Guy has held A&R/Executive positions as Creative Manager, Virgin Music, Director/A&R, Columbia Records, and VP/A&R, Verve Records, and he was also a New Media pioneer, as SVP/Creative Development, at MP3.com, and the Co-Founder of MIAATV.COM. He is also the son of the legendary singer BILLY ECKSTINE. After attending UCLA as an Ethnomusicology Major and John Bergamo's Percussion program at California Institute of the Arts, Guy began his music career as a session musician playing drums for QUINCY JONES, MICHAEL MCDONALD, EDDY GRANT, MICHAEL HENDERSON, JAMES INGRAM, and HERBIE HANCOCK, among others. He is also a founding member of the Avant-Progressive Rock band SOMA, featuring guitarist supreme, ALLAN HOLDSWORTH, TONY LEVIN, and keyboardist/composer, MARK GLEED.
His executive music career began at VIRGIN MUSIC Publishing as Creative Manager, where he secured songwriter covers for Virgin Musics' stable of songwriters. Shortly thereafter, he included A&R/Staff Producer stints as Director of A&R at COLUMBIA RECORDS, where he worked with, TERRENCE TRENT D'ARBY, SHAWN SMITH, (lead singer of BRAD/SATCHEL), REGINA BELLE, PHILIP BAILEY, MOVEMENT EX, LENNY HAMILTON JR., and PLANET Z.
Guy then joined VERVE RECORDS at which he signed, Produced, Executive Produced and A&R'd recordings by HERBIE HANCOCK, WAYNE SHORTER, CHRIS BOTTI, INCOGNITO, JEFF LORBER, ART PORTER, GINO VANNELLI, PETE BELASCO, PETER DELANO, EVAN MARKS, and ROY HARGROVE, among others. He also Executive Produced the FRANK ZAPPA tribute album, "Zappa's Universe" which received a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. As VP A&R at Verve, Guys' creative vision helped guide Verve to 6 consecutive years (1991-1997) as BILLBOARD Magazine's Premiere Jazz Label in the World. His recordings featured some of the finest vocalists of the era including, GINO VANNELLI, PETE BELASCO, ERIC BENET, EDIE BRICKELL, JONATHA BROOKE, CE CE PENISTON, LALAH HATHAWAY, SHARON BRYANT, WILL DOWNING, and PAUL BUCHANAN, (The Blue Nile).
During his tenure at Verve, the radio airwaves were inundated with his new urban/pop driven jazz stylings, as his artists and productions scored an unprecedented 15 Chartopping Gavin Report records in a row. Groundbreaking artists, Chris Botti, Art Porter, and Pete Belasco, along with Jazz Legends, Herbie Hancock, Gino Vannelli, Jeff Lorber and UK Jazz/Funksters, Incognito, had their respective careers launched, reinvigorated, and introduced to the USA marketplace under Guys' A&R vison and guidance. Guy also discovered, produced and signed, 17 year old Jazz piano phenomenon, Peter Delano. Seminal and Grammy Winning Jazz recordings of the 1990's included, Herbie Hancock's, "Dis Is Da Drum", and "The New Standard", Chris Botti's groundbreaking debut recording, "First Wish", and the ultra funky debut of the late great saxophonist, Art Porter, "Pocket City". Guy also delved into remixes under the moniker, "Fly Guy X", remixing Art Porter's, "Straight To The Point", with Guru, and the award winning UK remixes of Evan Marks', "Jazz Not Jazz".
Art Porter died tragically at the age of 35 while on tour in Thailand, as his fourth release, "Lay Your Hands On Me" was perched atop the charts. In a tribute in Jazziz Magazine Eckstine reflects, "Arts great achievement," adds Eckstine, "was that he was one of the few contemporary players who had it all, real jazz chops, stellar tunes, an incredibly energetic live performance and no fear about taking chances and evolving. Someone I once met affectionately nicknamed him, Maceo Coltrane, and I had to agree. In my book, he was the funkiest sax player in a long time. He definitely gave his all in the time he had here. He made a real statement, which reflected who he was as a musician, and received great respect from his peers before moving on."
Upon listening to Herbie Hancock's, "The New Standard", a reviewer noted, "This is by far one of Hancock's best recordings. He captures a strange haunting sound in the twilight between Jazz, Pop and Rock. The musicians seams to be completely in tune on this record, not just showing off talent but really putting there soul into it. If you dig Miles Davis on, "In a Silent Way" or Coltrane on, "My Favorite Things" then you are going to love this fantastic record. In short, this record can be put next to any great Jazz masterpiece."-Amazon.com-
A heartfelt fans review of Chris Botti's, "First Wish" reveals all. "Hearing Chris Botti on the trumpet on "First Wish" is like the moment you first saw the Rosetta Stone, when an entirely new world opened up before you -- magnificent, subtle, haunting, unearthly and yet perfectly tuned to the deepest joy and pain a human being can feel. This recording, and Botti's subsequent recordings, rise to the top of any stack. Here is a musician who goes to the heart of everything and knows far more about our lives than can be spoken." - Amazon.com-
Looking back on his years as an A&R Executive and Producer at Verve Records, Eckstine also recalls some big disappointments, "Even though I had some great success with most of my artists, I still believe that Pete Belasco's "Get It Together", and Gino Vannelli's, "Yonder Tree", represent some of my best work. Both of those records have been criminally overlooked at best, and the same can be said for Herbie Hancock's, "Dis Is Da Drum", and Wayne Shorter's. "High Life". Now that time has settled in, perhaps they will now find an audience, as these records may have been a wee bit ahead of the curve, stylistically speaking."-MIAA TV-
The Verve/Verve Forecast period of the early to mid 1990's, ushered in a new era of hip hop driven rhythms, coupled with strong melodic content and world class production values. Guy's artists' and productions struck a delicate balancing act that towed the line between art and commerce, that still resonates today with an audience eager to expand beyond existing stagnant musical idioms and radio formats.
