Biography
Chris Jasper ranks among the foremost keyboardists shaping soul, pop, and funk, having supplied acoustic piano, organ, clavinet, and Moog or Arp synthesizer parts to the Isley Brothers on landmark 1970s tracks such as “Who’s That Lady,” “Fight the Power,” “For the Love of You” (later interpreted by Whitney Houston on her multi-platinum Whitney album), and “Who Loves You Better,” across a body of work that encompasses eleven gold and four platinum albums, most still available. In January 1992 the Isley Brothers, Jasper included, received induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Jasper’s keyboard journey began early; at eight his mother arranged piano lessons after discovering him reproducing Motown songs by ear, and following high school he pursued studies at Juilliard. The Isley Brothers and Jasper had grown up on the same Cincinnati street. The group achieved its initial major success with “Shout” in 1959, a song the Beatles would later record, before relocating to New York, where further hits including “Twist and Shout” and “This Ol’ Heart of Mine” appeared on Motown.
During a visit to a sister on the East Coast, Jasper formed a bond with the younger Ernie Isley; the pair spent subsequent summers jamming, with Ernie shifting from drums to guitar and Marvin Isley joining on bass. The teenagers modeled their sound on Young-Holt Unlimited while performing jazz, pop, and Motown material, and the elder Isleys, passing by rehearsals, proposed studio time, resulting in demo recordings fronted by Ronald Isley.
The Isleys secured a manufacturing and distribution arrangement with Epic Records in 1969, launching their first T-Neck release, It’s Your Thing, the label name drawn from their Teaneck, New Jersey base. Jasper, already established as principal songwriter and keyboardist, joined the following year alongside guitarist-drummer Ernie and bassist Marvin. Their initial outing as an expanded lineup, the Giving It Back album, contained a notable reading of Stephen Stills’ “Love the One You’re With.” That partnership endured thirteen years and yielded 3 + 3, the sanguine Seals & Crofts cover “Summer Breeze,” “If You Were There” (subsequently cut by Wham on Make It Big), Live It Up, The Heat Is On, Harvest for the World, the double album Winner Takes All, Go for Your Guns, and Showdown. During this period Jasper also collaborated with synthesizer pioneer Malcolm Cecil, whose influence had reached him through Stevie Wonder’s Music of My Mind.
The 1984 separation led Jasper and the younger Isleys to establish Isley/Jasper/Isley, whose debut Broadway’s Next to Sunset Boulevard preceded Caravan of Love, whose title track reached number one across urban, pop, and gospel airwaves and was later taken to international number-one status by the Housemartins. Different Drummer closed the trio’s output; afterward Jasper founded Gold City Records, distributed by CBS.
His first solo project, Superbad—not the James Brown classic—delivered its title track to the top of the urban charts, while the follow-up Time Bomb featured the hit ballad “The First Time.” Additional success arrived via Liz Hogue’s charting “Dream Lover” from Vicious & Fresh and her version of Chaka Khan’s “Make It Last” from CK. After taking Gold City independent, Jasper issued the contemporary-gospel set Praise the Eternal and the self-titled debut by the trio Outfront.
Deep Inside signaled Jasper’s return to R&B and pop, juxtaposing contemporary ’90s FM digital synth textures against classic talk-box vocoder lines and fluid Moog bass while reflecting a pronounced Marvin Gaye influence, most directly in an updated treatment of “What’s Going On.”
Numerous Isley Brothers compositions have been revived, many by rappers, and hip-hop has proved advantageous to Jasper’s catalog: Da Brat’s “Funkdafied,” built on a sample of “Between the Sheets,” reached the Billboard Hot 100 top five, Ice Cube constructed “It Was a Good Day” around “Footsteps in the Dark” from Go for Your Guns, Gene Dunlap covered “Groove With You” from Showdown, and R. Kelly, whose productions often echo Jasper’s lead lines and patches, helmed Aaliyah’s hit reading of “At Your Best You Are Love” from Harvest for the World.
