Steven Wolf: Getting with the Program

Think of a drummer; someone with several dozen awards ranging from gold, platinum and multi-platinum records to Grammys; someone with groove and chops to play everything from rock, pop, funk and big band to fusion, smooth jazz, soul and hip-hop; someone with a backbeat that can be heard almost any time you listen to the Top 100, Top 40, Top 20 or Top 10 for that matter, including numerous Number Ones; someone with a non-stop work schedule of making music. Few names come to mind–Steve Gadd, J.R. Robinson, Vinnie Colaiuta, Kenny Aronoff, Steve Jordan… Steven Wolf [a.k.a. Wolf]. You may not have heard of  Wolf, but trust me, you’ve definitely heard Wolf.

His beats–both acoustic and electric, analog and digital–dominate the charts with a wide variety of the world’s top pop artists–Alicia Keys, Katy Perry, Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus, Pink, Avril Lavigne, Britney Spears and Celine Dion, to name only a few. But there’s more to Wolf than programming/producing pop; he also backed up the ever-so-funky Hiram Bullock and kept fusion virtuosos Tribal Tech on track, as well as smooth-jazz pioneer saxophonist, Grover Washington, Jr.; not to mention having worked with the upper echelon of music royalty–Aretha Franklin and The Bee Gees–it doesn’t get any bigger.