Abraham Laboriel Jr. (born March 23, 1971) is an American session musician best known as the drummer and backing vocalist of Paul McCartney's touring band since 2001.[1] He is the son of Mexican bass guitarist Abraham Laboriel, nephew of Mexican rock musician Johnny Laboriel, and brother of record producer, songwriter and film composer Mateo Laboriel.
Early life
The son of jazz bass player Abraham Laboriel, Abe grew up playing drums starting at age four.[1] His mother is a classically trained singer.[2]
Laboriel was mentored by well-known percussionists and drummers, including Jeff Porcaro, Chester Thompson, along with Bill Maxwell and Alex Acuña, who had formed the band Koinonia with his father in the 1980s.
Laboriel's first break as a drummer was a tour with guitarist Steve Vai. He then toured with Seal, where he was seen by record producers around Los Angeles which led to session work.[1] Laboriel next toured with k.d. lang where Sting saw him and invited Laboriel to join Sting's touring band. He also toured and recorded in studio with former Menudo member Robi Draco Rosa on his album Vagabundo.
For his 2001 album, Driving Rain, Paul McCartney told producer David Kahne he wanted to return to the spontaneity he remembered when working with The Beatles. He recalled that his bandmates and producer would often be hearing the songs he had written for the first time at the start of the recording session, having had no time to learn or rehearse. McCartney felt this made the recordings sound "fresh," and told Kahne he wanted to record this album the same way. To achieve this, Kahne assembled a band of session musicians, Laboriel included, who had never met McCartney until their first day in the studio together.[3][4] Laboriel has been part of McCartney's recording and touring band ever since.
In 2006 during the show "Avant que l'ombre... à Bercy" ("Before the shadow... at Bercy"), Laboriel sang a duet "Les Mots" ("The words") with Mylène Farmer.[2] He also played with Sting at the Montreux Jazz Festival that year. Laboriel toured with Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood on their 14-date American Tour in 2009 following their Japanese tour the year before.[5] He made his live debut with Paul McCartney at The Concert for New York City in 2001, and has played on every McCartney tour since then.[6]
In addition to drums, Laboriel also sings and plays bass, guitar and keyboards.[7] When touring with McCartney, he will occasionally switch to one of these instruments to accommodate certain songs and on his 2013 solo album Naked, he played every instrument.
About his playing, Laboriel noted: "As much as I would love to say I have an original sound, I think the truth is I have an original filter. I'd listen so much and so hard to so many different people that what's original about me is not necessarily what I play but how I play it, how I interpret it hasn't already been done. It's more about the energy and the intensity, it's not about the specific fills, it's more about the intention."[2]
