Biography
An entertainment industry icon & trailblazer for over 25 years, LaSalle Gabriel is a multi-faceted music & film producer, label exec, & world class guitarist. Prior to his presidency at his record label, LaSalle Gabriel led an investment group in the purchase of the legendary Flyte Tyme Recording Studios, (famous for recordings by Janet Jackson, Aerosmith, Michael Jackson, Luther Vandross), for $7,000,000 dollars in stock. After Gabriel's complete renovation of the historic landmark he divested his shares for $3,000,000 dollars. The building is now the Media Institute of Minneapolis.
As a producer/songwriter/arranger LaSalle Gabriel holds chart positions in over 300 issues of Billboard Magazine, including 70 consecutive weeks in the Top 40 on 5 Billboard charts, simultaneously. He was the original guitarist of Sounds of Blackness from 1990-1998, (Perspective/A&M Records). Gabriel has been featured in the Washington Post, New York Times, L.A. Times, Billboard, Detroit Weekly, Radio & Records, Pioneer Press & over 70 news magazines throughout the world.
LaSalle Gabriel (LG) has been endorsed by AKAI, Gibson, Mesa Boogie, & Peavey Guitars. LG is widely considered one of the most sought after guitarists in the music industry, attracting fees in excess of $5000 per day.
LG has worked with Jamie Foxx, Charlie Wilson, Anita Baker, TLC, Barry White, Dallas Austin, Malina Moye, Patti LaBelle, Ann Nesby, Sheila-E, Karyn White, The Gap Band, Vesta Williams, DJ-Quik, NPG, Cherrelle, Chante' Moore, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Lo-key, Vanessa Williams, Carl Carlton, After 7, Johnny Gill, Color Me Badd, Framework, & Radio Logic.
In the 90's LG released several songs on his own label, one of which entitled "The Room" sold over one million units worldwide, launching his music career & political status overnight. His $7,000,000 dollar strategic partnership with IBM was the first of its kind for an African American in the tech giant's 100 year history. His billion dollar corporate clientele includes Ad work & music for Microsoft, & NBC/Universal.
LG founded his record label in 2003 & after selling 200,000 CD units from his modest 1500 square foot recording studio in Minneapolis. LG signed a distribution deal with Lightyear/WEA in 2005. The maiden launch for this venture proved successful when LG produced & co-wrote the essential comeback album for triple Grammy Award winners, Sounds of Blackness. The album & single entitled 'Unity' entered the Billboard Gospel chart at #11 its first week, spent a staggering 56 weeks in the Top 40, 77 weeks in the Hot 100 & later achieved crossover success on Billboard's Hip Hop/R&B chart at #37.
'Unity' would later win a Stellar Award for Best Gospel Album. Although Sounds of Blackness had attained significant success at the hands of music producers, Jam & Lewis, Billboard Magazine said the Unity Album was as inventive and as engaging as ever, effectively giving the group a broader audience & bringing their career back center stage.
LG produced 'Delusions of Grandeur' for the rock band J Project. The single reached #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart, #10 at Hot/AC, & spent 21 weeks on the Billboard Top 40 with over 100,000 radio spins. The song has been licensed in several films for Paramount Domestic Television & Showtime. J Project is the 1st rock band with an African American female vocalist to be formatted at Rock radio & chart on the Billboard Top 20!
The single, 'Carry the Flag,' spent three months on Billboard's Top 10 Country Singles Chart, reaching #4. Co-written & produced by LG, the song became a morale booster for President Bush on Air-Force 1 & aircraft carriers in the Middle East for U.S. troops serving in Iraq. LG was later merited by President Bush, Secretary of Defense, & Secretary of the Navy. LaSalle Gabriel now joins an elite group of only 4 African American producers to ever produce/write a Top 5 Country single in music history. (Lionel Ritchie, Charlie Pride, Babyface).
In film, Gabriel has co-produced & supervised post- production on 4 movie projects at Paramount Domestic Television, Starz, & Showtime, scoring music for two of the films, (IMDB.com). LG has worked as a songwriter for NBC's 'Days of our Lives'. His 46 TV appearances include The Tonight Show, Soul Train, The Kennedy Center, Arsenio Hall, MTV, & BET.
As a media & tech consultant LG has worked with Tyrese Gibson, Darin Henson, Cynda Williams, Governor Scott McCallum, Governor Arne Carlson, U.S. Senator Norm Coleman, State Senator Ted Mondale, Attorney General Skip Humphrey, & Hennepin County Attorney Michael Freeman.
