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As a young boy MICHAEL SEMBELLO studied music with the same
mystical awe and desire of a Zen monk. Instead of chanting sacred
mantras for hours, or spending years trying to snatch a pebble from
a masters' hand, his disciplines consisted of hours of intense
"musical Vedas," and sacred scales, cosmic chords and flying feats
of harmonic wonder that would have had the God Thor of Valhalla
working up a big sweat.So you can imagine Sembello's big
surprise while sitting quickly mediating on the sounds of the
universe, honing his already "Ninja" like musical skills on a lazy
summer afternoon in Philadelphia, to suddenly and without warning,
finding himself on stage in a giant coliseum in front of thousands of
screaming people, playing guitar in STEVIE WONDER's
band. "This is not really an exaggeration, I've done some astral
projection before but this was ridiculous! I auditioned on a
Saturday, got the gig immediately, went to New York on Monday to
rehearse for a week, then 'bang' on tour for three months" reflected
Michael.
Michael Sembello’s musical invocations began in 1983 when he
released his first solo record entitled “Bossa Nova Hotel”.
Immediately following it’s release, Michael scored a huge
chart thundering success writing and performing the Grammy award
winning song“ MANIAC", from the movie "FLASHDANCE",
the third top grossing song from a movie soundtrack.
He has recorded, written, and produced songs among the
company of some of the industries greats, such as STEVIE WONDER,
MICHAEL JACKSON, JERMAIN JACKSON, THE JACKSON 5, DIANA ROSS, JEFFREY
OSBORNE, CHAKA KHAN, GEORGE BENSON, DAVID SANBORN, NEW EDITION,
SEALS & CROFTS, JULIAN LENNON, PEBBLES, DONNA SUMMER, MINNIE
RIPPERTON, STEPHANIE MILLS, LAURA BRANIGAN, BARBARA STREISAND,THE
TEMPTATIONS, PHILLIP BAILEY, DENIECE WILLIAMS, MELISSA MANCHESTER,
ANGELA BOFILL, SERGIO MENDEZ, GERARDO, ART GARFUNKLE, STANLEY CLARKE
AND GEORGE DUKE.
Over the past decade MICHAEL SEMBELLO has written and
produced soundtracks for hit movies such as Ron Howard’s COCOON
and Steven Spielberg's GREMLINS, SUMMER LOVERS, SALSA, CAMPUS
MAN, MONSTER SQUAD, ROCKY IV, BLANK CHECK, THE MIGHTY DUCKS 3,
CORRINA CORRINA, LOSING ISIAH, INDEPENDENCE DAY,
FLIPPER, THE BIG GREEN, HOUSE ARREST, MCHALES NAVY, THE PEST,
SUICIDE KINGS, SUMMER LOVERS, and SENIOR PROM.
Professionally, Michael Sembello has achieved many milestones in his
career.
In 1986 he recorded “ Without Walls” and in 1992 he first
entered the global market with his East meets West album entitled
“Caravan Of Dreams”.
Sembello’s Malaysian numbers were all originals and included
three Indonesian tracks. He was hailed as capturing the beauty of the language of Bali
through his perfect diction.
Michael’s R&B meet mystical groove marriage continued and in 1996
and 1997 he recorded his fourth CD, “Backwards In Time,” and
collaborated with the group “Brother Time” as a guest vocalist.
Michael’s thirsting and burning for spiritual realization and world
harmony led him in the direction of a dream project called “The
Bridge”. Already singing in six languages, he joined forces with
Daniel Jobim, the grandson of Antonio Carlos Jobim, the father of
the Bossa Nova and long time friend Stevie Wonder, along with Vinnie
Colaiuta, Sting’s drummer, Paulinho De Costa, world famous
percussionist, Brazilian singer Edu Falcao, Nathan Watts and Lionel
Cole to create a multi-lingual world beat group.
“Singing Around the World in 80 Languages and Dialects” followed
this undertaking.
Before the end of the decade, Michael was the first artist in
history to sing in every possible language.
His main intention was to facilitate the construction of cultural
bridges and erase boundary lines.
“I want to be the first truly multi-lingual artist”.
Most recently, Michael has been experimenting in the studio with the
divine idea of universe as he pursues his quest for global sounds.
He has enjoyed international success within the Latin, Asian,
European and American markets as his extraordinary guitar style and
tone unite with his voice to become his own distinct cosmic
instrument.
Sound is the accompaniment, which the creative play of God brings
forth, and sound is force.
It is not a force which works alone.
It appears simultaneously with the appearance of divine
ideation. As a master
guitarist, Michael Sembello’s divine ideation has managed to
transform traditional Latin rhythms into an innovative source of
sound, self-categorized as
“ Hyper-Acid Latin”.
This remarkable achievement was produced by Michael’s
imaginative use of the Korg “Karma”. Most musicologists would never suspect that the rock leads and
unique guitar sounds are really Michael’s ingenious use of the
keyboard.
Now, Michael Sembello has returned to his roots on the East Coast
where it all began.
This is the first stop on his melodic world voyage as he prepares
to detach himself from the solace of his West Coast recording
studio and embark on his quest to merge cultural musical forces
into a universal language.
His ultimate dream is to create a multi-cultural awareness by
writing music based on indigenous sounds from all geographic
areas.
Michael Sembello’s original desires and objectives are still intact
as he states, "I want to end up a farmer on some tropical island
playing my guitar under a coconut tree." "I think it all ends up
back to that if you really think about it, although the fame and the
success are great, it's about the process of achieving that state,
not the goal, or awards, or accolades of the people." He continues,
"Music teaches you about your own life and how it relates to life,
the universe and everything. Good music is designed to harmonize
mind and body. The trappings of fortune and fame are not the
objectives, but merely the by-products along the way. I believe we
are on this planet to learn and grow as souls." proclaiming in his
cosmic, confident manner, "That's why I'm here, that's why I
came..."
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