Jasper’s keyboard journey began early; at eight his mother arranged piano lessons after discovering him reproducing Motown songs by ear, and following high school he pursued studies at Juilliard. The Isley Brothers and Jasper had grown up on the same Cincinnati street. The group achieved its initial major success with “Shout” in 1959, a song the Beatles would later record, before relocating to New York, where further hits including “Twist and Shout” and “This Ol’ Heart of Mine” appeared on Motown.
During a visit to a sister on the East Coast, Jasper formed a bond with the younger Ernie Isley; the pair spent subsequent summers jamming, with Ernie shifting from drums to guitar and Marvin Isley joining on bass. The teenagers modeled their sound on Young-Holt Unlimited while performing jazz, pop, and Motown material, and the elder Isleys, passing by rehearsals, proposed studio time, resulting in demo recordings fronted by Ronald Isley.
The Isleys secured a manufacturing and distribution arrangement with Epic Records in 1969, launching their first T-Neck release, It’s Your Thing, the label name drawn from their Teaneck, New Jersey base. Jasper, already established as principal songwriter and keyboardist, joined the following year alongside guitarist-drummer Ernie and bassist Marvin. Their initial outing as an expanded lineup, the Giving It Back album, contained a notable reading of Stephen Stills’ “Love the One You’re With.” That partnership endured thirteen years and yielded 3 + 3, the sanguine Seals & Crofts cover “Summer Breeze,” “If You Were There” (subsequently cut by Wham on Make It Big), Live It Up, The Heat Is On, Harvest for the World, the double album Winner Takes All, Go for Your Guns, and Showdown. During this period Jasper also collaborated with synthesizer pioneer Malcolm Cecil, whose influence had reached him through Stevie Wonder’s Music of My Mind.
The 1984 separation led Jasper and the younger Isleys to establish Isley/Jasper/Isley, whose debut Broadway’s Next to Sunset Boulevard preceded Caravan of Love, whose title track reached number one across urban, pop, and gospel airwaves and was later taken to international number-one status by the Housemartins. Different Drummer closed the trio’s output; afterward Jasper founded Gold City Records, distributed by CBS.
His first solo project, Superbad—not the James Brown classic—delivered its title track to the top of the urban charts, while the follow-up Time Bomb featured the hit ballad “The First Time.” Additional success arrived via Liz Hogue’s charting “Dream Lover” from Vicious & Fresh and her version of Chaka Khan’s “Make It Last” from CK. After taking Gold City independent, Jasper issued the contemporary-gospel set Praise the Eternal and the self-titled debut by the trio Outfront.
Deep Inside signaled Jasper’s return to R&B and pop, juxtaposing contemporary ’90s FM digital synth textures against classic talk-box vocoder lines and fluid Moog bass while reflecting a pronounced Marvin Gaye influence, most directly in an updated treatment of “What’s Going On.”
Numerous Isley Brothers compositions have been revived, many by rappers, and hip-hop has proved advantageous to Jasper’s catalog: Da Brat’s “Funkdafied,” built on a sample of “Between the Sheets,” reached the Billboard Hot 100 top five, Ice Cube constructed “It Was a Good Day” around “Footsteps in the Dark” from Go for Your Guns, Gene Dunlap covered “Groove With You” from Showdown, and R. Kelly, whose productions often echo Jasper’s lead lines and patches, helmed Aaliyah’s hit reading of “At Your Best You Are Love” from Harvest for the World.
Albums
Have I Told You Lately
2020
For the Love of You
2020
Nothing Can Change This Love
2020
The Essential Chris Jasper
2015
Everything I Do
2010
Invincible
2007
Amazing Love
2005
The Best Of Chris Jasper
2003
Faithful & True
2001
Deep Inside
1995
Praise The Eternal
1992
Time Bomb
1989
Superbad (Expanded Edition)
1988
Superbad
1987