Adding New Media credentials to his executive portfolio, during the late 1990's Guy became SVP/Creative Development, for online music provider, MP3.COM, providing artist development expertise on the MP3.com "Music and Technology Tour" featuring, ALANIS MORRISSETTE, TORI AMOS, CHRISTINA AGUILERA, and TLC. Becoming a part of the .com revolution initially as Genre Manager for Jazz, World and Classical Music, in an interview for Radio and Records Magazine in 2000 Guy fortells the digital music future, "It was tough delivering a message to the music business that a new dawn had arrived. It soon became painfully obvious that online delivery systems were the future of the recorded music business." The iconoclastic company sold to Vivendi /Universal in 2002 for $370 million. Staying the course in New Media, Guy is the co- founder and former CEO of MIAATV.COM - Music Industry Television.
In addition to acquiring talent and interviewing over 250 artist and music industry legends for MIAATV.com, including artists QUINCY JONES, STEVIE WONDER, CHRIS BOTTI, KENNY "BABYFACE" EDMONDS, and JOSS STONE, Guy negotiated and implemented strategic partnerships and affiliations with major brands such as Atlantic Records, Gibson Musical Instruments, Hal Leonard Music Publishing, A.E.S, NAMM, SXSW, IAJE, and Digital Hollywood. At Digital Hollywood 2007, Guy produced and moderated a two day symposium- "Music 2.0, The Revolution Continues, A Meeting Of Minds In The Music Industry." The panels featured senior level executives from the Music, Film, Television, Advertising, Music Publishing, A&R and Business Affairs realms.
In addition to his executive duties, Guy keeps the creative juices flowing by independently producing records as President of Guy Eckstine Productions, including the chart-topping Billboard Jazz release, "Nice and Slow", by BRIAN CULBERTSON, (2002), "A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS", by CYRUS CHESTNUT, (2003), which featured BRIAN MCKNIGHT, VANESSA WILLIAMS, THE MANHATTAN TRANSFER, PAT MARTINO, THE BOYS CHOIR OF HARLEM, MICHAEL BRECKER, CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE and STEVE GADD. In 2004 for Savoy Jazz, Guy produced "Moondance", by the worlds' greatest jazz flautist, HUBERT LAWS, which featured, Herbie Hancock, Chris Botti, and Brian Culbertson. The album also showcased two of Guy's compositions, "Nighttime Daydream", and "Summer Of '75".
Guy has also produced many independent artists, and successfully solicited the recording contracts for JULIA FORDHAM, (Atlantic) and CAROL WELSMAN, (Savoy). In 1999, he Produced the debut album of Charlottesville, VA singer/songwriter, ALEXANDRA SCOTT, "Styrofoam", in 2002, he Produced San Diego funk jazz combo, "SPACEMAN SPIFF, in 2007, he Produced, Performed and co-wrote, Southern California based rock group, "Feels Like Friday", and NYC based singer/songwriter, SANDRA SMALL. In addition to all of those endeavours, Guy also scores music for TV and Film, including the Fox Television series T.R.A.X., (2001), directed by Renny Harlin, and most recently the Television commercials for CBS, "Courting Alex", starring Jenna Elfman, (2006), and TV/Commercial music for the drug Avodart, (2006).
SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY-
HERBIE HANCOCK- "The New Standard", "Dis Is Da Drum", "The Essential Herbie Hancock"
WAYNE SHORTER- "High Life",
CHRIS BOTTI- "First Wish", "Midnight Without You","Caught"(Soundtrack), "Best Of Chris Botti",
GINO VANNELLI- "Yonder Tree", "Slow Love",
BRIAN CULBERTSON- "Nice And Slow",
JEFF LORBER- "Worth Waiting For", "West Side Stories", "State Of Grace", "The Very Best Of Jeff Lorber",
ART PORTER- "Pocket City", "Straight To The Point", "Undercover", "Lay Your Hands On Me", "For Art's Sake",
CYRUS CHESTNUT- "A Charlie Brown Christmas",
PETER DELANO- "Peter Delano", "Bite Of The Apple",
PETE BELASCO- "Get It Together",
TOM GRANT- "In My Wildest Dreams", "The View From Here", "Hands",
EVAN MARKS- "Long Way Home", "Three Day Weekend",
HUBERT LAWS- "Moondance",
ALEXANDRA SCOTT- "Styrofoam",
FEELS LIKE FRIDAY- "We Like Supermodel's",
RICARDO SILVIERA- "Small World",
INCOGNITO- "Inside Life", "Tribes, Vibes and Scribes", "Positivity",
SANDRA SMALL 5- "Small World",
SPACEMAN SPIFF- "The Love EP",
SOMA- "Soma",
VARIOUS ARTISTS- "Zappa's Universe", "Playboys 40 Years Of Jazz",
MOVEMENT EX- "Movement Ex.
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Quincy Jones Interview with Guy Eckstine
