Eric Gale

Eric J. Gale (September 20, 1938 - May 25, 1994) was a leading American jazz and session guitarist.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Gale began playing guitar at the age of 12. Although he majored in chemistry at Niagara University, Gale was determined to pursue a musical career, and began contributing to accompaniments for such stars as Maxine Brown, the Drifters, and Jesse Belvin. He soon began to attract the attention of King Curtis and Jimmy Smith, who began recommending him for studio work. He became known first as a session musician in the 1960s, eventually appearing on an estimated 500 albums. Among the many artists he recorded with were Aretha Franklin, Bob James, Paul Simon, Lena Horne, Quincy Jones, Bob Marley, Nina Simone, Peter Tosh, Grover Washington, Jr., Herbie Mann, Esther Phillips, Joe Cocker, Carly Simon, Van Morrison, Al Jarreau and Billy Joel. He also had a spell in Aretha Franklin's stage band.

Gale died of lung cancer in May 1994, at the age of 55.

As leader

 * Negril (LP, 1975. Micron Music Ltd.) (CD, 2003. 3D Japan)
 * Forecast (1973) (Kudu Records)
 * Ginseng Woman (1977) (Columbia)
 * Multiplication (1978) (Columbia)
 * Part of You (1979) (Columbia)
 * Touch of Silk (1980) (Columbia)
 * Blue Horizon (1981) (Elektra)
 * In the Shadow of a Tree (1982) (JVC)
 * Island Breeze (1983) (Elektra)
 * In a Jazz Tradition (1987) (EmArcy)
 * Let's Stay Together (1988) (Artful Balance)
 * Utopia (1998) (Rooms Japan)

