He is a bassist born in Mexico City whose father was a
guitarist and composer and gave him his first lessons.When he was 10 years old he recorded
his first song with the band Los Traviesos.He trained as a classical guitarist and as a teenager
also acted, but while he was attending Berklee School of Music he changed
to the bass guitar.He was
given the advice to move to Los Angeles to follow a career in recording by
Henry Mancini after travelling with him, Johnny Mathis and Michel LeGrand. After taking up this suggestion in
1976 he found himself a session musician who has now performed on
soundtracks and albums that total over 3-4,000.This earned him the accolade of being "he most widely
used session bassist of our time" by Guitar Player Magazine.Aside from his recording career he
was a founder of the groups Koinonia and Friendship and in his own solo
work he has released three albums.Artists he has worked with over the years include Air Supply, Patti
Austin, Joan Baez, Phillip Bailey, Big Mountain, Stephen Bishop, Captain
& Tennille, Larry Carlton, Joe Cocker, Leonard Cohen, The Crusaders, Miles
Davis, Dr. John, Sheena Easton, Randy Edelman, Tommy Emmanuel, Donald
Fagen, Wilton Felder, Roberta Flack, The Floaters, David Foster, Aretha
Franklin, Steve Gadd, The Imperials, James Ingram, Chris Isaak, Elton John,
Jim Keltner, Chaka Khan, Lisa Loeb, Kenny Loggins, Trini Lopez, Lyle
Lovett, Lulu, Melissa Manchester, Manhattan Transfer, Arnold McCuller, Bette
Midler, Maria Muldaur, Claus Ogerman, Jeffrey Osborne, Dolly Parton, Teddy
Pendergrass, The Pointer Sisters, Billy Preston, Zachary Richard, LeAnn
Rimes, Lee Ritenour, Robbie Robertson, Kenny Rogers, Brenda Russell, Lalo
Schifrin, Marlena Shaw, Ben Sidran, Curtis Stigers, Barbra Streisand, Teena
Marie, The Temptations, Stanley Turrentine, Sarah Vaughan, Lenny Williams, The
Winans, Stevie Wonder, Yarbrough & Peoples and hundreds more.It's impossible to name the thousands
of recordings he was on, but a few of them include his own Dear Friends,
Guidum and Just & Abraham and also Fandango by Herb
Alpert, Give Me the Night by George Benson, My World by Ray
Charles, Back Home by Eric Clapton, No Tricks by The
Commodores, Raw Silk by Randy Crawford, Another Page by
Christopher Cross, Greatest Hits by Sheryl Crow, Earth Songs
by John Denver, Best of Ella by Ella Fitzgerald, Children of the
World by Stan Getz, Indian Summer by Go West, Lift Me Up
by Herbie Hancock, Yours by Engelbert Humperdinck, Dangerous
by Michael Jackson, Look to the Rainbow by Al Jarreau, Ultimate
Collection by Quincy Jones, Midnight in San Juan by Earl Klugh, Hundred
Miles Or More by Alison Krauss, Invincible Summer by k.d. Lang, I'm
Breathless by Madonna, Showstoppers by Barry Manilow, Me
Amaras by Ricky Martin, Special Part of Me by Johnny Mathis, Take
It to Heart by Michael McDonald, Love Performance by Olivia
Newton John, Rescue Me by Tom Jones, Can't Slow Down by
Lionel Richie, Patrice by Patrice Rushen, World Radio by Leo
Sayer, You're the One by Paul Simon, and Best Is Yet to Come
by Grover Washington Jr.Recognised
for his contribution to music, Berklee College of Music awarded him an
Honorary Doctorate in 2005.His
sons are the drummer Abe Laboriel Jr. and the producer and film composer
Mateo Laboriel.
Herb Alpert recordings
Angel (Juan Carlos Calderon)
Route 101 (Juan Carlos Calderon)
The
Manhattan Transfer
Recordings
Body and Soul (Edward
Heyman/Johnny Green/Robert Sour/Frank Eyton)
Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone
(Marius Constant/Jay Graydon/Alan Paul)
