Aa a young boy MICHAEL SEMBELLO studied music with the same mystical awe and desire of Zen monk. Instead of chanting sacred mantras for hours, or spending years trying to snatch a pebble from a masters' hand, his disciplines consisted of hours of intense "musical Vedas," and sacred scales, cosmic chords and flying feats of harmonic wonder that would have had the God Thor of Valhalla working up a big sweat.

So you can imagine Sembello's big surprise while sitting quickly mediating on the sounds of the universe, honing his already "Ninja" like musical skills on a lazy summer afternoon in Philadelphia, to suddenly and without warning, finding himself on stage in a giant coliseum in front of thousands of screaming people, playing guitar in STEVIE WONDER's band. "This is not really an exaggeration, I've done some astral projection before but this was ridiculous! I auditioned on a Saturday, got the gig immediately, went to New York on Monday to rehearse for a week, then 'bang' on tour for three months" reflected Michael.

Time passes...

MICHAEL SEMBELLO's musical invocations pay off... including his #1 chart thundering success with his single "MANIAC", from the movie "FLASHDANCE", he has recorded, written, and produced songs among the company of some of the industries greats, such as STEVIE WONDER, DIANA ROSS, JEFFREY OSBORNE, CHAKA KHAN, GEORGE BENSON, DAVID SANBORN, SERGIO MENDES, THE JACKSON'S, NEW EDITION, STEPHEN BISHOP, SEALS & CROFTS, PEBBLES, DONNA SUMMER, MINNIE RIPPERTON, STEPHANIE MILLS, LAURA BRANIGAN, THE TEMPTATIONS, PHILLIP BAILEY, DENIECE WILLIAMS, MELISSA MANCHESTER, ANGELA BOFILL, GERARDO, ART GARFUNKLE, STANLEY CLARKE, GEORGE DUKE, he has written and produced for movies such as, COCOON, Steven Spielberg's GREMLINS, SUMMER LOVERS, SALSA, CAMPUS MAN, MONSTER SQUAD, ROCKY 4, BLANK CHECK, THE MIGHTY DUCKS 3, CORRINA CORRINA, LOSING ISIAH the list is endless... Wait a minute... Wait a minute... To Michael this kind of biographical ego stroking makes him laugh. In his words, "It all sounds like what would happen to you if you died and went to hell, only to find that Robin Leach from 'Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous' was the devil following you around constantly repeating your worldly accomplishments over and over like a broken record, a veritable Robin Leach nightmare!" Michael is not impressed by all these accomplishments.

His original desires and objectives are still intact as he states, "I want to end up a farmer on some tropical island playing my guitar under a coconut tree." "I think it all ends up back to that if you really think about it, although the fame and the success are great, it's about the process of achieving that state, not the goal, or awards, or accolades of the people." He continues, "Music teaches you about your own life and how it relates to life, the universe and everything. Good music is designed to harmonize mind and body. The trappings of fortune and fame are not the objectives, but merely the by-products along the way. I believe we are on this planet to learn and grow as souls." proclaiming in his cosmic, confident manner, "That's why i'm here, that's why I came..."

MICHAEL SEMBELLO BIO

Born :Apr 17, 1954 in Philadelphia, PA

WORKED WITH:

Paulinho Da Costa, George Duke, Jeffrey Hey, Paul Jackson Jr., Greg Phillinganes, Stevie Wonder, Gary Grant, Leon "Ndugu" Chancler, Bill Reichenbach, Larry Williams, Byron Miller, Josie James, Tommy Vicari, David Sanborn, Nathan Lamar Watts, Gary Herbig, Steve Ferrone, Lynn Davis, Vinnie Colaiuta, Paulinho Da Costa, Jeff Paris, jennifer Batten, Deniece Williams


photo by Morito

DISCO GRAPHY
SOLO ALBUMS:
1983 Bossa Nova Hotel
1985 Without Walls
1994 Caravan of Dreams
Cover artwrok by Morito
1995 Brother Time
1997 Backwards in Time
Cover artwrok by Morito
1997 The Bridge
Cover artwrok by Morito

