Chuck Loeb

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title: "Chuck Loeb" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1955-births", "2017-deaths", "people-from-rockland-county,-new-york", "jazz-musicians-from-new-york-(state)", "20th-century-american-guitarists", "21st-century-american-guitarists", "american-jazz-guitarists", "smooth-jazz-guitarists", "berklee-college-of-music-alumni", "heads-up-international-artists", "american-male-guitarists", "20th-century-american-male-musicians", "21st-century-american-male-musicians", "american-male-jazz-musicians", "fourplay-members", "steps-ahead-members"] description: "American jazz guitarist (1955–2017)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Loeb" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American jazz guitarist (1955–2017) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist"]

Field	Value
name	Chuck Loeb
image	Chuck Loeb.jpg
birth_name	Charles Samuel Loeb
birth_date
birth_place	Nyack, New York, U.S.
death_date
death_place	Hastings on Hudson, New York, U.S.
genre	Jazz, jazz fusion, smooth jazz
occupation	Musician, composer, record producer, arranger
instrument	Guitar
years_active	1970s–2017
label	Pony Canyon, DMP, Shanachie, Heads Up
past_member_of
caption	Chuck Loeb
::

| name = Chuck Loeb | image = Chuck Loeb.jpg | image_size = | birth_name = Charles Samuel Loeb | birth_date = | birth_place = Nyack, New York, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Hastings on Hudson, New York, U.S. | genre = Jazz, jazz fusion, smooth jazz | occupation = Musician, composer, record producer, arranger | instrument = Guitar | years_active = 1970s–2017 | label = Pony Canyon, DMP, Shanachie, Heads Up | past_member_of = | caption = Chuck Loeb

Charles Samuel "Chuck" Loeb (December 7, 1955 – July 31, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist and a member of the groups Steps Ahead, Metro and Fourplay.

Early years and education

Loeb was born in Nyack, New York, near New York City. At a young age, he listened to Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Cream, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Bob Dylan. According to a 2005 JazzTimes article, the first song he learned on guitar was Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone", which he would later play at a guest appearance with Dylan. He discovered jazz when he was sixteen through the music of guitarists Wes Montgomery, George Benson, John McLaughlin, and Pat Martino. At that point, Loeb chose to become a musician and "never thought of doing anything else".

He studied with local music teachers, then traveled to Philadelphia and became a student of jazz guitarist Dennis Sandole. In New York City, he learned from Jim Hall. For two years he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, then left in 1976 to seek professional work in New York City.

Groups

In New York, Loeb played with Chico Hamilton, Ray Barreto, and Hubert Laws. Starting in 1979, he was a member of Stan Getz's group. Getz later became the best man at his wedding to singer Carmen Cuesta. Loeb and Mitchel Forman, who was also in Getz's group, formed the jazz fusion band Metro (1994). In the 1980s, he was a member of the group Steps Ahead, which included Michael Brecker, someone Loeb credits as an influence. He replaced Larry Carlton as guitarist in Fourplay (2010).

Loeb and his wife recorded together, with Cuesta providing vocals on his albums and Loeb playing on Cuesta's albums, and their daughters Lizzy and Christina contributing vocals.

Solo career

Loeb began a solo career in 1988 with his debut album My Shining Hour on the Japanese record label Pony Canyon. He released subsequent albums on DMP Digital Music Products among them Life Colors (1990). Loeb ultimately achieved commercial success with Shanachie Records on The Music Inside (1996). The title song from the album held the number one position on the jazz charts for six weeks. Later, he produced The Moon, the Stars, & the Setting Sun (1998), Listen (1999) In a Heartbeat (2001), and All There Is (2002).

Loeb's music has appeared on TV shows, commercials, and movie soundtracks, including The Untouchables, You've Got Mail, and Hitch.

His composition Logic of Love was nominated for a Grammy in 2015.

Death

Loeb died of cancer on July 31, 2017, at the age of 61.