Appears on

 * Red Holloway: The Burner (Presige, 1963)
 * Jimmy McGriff: Cherry (1966)
 * Benny Golson: Tune In, Turn On (Verve, 1967)
 * Greg Hatza: The wizardry of Greg Hatza (1967)
 * Greg Hatza: Organ-ized" Jazz (1968)
 * Van Morrison: Blowin' Your Mind! (1967)
 * Bernard Purdie: Soul Drums (Date, 1967)
 * Bobby Timmons: Got to Get It! (1967)
 * Herbie Mann: Glory of Love (CTI, 1967)
 * The Appletree Theatre: Playback (1968)
 * Gary McFarland: America the Beautiful (1968)
 * Tom Rush: The Circle Game (1968)
 * J. J. Johnson and Kai Winding: Israel (A&M/CTI, 1968)
 * Shirley Scott: Soul Song (Atlantic, 1968)
 * Eric Andersen: Avalanche (1969)
 * Yusef Lateef: Yusef Lateef's Detroit (Atlantic, 1969)
 * J. J. Johnson and Kai Winding: Betwixt & Between (A&M/CTI, 1969)
 * Quincy Jones: Walking in Space (CTI, 1969)
 * Al Kooper: You Never Know Who Your Friends Are (1969)
 * Shirley Scott: Shirley Scott & the Soul Saxes (Atlantic, 1969)
 * Lena Horne & Gábor Szabó: Lena & Gabor (Skye, 1969)
 * Freddie Hubbard: A Soul Experiment (Atlantic, 1969)
 * Dizzy Gillespie: The Real Thing (Perception, 1969)
 * Gary Burton: Good Vibes (1969)
 * Al Kooper: Kooper Session(1969)
 * Novac: The Fifth Word (1970)
 * Shirley Scott: Something (Atlantic, 1970)
 * Barry Goldberg: Street Man (1970)
 * Quincy Jones: Gula Matari (1970)
 * Yusef Lateef: Suite 16 (Atlantic, 1970)
 * Esther Phillips: Burnin' (Live) (1970)
 * Junior Mance: With a Lotta Help From My Friends (1970)
 * Cris Williamson: Cris Williamson (1971)
 * The Chuck Rainey Coalition: The Chuck Rainey Coalition (1971)
 * Johnny Hammond: Breakout (Kudu, 1971), Wild Horses Rock Steady (Kudu, 1971), The Prophet (Kudu, 1972)
 * Stanley Turrentine: Salt Song (CTI, 1971)''
 * Yusef Lateef: The Gentle Giant (Atlantic, 1971)
 * Grover Washington, Jr.: Inner City Blues (Kudu, 1971)
 * Roberta Flack: Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway (1972)
 * Esther Phillips: From a Whisper to a Scream (1972)
 * Freddie Hubbard / Stanley Turrentine: In Concert (1973)
 * Stanley Turrentine: Don't Mess with Mister T. (1973)
 * Van Morrison: T.B. Sheets (1974)
 * Hubert Laws: The Chicago Theme (CTI, 1974)
 * Grover Washington, Jr.: Mister Magic (1975)
 * Bob James: Two (1975)
 * Joe Higgs: Life Of Contradiction (1975)
 * Van McCoy: The Disco Kid (1975)
 * Ron Carter: Anything Goes (Kudu, 1975)
 * George Benson: Good King Bad (CTI, 1975)
 * Phil Upchurch: Upchurch/Tennyson (1975)
 * Tom Scott: New York Connection (1975)
 * Hank Crawford: I Hear A Symphony (1975)
 * Gábor Szabó: Macho (1975)
 * Idris Muhammad: House of the Rising Sun (1975)
 * Ashford & Simpson: Come as You Are (1976)
 * Blood, Sweat & Tears: More Than Ever (1976)
 * Bob James: Three (1976)
 * Grover Washington, Jr.: A Secret Place (Kudu, 1976)
 * George Benson and Joe Farrell: Benson & Farrell (CTI, 1976)
 * Paul Butterfield: Put It In Your Ear (1976)
 * Joe Cocker: ''Stingray (1976)
 * Lalo Schifrin: Black Widow (CTI, 1976)
 * Urbie Green: The Fox (CTI, 1976)
 * Randy Crawford: Everything Must Change (1976)
 * Rainbow featuring Will Boulware: Crystal Green (1976)
 * Lalo Schifrin: Towering Toccata (CTI, 1976)
 * Patti Austin: End of a Rainbow (CTI, 1976)
 * Maynard Ferguson: Primal Scream (1976)
 * Ralph MacDonald: Sound of A Drum (1976)
 * Essra Mohawk: Essra (1976)
 * Ashford & Simpson: So SO Satisfied (1977)
 * Carla Bley: Dinner Music (1977)
 * Bob James: Four (1977)
 * Esther Phillips: Capricorn Princess (1977)
 * Pee Wee Ellis: Home In the Country (1977)
 * Art Farmer: Crawl Space (CTI, 1977)
 * Tom Scott: Blow It Out (1977)
 * Idris Muhammad: Turn This Mutha Out (1977)
 * Yusef Lateef: Autophysiopsychic (CTI, 1977)
 * Jeremy Steig: Firefly (CTI, 1977)
 * Joe Farrell: La Cathedral Y El Toro, (1977)
 * Kenny Loggins: Celebrate Me Home (1977)
 * Fania All Star: Rymthin Machine (1977)
 * Jun Fukamachi: The Sea of Dirac (1977)
 * David Matthews: Dune (1977)
 * David Ruffin: In My Stride (1977)
 * Patti Austin: Havana Candy (CTI, 1977)
 * Bob James: Heads (1977)
 * Jun Fukamachi: Evening Star (1977)
 * David Mathews: Dune (1977)
 * Ashford & Simpson: Is It Still Good to Ya? (1978)
 * Noel Pointer: Hold On (1978)
 * Mark Colby: Serpentine Fire (1978)
 * Wilbert Longmire: Sunny Side Up (1978)
 * Billy Joel: 52nd Street (1978)
 * Ralph MacDonald: The Path (1978)
 * Thijs van Leer: Nice to Have Met You (1978)
 * Jun Fukamachi: On The Move (1978)
 * Loleatta Holloway: Queen of the Night (1978)
 * Carly Simon: Boys in the Trees (1978)
 * Ushio Sakai: Blues In My Soul (Yupiteru Records, 1978)
 * Richard Tee: Strokin'  (1978)
 * Mark Colby: One Good Turn (1979)
 * Bob James: Lucky Seven (1979)
 * Yusef Lateef: In a Temple Garden (CTI, 1979)
 * Ralph MacDonald: Counterpoint (1979)
 * Felix Pappalardi: Don't Worry, Mum (1979)
 * Diana Ross: The Boss (1979)
 * Bob James: One On One (1979)
 * Wilbert Longmire: Champagne (1979)
 * David "Fathead" Newman: Scratch My Back (1979)
 * Paul Simon: One-Trick Pony (1980)
 * Ashford & Simpson: A Musical Affair (1980)
 * Michael Franks: One Bad Habit (1980)
 * Richard Tee: Natural Ingredients (1980)
 * Michael Franks: One Bad Habit (1980)
 * Teddy Pendergrass: TP (1980)
 * Grover Washington, Jr.: Skylarkin' (1980)
 * Sadao Watanabe: How's Everything (live, 1980)
 * Sadao Watanabe: In the Shade of a Tree (1981)
 * Patti Austin: Every Home Should Have One (1981)
 * Diana Ross: Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1981)
 * Fuse One: Silk (1981)
 * Tom Scott: Apple Juice (1981)
 * New York Liner: S/T (King/Electric Bird, 1981)
 * Ashford & Simpson: Street Opera (1982)
 * Mark Gray: Boogie Hotel (1982)
 * Roberta Flack: I'm the One (1982)
 * Dave Grusin: NY/LA Dream Band (1982)
 * Diana Ross: Silk Electric (1982)
 * Jorge Dalto & Super Friends: Rendez-Vous (1983)
 * Billy Joel: An Innocent Man (1983)
 * Paul Simon: Hearts and Bones (1983)
 * Sadao Watanabe: Rendezvous (1984)
 * Michael Jackson: Bad (1987)
 * Tom Scott: Streamlines (1987)
 * Tom Scott: Flashpoint (1988)
 * David Diggs: Nothing But the Truth (1989)
 * Emiel van Egdom: This is for you (1989)
 * Michael Paulo: Fuse Box (1990)
 * Richard Tee: Real Time (1992)
 * Spirit Traveller: Playing The Hits From Motor City (JVC, 1993)
 * Al Jarreau: Tenderness (1994)
 * Emiel van Egdom: Hybrid Groove (1996)