Steve Laury

Born March 22, 1953 and raised in Vineland, New Jersey, Laury picked up the guitar on a casual basis at the age of 11, but decided to seriously pursue the instrument -- and life in music -- at 18. In his formative years, he found himself lured by "bluesy rock" and particularly B.B. King. Other influences included Pat Martino, Kenny Burrell, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Toots Thielemans, Chic Corea, Airto and Wes Montgomery. Steve has also been heavily influenced by such Brazilian musicians as Carlos Jobim, Dori Caymni, Oscar Castro-Neves and L.A./Latin star Pancho Sanchez.

On the advice of a friend, Laury moved out west and immediately began meeting such notable musicians as bassist Nathan East, who in turn introduced him to other players. He also met Carl Evans and Mark Hunter who introduced Laury into Fattburger.

Steve Laury, like Wes Montgomery, is a guitar player's guitarist. In a single song Steve will play octaves, single lines, straight comping, up front empressario work and fitness it with a guitar question and answer period. As a guitarist, composer, and producer, Laury operates in that rarefied air where composition, execution and spontaneity interact to produce truly satisfying music. He also has a rare ability to keep his diverse musical gifts in their proper perspective: "My whole approach to music is that it should be like a painting. A guitar sound and guitar soloing are the focal point of that painting. But all the other things that go around it -- the arrangement and everything else -- fit into that picture and embellish the focal point."

And what a focal point it is! Laury's playing made this a central figure in the group Fattburger for five years before the launch of his successful solo career.

The optimistic nature of his work reflects the guitarist's outlook on life after recovering from T-cell lymphoma, a form of cancer. "I'm in total remission now. The illness put a lot of things in perspective in my life. I'm just real fortunate to be able to do what I do, to get out there and play the guitar."