Rubin Steiner

Known professionally as Ruben Steiner, Fred Lanier ranks among the new millennium’s leading electro-jazz innovators. Born in France, he has enthralled European crowds since the late 1990s by fusing dance, jazz, and electronic textures into a singular sound. His first album, Lo-Fi Nu Jazz, Vol. 2, earned widespread critical praise upon its 2000 release. Teenage encounters with Black Flag, Fugazi, and De La Soul led him, improbably yet convincingly, into the abstract jazz-dance sphere. For seven years he programmed experimental and free jazz on Radio Beton in Tours. In 2000 he assembled the Ruben Steiner Quartet, enlisting bassist Sylvestre Perrusson, brass player Benoit Louette, and mixer Francois Purault. French tours quickly raised his visibility, prompting American interest and an early-2002 contract with RCA Victor. Later that autumn, Wunderbar 3 became his first major-label album.