 31, 2016).
The family lived for a time in Germany during Paul's youth before returning to New York. He graduated from
Northport High School Northport High School is a four-year secondary school in East Northport, New York, that serves as the high school for the Northport-East Northport Union Free School District which is composed of Northport, Eatons Neck, Asharoken and much of East N ...
in 1977. As of November 2012, Pesco resides in
Millbrook, New York Millbrook is a village in Dutchess County, New York, United States. Millbrook is located in the Hudson Valley, on the east side of the Hudson River, north of New York City. Millbrook is near the center of the town of Washington, of which it is a ...
, where he maintains a home recording studio.Paul Pesco Sits Down with AMS – Paul Pesco AMS Interview @YouTube.com
Retrieved April 1, 2014.
Beginning on the piano, Pesco would gradually build up a working proficiency with several different instruments before finding a natural fit with the guitar. He began seriously pursuing a career in music by working as a rehearsal technician at S.I.R. Studios, where he had brushes with numerous prominent artists. Having already played on some early sessions by a then-relatively unknown
Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
, Pesco was offered a position as a "utility man" (playing second guitar and keyboards) with Atlantic Starr on the band's 1982 tour, which would be his first prolific gig. Following this tour, Pesco was again recruited by Madonna to record on her self-titled debut album. Soon thereafter, Pesco joined up with the innovative techno funk group the System, performing on the band's studio albums as well as tours and becoming an instrumental part of launching the group's career. It was through his work with the System that he first came to the attention of the group Hall & Oates, with whom he would soon develop a long-term association. These early gigs segued into future sessions with other high-profile artists, and his session career blossomed from there. He played on demos for disco artist Lourett Russell Grant. He became an in-demand session player throughout the 1980s and has remained one of the most sought-after session musicians into the present. Meanwhile, Pesco had also maintained his working relationship with Madonna, having recorded and toured with her (the first album, songs "
Lucky Star Lucky Star, The Lucky Star or Lucky Starr may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media Anime and manga * ''Lucky Star'' (manga), a manga, anime, and video game series * "Lucky Star", one of the Angel Frames from the anime and manga series ''Galaxy ...
" and " Burning Up" as well as
The Virgin Tour The Virgin Tour was the debut concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna. The tour supported her first two studio albums, ''Madonna (Madonna album), Madonna'' (1983) and ''Like a Virgin (album), Like a Virgin'' (1984). Although initiall ...
in 1985 and the '' Erotica'' album and subsequent Girlie Show World Tour in 1993). The Madonna demos on which he had played guitar prior to touring with Atlantic Starr initially secured her recording contract with Sire Records in the early 1980s, which have since been released as the ''
Pre-Madonna ''Pre-Madonna'' (titled ''In the Beginning'' in European countries) is a collection of demos by American singer Madonna. It was released in 1997 by Stephen Bray, who was the producer of the songs when they were recorded, and was distributed b ...
'' album.


Other highlights

In 1986, Pesco played on
Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a keyboard player and vocalist prominent for his disti ...
's album '' Back in the High Life'' (on the song "
The Finer Things ''The Finer Things'' is a compilation album box set of recordings by Steve Winwood. It includes songs from his early days with The Spencer Davis Group through Traffic and Blind Faith and into his work during his solo career. Track listing Dis ...
") and on tour. In 1989, Pesco released a solo album, ''Make It Reality'', which featured himself on lead vocals, guitar, and often other instruments, backed by other session musicians. In 1991, Pesco joined C+C Music Factory, creating the guitar parts for " Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)", " Things That Make You Go Hmmm...", among many other songs. In 2001, he became musical director and guitarist for
Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series ''In Living Color'', where she rema ...
, for her promotional tour and NBC music special. Pesco had worked with J-Lo in the studio, playing guitar on the song " Play" from her second album ''J.Lo''. In late 2002, he joined the house band for morning talk show ''
The Wayne Brady Show ''The Wayne Brady Show'' is an American variety show hosted by comedian Wayne Brady that aired in two separate forms. On August 8, 2001, ABC, for whom Brady had been working as a panelist on ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'', launched the first ''Way ...
'' on
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
. Around the same time, he worked on several film soundtracks including ''
Around the Bend ''Around the Bend'' is a 2004 road movie written and directed by Jordan Roberts and starring Christopher Walken, Josh Lucas, Michael Caine, Glenne Headly, and Jonah Bobo. The film is inspired by the relationship between Roberts and the absente ...
'', '' Be Cool'', '' Happy Feet'' and ''Robots'' with composer John Powell, the ''Brando'' documentary and the comedic short film, ''Basta Pasta'' with composer Andrea Morricone. Pesco has also composed and performed on soundtracks for films such as '' Roxanne'', '' Earth Girls Are Easy'', ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...
'', '' Encino Man'', '' Wild Orchid'', '' Coming to America'', ''
Fried Green Tomatoes ''Fried Green Tomatoes'' is a 1991 American comedy-drama film directed by Jon Avnet and based on Fannie Flagg's 1987 novel ''Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe''. Written by Flagg and Carol Sobieski, and starring Kathy Bates, Jessic ...
'', '' Boca'' and '' Tap''. In 2005, Pesco co-composed the musical score for the documentary film '' The Canary Effect'' from director
Robin Davey Robin Davey (born 29 December 1975 in St Austell, Cornwall, England) is an English musician, record producer, musical director and photographer. Biography Davey was a founding member of the British blues band, The Hoax, who were signed to East ...
. Pesco has recorded and toured with
Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...
. He is a member and co-producer of John Blackwell's John Blackwell Project (''4ever Jia'' album). He is also a member of drummer
Dave Weckl Dave Weckl (born January 8, 1960 in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American jazz fusion drummer and the leader of the Dave Weckl Band. He was inducted into the ''Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2000. Biography Weckl started playing his first se ...
's group (''
Multiplicity Multiplicity may refer to: In science and the humanities * Multiplicity (mathematics), the number of times an element is repeated in a multiset * Multiplicity (philosophy), a philosophical concept * Multiplicity (psychology), having or using multi ...
'' album).


