Steve Nieve | |
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 Nieve performing in 2012 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Steve A'dore, Maurice Worm, Norman Brain |
| Born | Stephen John Nason[1] (1958-02-21)21 February 1958 (age 67) |
| Origin | London, England |
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| Years active | 1977–present |
| Labels | |
| Website | stevenieve |
Steve Nieve (/naɪˈiːv/ "naïve"; bornStephen John Nason, 21 February 1958) is an English musician and composer. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Nieve has been a member ofElvis Costello's backing bandsthe Attractions and the Imposters, as well asMadness. He has also experienced success as a prolificsession musician, featured on a wide array of other artists' recordings.
In 2003, he was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Elvis Costello and the Attractions.[2]
Nieve was born inBishop's Stortford,[3] England, and was educated atSt Dunstan's College in London and later attended theRoyal College of Music, but dropped out in 1977 to joinElvis Costello's backing bandthe Attractions.[1][4] Nason received his musical moniker "Nieve" (pronounced "naïve") while on the Attractions' first tour forStiff Records. It was bestowed by tourmateIan Dury who had been astonished by Nason's innocent query, "What's agroupie?"[5] Before that, at least briefly, he had been using thestage name "Steve A'dore" (a pun onstevedore).[6]
Nieve played piano, organ and other keyboard instruments on most of Costello's projects for over ten years, including the albumsThis Year's Model (1978),Imperial Bedroom (1982) andBlood & Chocolate (1986).[1] On the 1984 Costello albumGoodbye Cruel World and its accompanying tour, he was credited as "Maurice Worm". His instrument credit on the album was not for playing keyboards, but for providing "random racket". Under the name Norman Brain he wrote some material on The Attractions' Costello-less albumMad About the Wrong Boy in collaboration with his then girlfriend, Fay Hart. (He also wrote other songs on the album as Steve Nieve.)
In the mid-1980s, Costello began to work less frequently with the Attractions and stopped working with them entirely between 1987 and 1993. During this period Nieve focused on session work for other artists (the Neville Brothers,Hothouse Flowers,[7]Graham Parker,Squeeze,[8]Tim Finn,Kirsty MacColl,Madness,[7]Nick Heyward[9] andDavid Bowie).[10] Also in 1986, Nieve formed the group the Perils of Plastic with ex-Deaf School vocalist Steve Allen, releasing three non-charting singles in the UK in 1986 and 1987. At around the same time he led the house band (billed as Steve Nieve and The Playboys) on the UK TV seriesThe Last Resort with Jonathan Ross.[11]
Costello reunited the Attractions for 1994's albumBrutal Youth. Although the reunion was relatively short-lived (they split again in 1996), the Costello/Nieve collaborations never ceased. They have toured as a duo, and Nieve has contributed keyboards to all of Costello's albums since the mid-1990s, including 1998'sBurt Bacharach collaborationPainted From Memory and 2001'sAnne Sofie von Otter collaborationFor the Stars.
In 2001, Costello formed a new backing band consisting of Nieve, Attractions drummerPete Thomas, and bassistDavey Faragher. The band were subsequently dubbed the Imposters. Elvis Costello & the Imposters have toured extensively and released the albumsWhen I Was Cruel (2002),North (2003),The Delivery Man (2004),The River in Reverse (2006, featuringAllen Toussaint),Momofuku (2008),National Ransom (2010),Look Now (2018) andThe Boy Named If (2022). In 2020, Nieve won aGrammy Award for his work with Costello and the Imposters onLook Now. Nieve (without the other Imposters) accompanied Costello again onHey Clockface (2020).
In addition to his work with Costello, Nieve has released several solo albums.Keyboard Jungle (1983) was his first, a combination of classical and ersatz film scores played on aSteinway piano.[12] His second album,Playboy (1987), consisted of solo acoustic piano renditions of rock songs byDavid Bowie,10cc,the Specials,X and others, as well as original compositions. Though both albums were released only in the UK by the independent labelDemon Music Group, they were critically well received and noted for their "display [of] the artist's wit, compositional talent and abundant instrumental agility."[12]
Nieve followed these with the albumsIt's Raining Somewhere (1996),Mumu (2001) andWindows (2004). His classical opera,Welcome to the Voice, a collaboration withMuriel Téodori, was released onDeutsche Grammophon in May 2007.[13] Thescore was interpreted byBarbara Bonney,Sting,Robert Wyatt, Elvis Costello,Amanda Roocroft, Nathalie Manfrino andSara Fulgoni for the voices. For the music theBrodsky Quartet interpreted a written score, whileMarc Ribot,Ned Rothenberg and Nieve improvised. Nieve also composed the score to Téodori's filmSans Plomb.[13]
Welcome to the Voice was premiered at theThéâtre du Châtelet in Paris in 2008, with Sylvia Schwartz in the role of Lily, and the involvement of both Sting and Costello. In 2014, Nieve releasedToGetHer.[14]
In recent years, Nieve has lived in France with his wifeMuriel Téodori.[15]
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