| Background: | person |
| Clair Marlo | |
| Birth Name: | Clara Veseliza |
| Origin: | New York City, New York, United States |
| Instrument: | Singing, piano, keyboards, drum programming, mixing |
| Genre: | Yacht Rock, West Coast Sound, Pop, Adult Contemporary, Jazz |
| Occupation: | Singer-songwriter, music producer, film-television composer, musician, audio recordist - mixer, educator |
| Discography: | https://www.allmusic.com/artist/clair-marlo-mn0000112769#discography |
| Years Active: | 1986–present |
| Label: | Higher Octave, Virgin Records, Sonic Images, Earthtone, Sony, Telarc, Wildcat-MCA, Sheffield Lab, Invisible Hand Music, Universal/MCA, Invisible Hand Records, Blue Rain Records |
Clair Marlo, is a Croatian-American record producer, singer-songwriter, composer, educator, and performer.[1] Her music falls under the categories of Pop, West Coast Sound, Yacht Rock, Adult Contemporary and Contemporary Jazz. She also has a large catalogue of over 4,500 pieces of music used in film and television shows worldwide.[2]
She is known for her multiplatinum hit singles "'Til They Take My Heart Away" and "Without Me", both from her debut album, Let It Go.[3] Her songs became a staple in radio stations during the early 1990s and her albums (both as recording artist and as producer) for Sheffield Lab Records have become audiophile staples and collectors items around the world. Marlo is also known for singing "Sviraj" and "Lullaby" on Paul Schwartz's album, Aria 2 – New Horizon, which reached number 5 on Billboards Top Classical Crossover Chart in 1999.[4]
Clair Marlo was born Clara Veseliza in New York City and grew up in Queens. She began her musical studies at the age of five with accordion, then started piano and voice at the age of nine. She had her first song published by Leeds Levy (MCA Music) at the age of 16, when she started college for composition at the Aaron Copeland School of Music at Queens College. She studied opera with opera singer Camilla Williamsin New York. Her private teachers also included noted big band arranger Spud Murphy in Los Angeles, and beloved choir conductor John Motley in New York.[5] Clair holds a bachelor's degree from Berklee College of Music (1980) in Composition with additional courses in Audio Production and Engineering.[6] Clair also holds a master's degree in music technology with a specialty in studio technology (2023), from Southern Utah University, Summa Cum Laude.[7]
She owns the music production company Invisible Hand Productions, founded in 1995, and production companies Building 11 Music Group and Tarzana Jane Music Publishing.[8]
Marlo has worked with many notable artists, composers, musicians, engineers and producers. Notable people Clair has worked with include Jeff Porcaro, Steve Porcaro, George Massenberg, Doug Sax, Bill Schnee Joe Porcaro, David Paich, Leland Sklar, Grant Geissman, Craig Fuller, Abraham Laboriel Sr., Dean Parks, Luis Conte, and Steve Katz. The now late pop rock drummer, Jeff Porcaro, played on her song "'Til They Take My Heart Away" and other songs on her debut album, Let It Go. This album became a hit in Europe, the Philippines, and Japan and was especially embraced by the audiophile community because it was recorded by Sheffield Lab Records as a Direct-to-2-track recording, with the entire group in the studio at the same time.[9] Clair's hit song "Til They Take My Heart Away" reached double platinum status[10] and has been covered by many other artists such as Kyla, M.Y.M.P., and Regine Velasquez. In 2004 Kyla released Clair's song (written with Steve Porcaro of Toto), "Til they take my Heart Away" as a single on her platinum album Not Your Ordinary Girl which received #1 status
Marlo has produced such artists as Harry Chapin (posthumously), Pat Coil, Michael Ruff, Kilauea (Daniel Ho), and Grant Geissman. Her production of Michael Ruff's "Speaking in Melodies" for Sheffield Lab Records is an audiophile collector's item and was on Stereophile's list of "1994 Records to Die For".[11]
Solo albums/as featured artist
Group albums
As producer
As composer/songwriter
Marlo is based out of Los Angeles, and Istria, Croatia. She has a daughter and a son.