Association with Hall and Oates

Pesco was the lead guitarist and musical director of the rock and soul duo Hall & Oates. He also performed the same role for Daryl Hall's successful reality music television program, ''Live from Daryl's House'', and toured with Hall's solo band. H&O were aware of Pesco because of his studio track record with the System, and also his prolific work with many other artists. Initially, that led to Pesco playing guitar on their '' Ooh Yeah!'' album in 1988. He joined Hall & Oates again in 1996 for the recording sessions and tour for the '' Marigold Sky'' album. He remained with the band until 2001, when he began working with Jennifer Lopez. In 2010, Pesco rejoined Hall & Oates upon the death of the band's longtime bassist,
Tom "T-Bone" Wolk Tom "T-Bone" Wolk (December 24, 1951 – February 28, 2010) was an American musician and bassist for the music duo Daryl Hall & John Oates and a member of the ''Saturday Night Live'' house band. Life and career Wolk was born and raised in Yon ...
. He remained with the band through 2013 and had a highly visible role during ''
Live from Daryl's House ''Live from Daryl's House'' (simply known as ''Daryl's House'' and often abbreviated as ''LFDH'') is an online music series that debuted in the autumn of 2007. The show features singer-songwriter Daryl Hall performing with his band and various gu ...
'' broadcasts. On January 6, 2014, Pesco publicly acknowledged his departure from the ''Live from Daryl's House'' show and the Hall & Oates band. On his Facebook page, Pesco wrote, "I am no longer involved with LFDH or H&O ... I was replaced ... Not sure why ... Sorry that I couldn't be more informative." He added, "No one is more disappointed than I am ... I loved being a part of LFDH." He concluded, "Sometimes the tail wags the dog. I think Daryl and John made a decision based on misinformation and lies... It's a shame..." He appeared on June 26 at Summerfest 2014 in Milwaukee.


Gear / endorsements

* Suhr Guitars, amps and pedals * ESP Guitars *
Taylor Guitars Taylor Guitars is an American guitar manufacturer based in El Cajon, California, and is one of the largest manufacturers of acoustic guitars in the United States. They specialize in acoustic guitars and semi-hollow electric guitars. The company w ...
* Seymour Duncan Pickups *
DR Handmade Strings DR Handmade Strings is a manufacturer of guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant ...
* Line 6 digital effects * Fishman Pickups * Empirical Labs * QSC Audio Products * PreSonus StudioLive * Quilter Labs (Amps) * Tronical * Cusack Pedals * Soundtoys Plugins * PRA WiC digital wireless systems for guitar


Solo discography


Album

* ''Make It Reality'' (
Sire Sire is an archaic respectful form of address to reigning kings in Europe. In French and other languages it is less archaic and relatively more current. In Belgium, the king is addressed as "Sire..." in both Dutch and French. The words "sire" a ...
), 1989


Singles

* "Black Is Black" (Sire) * "I'm Hypnotized" (Sire) * "The Politics of Love" (Sire)Paul Pesco- "The Politics of Love" single @Discogs.com
Retrieved December 21, 2013.


Collaborations


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pesco, Paul 1959 births People from Long Island Living people Singers from New York (state) Songwriters from New York (state) Hall & Oates members American people of Italian descent American musicians of Korean descent American session musicians American film score composers Daryl Hall and the Daryl's House Band members C+C Music Factory members