| Charles Stepney | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Charles Stepney |
| Born | 26 March 1931 Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Origin | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Died | May 17, 1976 (aged 45) Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Genres | Soul, R&B |
| Occupations | Record producer, arranger, Conductor |
| Instruments | Vibraphone , piano, keyboards |
| Years active | 1957–1976 |
| Labels | Chess, Coulmbia |
| Associated acts | Ramsey Lewis, The Dells Minnie Riperton, Earth, Wind & Fire |
Charles Stepney (26 March 1931[1][2][3]–17 May 1976[2][4]) was a producer, arranger, songwriter and musician famous for his Orchestral Psychedelic soul sound with Chicago's Cadet/Chess records in the 1960s/1970s and afterwards with Earth, Wind and Fire.
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Charles and Marshall Chess (son of Chess Records co-founder Leonard Chess) in the mid ’60’s created the band Rotary Connection for the new experimental Cadet Concept label and between 1967 and 1971 produced six innovative studio albums for Rotary Connection (receiving a Grammy nomination in 1968[5]):
Between the creation of the Rotary Connection albums, Charles also produced, arranged & co-wrote with Rotary Connection singer Minnie Riperton’s 1970 debut album Come to My Garden.
Commenting on Minnie at the time he said that she"has a soprano range of about four octaves, a whole lot of soul, she's good-looking and she's got the experience of Rotary behind her."[6]
During this time Charles wrote, produced and conducted a Classical Jazz Symphony in 5 parts entitled Cohesion. Cohesion was performed in Minneapolis, MN by the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Ramsey Lewis Trio and Minnie Riperton. It was his first opportunity to Conduct live before an audience[5].
Stepney is also credited as a musician/producer on the following albums:[7]
In the mid 1970s Charles teamed up again with Maurice White and produced a number of Ramsey Lewis Trio albums in which Maurice drummed.
Before he died he co-produced with Maurice the platinum selling Earth Wind and Fire albums Open Our Eyes (1974), That's the Way of the World, Gratitude both released in 1975 and Spirit released in 1976.
His favorite book was The Schillinger System of Musical Composition by Joseph Schillinger.[8]
Artists such as Ramsey Lewis, Stevie Wonder, Chaka Kahn, Bluie Maunick, Zero 7, Elton John, Giles Petersen & Terry Callier have been influenced by Stepney.[5][9]
Stepney is survived by his wife Rubie and his three daughters Eibur, Charlene and Chante.
  | Charles Stepney - Biography - allmusic ((( Charles Stepney > Biography ))) |
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