Discography

Studio albums

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#	year	title	label	notes
1	1989	My Shining Hour	Pony Canyon, Jazz City	with John Patitucci, Dave Weckl
2	1990	Magic Fingers	DMP	with Andy LaVerne
3	1990	Life Colors	DMP
4	1991	Balance	DMP
5	1993	Mediterranean	DMP
6	1994	Simple Things	DMP
7	1996	The Music Inside	Shanachie
8	1998	The Moon, the Stars and the Setting Sun	Shanachie
9	1999	Listen	Shanachie
10	2001	In a Heartbeat	Shanachie
11	2002	All There Is	Shanachie
12	2003	eBop	Shanachie
13	2005	When I'm With You	Shanachie
14	2007	Presence	Heads Up
15	2009	Between 2 Worlds	Heads Up
16	2011	Plain 'n' Simple	Tweety	with Pat Bianchi, Harvey Mason
17	2013	Silhouette	Shanachie
18	2014	Jazz Funk Soul	Shanachie	with Jeff Lorber, Everette Harp
19	2015	Bridges	Shanachie	with Eric Marienthal
20	2016	More Serious Business	Shanachie	with Jeff Lorber, Everette Harp
21	2016	Unspoken	Shanachie
::

With Metro

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#	year	title	label	notes
1	1994	Metro	Lipstick
2	1995	Tree People	Lipstick
3	2000	Metrocafe	Hip Bop/Koch
4	2002	Grapevine	Hip Bop/Koch
5	2004	Live At The A-Trane	Marsis Jazz
6	2007	Express	Marsis Jazz
7	2015	Big Band Boom	Jazzline	with WDR Big Band Cologne
::

With the Fantasy Band

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#	year	title	label	notes
1	1993	The Fantasy Band	DMP	with George Jinda, Dave Samuels
2	1994	Sweet Dreams	DMP	with George Jinda, Dave Samuels
3	1997	The Kiss	Shanachie
::

With Fourplay

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#	year	title	label	notes
1	2010	Let's Touch the Sky	Heads up	with Bob James, Nathan East, Harvey Mason
2	2012	Esprit de Four	Heads up
3	2015	Silver	Heads up
::

Compilations

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year	title	label	notes
2004	Jazz for Couch Potatoes!	Shanachie	by The Couch Potato All-Stars (Chuck Loeb with David Mann, Eric Alexander, Randy Brecker, Dave Samuels, Mike Ricchiuti, David Finck, Ron Jenkins, Mike Pope, Brian Dunne, David Charles)
2007	The Love Song Collection	Shanachie	compilation
2009	No. 1 Smooth Jazz Radio Hits	Shanachie	compilation
::

Live albums

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year	title	label	notes
2003	Live 1994	AA (Japan)	with Adam Holzman, Paul Wertico
::

With Stan Getz

• Billy Highstreet Samba (EmArcy, 1981 [rel. 1990])

References

References

1. Adler, David R.. (June 2005). "Jazz Departments - Chuck Loeb". jazztimes.com.
2. Wood, James. (November 28, 2012). "Guitarist Chuck Loeb Discusses New Fourplay Album and the Allure of Smooth Jazz". guitarworld.com.
3. (March 25, 2007). "Balancing the demands of life and music". [[Reading Eagle]].
4. "Chuck Loeb @ All About Jazz". allaboutjazz.com.
5. Yanow, Scott. "Chuck Loeb Biography". [[All Media Network]].
6. "Metro Jazz: Early History".
7. "Chuck Loeb, Guitarist, Composer, Arranger, Producer, Educator, Recording Artist".
8. Mergner, Lee. (February 15, 2010). "Larry Carlton Leaving Fourplay". jazztimes.com.
9. Goodstein, Jack. (February 1, 2014). "Music Review: Carmen Cuesta - 'Toda Una Vida'". seattlepi.com.
10. "Silhouette - Chuck Loeb". allmusic.com.
11. "Chuck Loeb - ein Interview".
12. (August 1, 2017). "Chuck Loeb, Guitarist and Composer, Dies at 61". Jazz Times.

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