Laurence Juber never intended to a rock and roll star. The London-born guitarist, composer, arranger, and session musician had his sights set on a studio career. And he had a very nice one going in London until he got a fateful call from Sir Paul McCartney and ended up joining Sir Paul’s band Wings in 1979. But that wasn’t the first change in musical direction for Juber. He had studied classical guitar as well as music theory at college, but quickly decided the commercial possibilities were limited.
Today, after winning two Grammys for his work for Wings, Juber has become a prolific composer and a virtuosic fingerstyle guitarist. The latter skill brought him to Milwaukee to lecture at UWM’s Peck School of the Arts this spring, and he joined Bonnie North in the studio then for conversation and music.
Juber played three tunes for us: Lennon & McCartney's I Saw Her Standing There, his own composition Mosaic, and Jimi Hendrix's Little Wing. They are all available as supplemental audio below.