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Stephen Large
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Large with Squeeze in 2014
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| Background information | |
| Occupation(s) | Keyboardist, composer and arranger |
| Instrument(s) | Keyboards |
| Website | stephenlarge.com |
Stephen Large is an English, London-based keyboard player, composer, arranger, and long-term member of UK band Squeeze.[1]
As well as his work with Squeeze, Stephen Large is musical director (touring keyboard player and arranger) for Caro Emerald.[2] He was previously musical director for pop artists Rebecca Ferguson and Duffy.[citation needed]
As a keyboard player, Large has worked with Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott, most recently contributing keyboards for their Number One album Manchester Calling. Other keyboard work includes Paloma Faith, Rumer, Pete Doherty, Babyshambles, the Noisettes, Johnny Depp, cabaret with Alan Carr, music hall with Colin Firth, and others, as well as being a founder member of jazz outfits The Rag 'n' Bone Club and Ronnie Scott's Rejects.[citation needed]
Large received web prominence[citation needed] after an appearance with Squeeze on the US Jimmy Fallon Show on 13 July 2010, during which he played a keyboard solo on the new Apple iPad for the song "Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)". This appears to be the first use on live TV of the iPad as a musical instrument.[3] Further TV credits include The Jay Leno Show with Duffy, Britain's Got Talent with Rebecca Ferguson, The Ellen DeGeneres Show with Squeeze, Parkinson with Rod Stewart, dueting with Glenn Tilbrook on Later... with Jools Holland, and appearing in CBBC's Big Babies.[4]
He left Christchurch College, Canterbury with a first-class degree in art and music,[citation needed] and had an early breakthrough with the band Koot, who were initially signed to the Warner Records label, releasing a single album Skyjacked through Some Bizzare in 2001.[citation needed] Koot also contributed the song "Sunshine at Last" to the soundtrack of the film Saving Grace.[citation needed] After a spell as keyboard player for the Mercury-Award-nominated and Q-Award-winning band The Electric Soft Parade, Large contributed his skills to recordings by The Ordinary Boys, Graham Coxon, The Shortwave Set, Sonny J, Simply Red, Lucky Soul and Marina and the Diamonds, amongst others.[citation needed] He is also a long-term member of Glenn Tilbrook's The Fluffers, for whom he has co-written songs with the Squeeze frontman.
Co-writing credits include music for the BBC's Cradle to Grave (a 2016 comedy series featuring Peter Kay), Billy Connolly's Billy's Route 66 (2011), the CBBC TV show Big Babies,[5] and the BBC's Wimbledon coverage (2008 and 2009), as well as song writing with Chris Difford, Andrea Britton, Imelda May, and his own band Lord Large. Large has worked with a range of producers including John Williams, Liam Howe, Jon Kelly, Steve Booker, Andy Wright, Jim Abbiss, Stephen Street, Dangermouse and others.
Stephen Large has also produced string and brass arrangements for Noisettes, CocknBullKid, Marina and the Diamonds, Squeeze and Clare Teal.[citation needed]
Lord Large is the result of a collaboration with drummer, writer and producer Andrew J Jones, with whom Large has worked since their days in Koot. The group's debut album The Lord's First XI, released on the Acid Jazz Records label, has been championed by Paul Weller, Mark Lamarr, Robert Elms and Gary Crowley, and has seen Large working with a range of soul singers, including Clem CurtisofThe Foundations, Dean Parrish, Linda Lewis and The Peddlers' Roy Phillips, as well as the more contemporary talents of Squeeze's Glenn Tilbrook, Andrea Britton and ex-Freakpower trombonist Ashley Slater.
During a short break from Squeeze starting September 2010, Large was temporarily replaced by Steve Nieve (previously of Elvis Costello and the Attractions), before re-joining the band for a performance at the Royal Albert Hall, as part of the annual Teenage Cancer Trust concerts on 22 March 2011.[6]
A collector and player of vintage and other keyboards, Stephen Large uses the following instruments:
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