OTHER WORKS:
1974 Riperton, Minnie/Perfect Angel -Guitar
1974 Wonder, Stevie/Fulfillingness' First Finale -Guitar
1974 Syreeta/Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta -Guitar
1975 Sanborn, David/Best of David Sanborn -Synthesizer, Guitar, Arranger, Programming, Vocals (bckgr)
1976 Mendes, Sergio/Homecooking -Guitar
1976 Wonder, Stevie/Songs in the Key of Life -Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar
1976 Elliot, Richard/What's Inside -Arranger, Programming, Vocals, Sequencing
1976 Sanborn, David/Love Songs -Guitar
1977 Mendes, Sergio/Sergio Mendes and the New Brasil '77 -Guitar
1977 Duke, George/From Me to You -Guitar, Guitar (Electric)
1977 Coast to Coast/Coast to Coast [OST] -Guitar
1977 Duke, George/Reach for It -Guitar
1978 Bishop, Stephen/Bish -Guitar
1978 White, Michael [Violin]/X Factor
1978 Jackson Five/Destiny -Bass, Guitar
1978 Mendes, Sergio/Brasil '88 -Guitar
1979 Wonder, Stevie/Journey Through the Secret of Life -Guitar
1979 Gil, Gilberto/Nightingale -Guitar (Electric)
1979 Wonder, Stevie/Secret Life of Plants -Guitar
1979 Weisberg, Tim/Best of Tim Weisberg: Smile! -Guitar
1980 Serry, John/Jazziz -Guitar
1980 Weisberg, Tim/Party of One -Guitar
1980 Jackson Five/Triumph -Guitar
1981 Khan, Chaka/What Cha' Gonna Do for Me -Guitar
1981 Sanborn, David/As We Speak -Guitar (Electric)
1981 Duke, George Dream On -Guitar
1982 Crawford, Randy/Windsong -Guitar
1982 Osborne, Jeffrey/Jeffrey Osborne -Guitar, Rhythm Arrangements
1982 Summer, Donna/Donna Summer -Guitar, Vocals (bckgr), Vocal Arrangements, Rhythm Arrangements
1982 Summer Lovers [Original Soundtrack] -Guitar, Vocal
1983 Duke, George/Clarke/Duke Project 2 -Guitar
1983 Osborne, Jeffrey/Stay with Me Tonight -Guitar
1983 Billboard Top Hits/Billboard Top Hits: 1983
1983 Flashdance [Original Soundtrack] -Producer
1983 Grusin, Don/Don Grusin -Guitar (Electric)
1983 Duke, George/Guardian of the Light -Guitar, Arranger, Guitar Arrangements
1984 Jackson, Jermaine/Jackson, Jermaine -Drums
1984 Benson, George/20/20 -Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm),Programming, Vocals(bckgr), Producer, drum machine
1984 Khan, Chaka/I Feel for You -Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm), Vocals (bckgr)
1984 Williams, Deniece/Let's Hear It for the Boy -Guitar
1984 Gremlins [Original Soundtrack] -Producer
1985 Kennedy, Joyce/Wanna Play Your Game -Guitar
1985 Manchester, Melissa/Mathematics -Guitar
1985 New Edition/All for Love -Synthesizer, Bass, Percussion, Arranger, Producer, Engineer, Drum programming
1987 Wilkins/Paraiso Perdido -Guitar, Arranger, Vocals(bckgr), Producer, Drum programming, Keyboard programming
1987 Sanborn, David/Change of Heart -Synthesizer, Vocals (bckgr)
1987 Cocoon [Original Soundtrack] -Arranger, Producer
1988 Pebbles/Pebbles
1988 Kamen, Nick/Us -Vocals (bckgr)
1990 Elliot, Richard/What's Inside -Guitar, Vocal
1990 Batten, Jennifer/Above Below and Beyond -Producer
1990 Mateos, Miguel/Obsesion -Guitar, Arranger, Keyboards, Programming, Producer, Teclados, Arreglos, Coros
1991 New Edition/Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 -Guitar, Producer
1991 Gerardo/Mo' Ritmo -Programming, Vocals(bckgr), Producer
1992 Gladiator/Gladiator -Producer
1993 Baywatch [Original Soundtrack] -Producer
1993 Wilkins/Mucho Dinero -Arranger, Vocals (bckgr), Producer, Engineer
1994 D2: The Mighty Ducks [Original Soundtrack] -Guitar, Producer, Mixing
1994 Temptations/Emperors of Soul -Producer
1994 Bishop, Stephen -On & On: The Hits of Stephen Bishop -Guitar
1994 Anderson, Carl/Heavy Weather Sunlight Again -Guitar, Vocals (bckgr)
1994 Casablanca Records Story/Casablanca Records Story -Producer
1994 Corrina Corrina [Original Soundtrack] -Guitar, Arranger, Programming
1994 Lynch, Valeria/Caravana De Suenos -Guitar, Keyboards, Programming, Vocals (bckgr)
1995 Najee/Songs from the Key of Life -Guitar
1995 Mateos, Miguel/Grandes Exitos -Producer
1995 Pinder, Michael/Among the Stars -Guitar
1995 Rhythm & Blues Christmas/Rhythm & Blues Christmas [MCA] -Producer
1995 Brother Time/Brother Time
1995 The Big Green [Original Soundtrack] -Producer
1995 Blank Check [Original Soundtrack] -Producer
1996 Duke, George/Greatest Hits -Guitar
1996 Duke, George/Best of George Duke [Epic] -Guitar
1996 Mayfield, Curtis/People Get Ready: The Curtis Mayfie -Guitar
1996 Williams, Deniece/Best of Deniece Williams -Guitar
1996 Casablanca Records' Greatest Hits -Producer
1996 Flipper [Original Soundtrack] -Producer
1996 Hewitt, Jennifer Love/Jennifer Love Hewitt -Guitar, Programming, Vocals(bckgr), Producer
1996 Peniston, Ce Ce/I'm Movin' On -Guitar
1997 Best of Smooth Jazz/Best of Smooth Jazz -Synthesizer, Arranger, Programming, Vocals (bckgr)
1997 The Bridge/The Bridge
1998 Duke, George/This Is Jazz, Vol. 37 -Guitar
1998 McKnight, Brian/Bethlehem -Guitar, Vocals, Vocals(bckgr)
1998 Alabina/Album 2 -Guitar, Producer
1998 Natay/Place Called Survival -Vocals, Mixing
1999 Wonder, Stevie/At the Close of the Century -Guitar
1999 Purim, Flora/Carry On -Guitar
1999 New Edition/Christmas All over the World -Producer, Vocal
1999 Haley, Gina/Gina Haley
1999 Radio Kaos/Radio Kaos -Producer, Programming, Guitar