59. Gabriel Roth (AKA Bosco Mann)

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My guest this month is Gabriel Roth, a/k/a “Bosco Mann”. He is a Grammy award winning engineer, the founder and chief producer/engineer of Daptone Records, and a prolific song-writer, having penned over 150 songs. Roth is highly regarded throughout the industry for his detailed and analog approach, a rare find in today’s computer-obsessed production world.

Since the mid-90s, Roth has been honing his craft, first under his label Desco Records and then as co-founder of Daptone Records, producing, writing and arranging for the numerous artists on the label. His own band, the Dap-Kings, are the foundation of the Daptone House of Soul Stable, backing the label’s premier act Sharon Jones, and sought after by a growing list of artists.

A superior bass player, Gabe is enlisted as a member of the Dap-Kings to perform on a wide range of sessions, but his talents as a producer, arranger, engineer and mixer immediately place him in an elite class. Early mainstream followers included Kanye West (who sampled Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings’ “Pick It Up, Lay It In the Cut” on Rhymefest’s “Brand New“) and Hank Shocklee (who hired the Dap-Kings to perform on the American Gangster Soundtrack). Mark Ronson quickly followed and what resulted was Amy Winehouse’s Grammy award winning, multi-platinum smash “Back To Black” (for which Roth received a Grammy as engineer).

Gabe has expanded his operations to the West Coast, now operating Penrose Studios out of Riverside, CA (while still maintaining an active presence in New York at Daptone). Gabe has made good use of the new space in California, engineering sessions for Bob Rock-produced Michael Buble records and producing, engineering and arranging James Hunter’s latest album Minute By Minute. Enjoy my conversation with Gabriel Roth, and please subscribe to the podcast for free on iTunes!

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