Stephen Paul (born 1948) is an American classical guitarist best known by the stage name Esteban.[1] He is from the Pittsburgh area and has lived in Tempe, Arizona since 1976.[1]

He has sold instructional DVDs and guitars on home-shopping channels QVC and the HSN.

Biography

Paul was the oldest of four children. He recounts that he began playing guitar at the age of eight when his uncle brought him a nylon-stringed guitar.[1] He attended South Hills Catholic High School (since absorbed into Seton-La Salle Catholic High School) in Mt. Lebanon.[2] He then attended Carnegie Mellon University, where he double-majored in music and English. At this time, he was teaching approximately 150 students a week and playing in nightclubs.[1]

Segovia

Esteban then wished to study with Andrés Segovia. According to Esteban, after a long period where he pursued Segovia by sending notes to the hotels where he was staying, he finally met Segovia in Los Angeles in 1972 and studied with him intermittently for the next five years, splitting his time between Spain and California.

The extent of the connection between Segovia and Esteban, however, is heavily disputed. Although Esteban did meet Segovia, Esteban is not mentioned in any biography of Segovia, and Esteban never received the public acknowledgment Segovia gave students such as John Williams and Eliot Fisk. Segovia autographed one of his books for Esteban in 1978 with a flattering message, but Segovia is known to have signed hundreds or thousands of such messages.[1]

Musical transformation

Esteban moved from Southern California to Phoenix with his wife and daughter, Teresa Joy, in 1978. During the next two years, he toured playing classical music.

In 1980, while driving his mother home from the airport, Esteban was involved in a collision with a drunk driver. He was left with broken ribs, missing teeth, and a light-sensitive eye. He recovered but was left with nerve damage in his hands. Unable to play the guitar, he sold solar energy systems for Reynolds Aluminum.

During his long recovery, he decided to move away from playing only classical music. After recovering some of the use of his fingers in 1988, he had begun playing again by the end of 1989.[1]

Album release

Esteban had been playing at a Hyatt Regency hotel when he released his first album in 1991.[3] He hired a keyboardist in 1992 and has subsequently added a five-piece band including drummer Joe Morris. Esteban's albums sold well.[1]

In 1999, Esteban came to the attention of Joy Mangano at Ingenious Designs, inventor of several products sold on the QVC home-shopping channel. She invited Esteban to play on QVC in November 1999. Esteban sold 132,000 CDs after two appearances on HSN in the summer of 2000, and two of his albums reached the top 54 entries in the Billboard 200.[1] Esteban quit playing at the Hyatt in 2000.[4] He has since been featured in The Wall Street Journal and People Magazine.[5] From 2001 to 2003, Esteban released over a dozen additional albums, four of which placed in the lower half of the Billboard 200.[6] He has appeared in several infomercials advertising his guitars and instructional DVDs.[7]

Esteban landed his first major CD distribution deal (with Sony RED Distribution) with the release of The Best of Esteban in October 2006.[8][9]

Discography

  • Songs From My Heart (1992)
  • Flamenco Y Rosas (1995)
  • Enter the Heart (1998)
  • Pasión (1999)
  • Heart of Gold (2001)
  • Spirits of the West (2001)
  • What Child Is This (2001)
  • Duende (2001)
  • All My Love (2001)
  • At Home With Esteban (2001)
  • Holiday Trilogy (2001)
  • Joy to the World (2001)
  • Esteban Live (2001)
  • Flame, Flamenco & Romance, Vol. 1 (2001)
  • Esteban By Request (2001)
  • Flame, Flamenco & Romance, Vol. 2 (2002)
  • Walk Beside Me (2002)
  • Eternal Love (2003)
  • Live in Sedona (2003)
  • Happy Holidays (2003)
  • Esteban & Friends: Live in Sedona (2003)
  • Back 2 Back (2003)
  • Celebrate the Memories (2004)
  • Father/Daughter (2004)
  • The New Flamenco Y Rosas (2006)
  • The Best of Esteban (2006)

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 The Tao of Esteban, Gilbert Garcia, Phoenix New Times, September 21, 2000; accessed June 15, 2007.
  2. ↑ South Hills Catholic reunion with Esteban, Al Lowe, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 8, 2007; accessed June 15, 2007.
  3. ↑ Esteban—Discography—Main Albums, Allmusic. Accessed on line November 9, 2007.
  4. ↑ Esteban at Arizona Celebrity Sightings. Accessed on line June 15, 2007.
  5. ↑ Bio Archived 2007-05-05 at the Wayback Machine, Esteban official website. Accessed on line June 15, 2007.
  6. ↑ Esteban—Charts & Awards, Allmusic, accessed on line November 9, 2007.
  7. ↑ Esteban, entry at Allmusic; accessed June 15, 2007.
  8. ↑ Best of Esteban, review, Chris M. Slaweci, allaboutjazz.com. Accessed on line June 15, 2007.
  9. ↑ Livin’ the Dream: Esteban Brings His Music to the Mainstream, Heather Turk, socal.com, accessed on line June 15, 2007.
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