Kevin Gilbert (November 20, 1966 - May 17, 1996) was an American songwriter, musician, composer, producer and collaborator born in Sacramento, California. He died at age 29 in Los Angeles from apparent autoerotic asphyxiation.

Career

Kevin Gilbert was an accomplished composer, singer and instrumentalist who played trumpet, keyboards, guitar, bass guitar and drums. His talents also extended to producer. He toured with Eddie Money before winning the 1988 Yamaha SOUNDCHECK International Rock Music Competition with his progressive rock group Giraffe. Producer Patrick Leonard was impressed with Gilbert's performance at the competition and invited him to join him in forming a new band which became Toy Matinee. During this time, Gilbert worked on the projects of several established pop musicians, including Madonna, Michael Jackson, and Keith Emerson, acting as producer for the latter's album Changing States.

The lone Toy Matinee album (eponymously named) was released in 1990 but effectively shelved by the record company, so Gilbert assembled a new backing band to promote it, eventually getting two successful singles released: "The Ballad of Jenny Ledge" and "Last Plane Out".

Later, Gilbert was part of the songwriting collective "The Tuesday Music Club" that met at producer Bill Bottrell's studio in Pasadena, California. After he began bringing his then-girlfriend Sheryl Crow to the sessions, the result was Crow's debut album, Tuesday Night Music Club. Gilbert co-wrote many of the songs on that album, including 1995 Grammy Record of the Year "All I Wanna Do". Crow later acrimoniously split with most of the musicians in the collective and only producer Bottrell and drummer Brian MacLeod were involved in her follow-up album. Meanwhile the remainder of the collective worked with singer-songwriters Susanna Hoffs and Linda Perry on two more albums.

Gilbert continued to work in television and movie soundtrack work as well as studio work and producing and eventually released his first solo album Thud (1995) as well as partially reforming Giraffe to perform the Genesis piece The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway at Progfest '94. Gilbert's manager sent a copy of the recording to Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford who were searching for a new Genesis front man to replace Phil Collins. His manager, Jon Rubin, had come to Gilbert's home to tell him that he had managed to get him an audition and discovered his dead body.

Gilbert's second solo album, The Shaming of the True was released posthumously. The album was largely incomplete, but Gilbert's estate asked Spock's Beard drummer Nick D'Virgilio to complete it based on the extant tapes and Gilbert's notes. A live album (composed mostly of songs from Thud), a compilation of Giraffe material that Gilbert had been working on, and an "industrial" album with Gilbert's latest group, Kaviar have also been released in the years since his death. His estate has promised two more posthumous studio albums and a live performance from Gilbert's promotional group for Toy Matinee.

In November 2002 Nick D'Virgilio headlined Progwest in Claremont, CA and played the entire The Shaming of the True album live.

In October 2009 three new pieces of product were released; Nuts and Bolts, two singer songwriter CDs and Welcome to Joytown - Thud Live at The Troubadour DVD/CD pack.

Discography

• NRG - No Reasons Given (1984)
• Giraffe - The Power Of Suggestion (1987)
• Giraffe - The View From Here (1989)
• Toy Matinee - Toy Matinee (1990; remastered & rereleased 2001)
• Marc Bonilla - EE Ticket (1991)
• Marc Bonilla - American Matador (1993)
• Sheryl Crow - Tuesday Night Music Club (1993)
• Kevin Gilbert - Thud (1995)
• Various Artists - Giant Tracks - A Tribute To Gentle Giant - (1997) (http://www.blazemonger.com/GT/)
• Giraffe - Giraffe (1999)
• Kevin Gilbert & Thud - Live at the Troubadour (1999)
• Kevin Gilbert - The Shaming of the True (2000)
• Kaviar - The Kaviar Sessions (2002)
• Kevin Gilbert - Nuts (2009)
• Kevin Gilbert - Bolts (2009)
• Kevin Gilbert & Thud - Welcome to Joytown - Thud Live at the Troubadour DVD/CD combo (2009)
• Various Artists - Supper's Ready - A Tribute To Genesis - Back in NYC (http://www.magnacarta.net/releases/genesistribute.html)
• Various Artists - Tales From Yesterday - A Tribute To Yes - Siberian Khatru (http://www.magnacarta.net/releases/yestribute.html)

References

External links

• Official Kevin Gilbert website
• Kevin Gilbert Fan Myspace Page
• Unofficial Toy Matinee Myspace Page
• 2nd Unofficial Toy Matinee Myspace Page
• Unofficial Giraffe Myspace page