THE SESSION WHISPERER

Shred like the best of them with these 10 techniques gleaned from Steve Lukather, the legendary studio ace and Toto guitarist.

- JEFF JACOBSON

TO TAKE A flyover of Steve Lukather’s long and storied career is to essentially reminisce about the heights of the past 40 years of pop and rock music. He is both an original member of Toto — who have sold more than 40 million records worldwide, including timeless hits like “Africa” and “Rosanna” — and a prolific solo artist, with an impressive nine albums to his credit, including 2023’s Bridges. These accomplishments alone would have most of us gratefully calling it a day. But when one takes a gander at the 18-page discography on Steve’s website — a comprehensive list of every session he’s ever done, for a veritable who’s who of iconic artists — the enormous impact he and his guitar have had on the world of music becomes clear. In this month’s lesson, we’ll look at some of the industrious guitarist’s most celebrated classic works, starting from the very beginning.

In 1977, Lukather (or Luke, as he’s often called) recorded his first sessions for singer/songwriter Boz Scaggs, who hired the then 20-year-old guitarist to lay down two solos on his album Down

Two Then Left. Throughout Lukather’s solo in “A Clue,” one can already hear hallmarks of his distinctive playing as he creatively combines searing melodies, modern rock licks (that still sound that way today) and a polished, sublime finger vibrato. What also stands out is the guitarist’s rare ability among rock players to deftly negotiate challenging chord changes, a skill that is more commonly found among jazz musicians. To that end, Luke was inspired by one of his guitar heroes, the session legend Larry Carlton.