The Journey of Michael Sembello -----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 master's 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 its 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, JERMAINE 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, STEPHEN BISHOP, 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, MC HALES 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.
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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