The Section
The Section are a US instrumental rock band formed in the early 1970s by musicians Danny Kortchmar, Craig Doerge, Leland Sklar, and Russ Kunkel. They are best known for both studio and stage work in support of some of the best selling solo singers of that decade. Their frequent appearances on the records of artists signed to Asylum Records made them the label’s de facto house band. Their close association with the singer-songwriter and soft rock genres of the 1970s also led to their alternate moniker of “The Mellow Mafia.”
They appeared together and individually on albums by Linda Ronstadt, Crosby & Nash, James Taylor, Carole King, Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon, and acted as back-up band on their tours. Other musicians closely associated with The Section (though never official members of it) include guitarist Waddy Wachtel and multi-instrumentalist David Lindley.
By the 1980s, the group stopped working together collectively, though as individuals they continued to play prominent roles in the studio and on tour with many of the most popular solo acts of the decade, including Phil Collins (who collaborated with Sklar frequently starting with 1985’s No Jacket Required album and subsequent tour), Stevie Nicks (whose landmark Bella Donna album features guitar work from Wachtel, who continues to work with her as her musical director), and Don Henley (who used Kortchmar’s skills on numerous instruments on his Building the Perfect Beast album).
Beside their supporting work for other musicians, The Section also released three albums of their own, consisting of mostly instrumental music.
Daniel Kortchmar (born April 6, 1946) is a guitarist, session musician, producer and songwriter. Kortchmar’s work with singer-songwriters such as Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, David Crosby, Carole King, Graham Nash, Neil Young , and Carly Simon helped define the signature sound of the singer-songwriter era of the 1970s. Jackson Browne and Don Henley have recorded many songs written or co-written by Kortchmar, and Kortchmar was Henley’s songwriting and producing partner in the 1980s.
Craig Doerge (born 1947, in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American keyboard player, songwriter and session musician.
He began playing in a college band at Hartford, Connecticut, and then moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1960s to work as a studio player and songwriter with A&M Records, and with Jim Keltner and others playing on cartoon soundtracks. After appearing on the GTOs album Permanent Damage, he teamed up with Judy Henske and Jerry Yester in the band Rosebud, later marrying Henske. From the early 1970s he appeared on many sessions. Initially these included albums by Lee Hazlewood and Linda Ronstadt, and he also recorded a solo album for Columbia Records in 1974.
Leland Bruce “Lee” Sklar (born May 28, 1947) is an American musician. A prominent electric bassist, Sklar has contributed to over 2,000 albums as a session musician. He has collaborated with a number of well-known performers and recorded soundtracks to films and television shows.
Russell “Russ” Kunkel (September 27, 1948) is an American drummer and producer who has worked as a session musician with many well-known artists, including Stephen Stills, Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Stevie Nicks, Carole King, Jackson Browne, Joe Walsh, Glenn Frey, and Carly Simon.
Below you can find the sessions of all members combined to one list collected so far. It will be updated automatically.