Clifford Slapper

Clifford Slapper is a pianist, producer and musical director of international acclaim. His music has featured in a range of films, television and radio productions, including Ricky Gervais’s Extras and Derek, and Jonathan Ross’s recreation for the BBC of the sketches of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, as well as 2020’s Sky Arts’ Les Dawson’s Parisian Adventure by Steve Pemberton, directed by Steve Bendelack.

He has performed, toured and recorded with stars including: David Bowie, Boy George, Jarvis Cocker, Lisa Stansfield, Suggs (Madness), Marc Almond, Ute Lemper, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Dead Or Alive, Holly Johnson (Frankie Goes To Hollywood) and many others.

He is currently producing a special collection of acoustic reworkings of the songs of David Bowie, featuring vocals from Dame Emma Thompson, amongst others.

His performances worldwide have included shows in New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Thailand and of course throughout many European countries. London-based, he has held residencies and played at Ronnie Scott’s, The 100 Club, The Jazz Café, The Groucho, The Club at the Ivy, The Union Club, Blacks, The Colony Rooms, Quo Vadis, The Hilton and many others.

He has created and performed live film scores for London’s ICA and Electric Cinema, and for Berlin’s Deutscher Theater, and also hosts a very popular series of live performance nights (“Slappers Club”).

Clifford Slapper was chosen by Jarvis Cocker to perform at his Meltdown Arts Festival on London’s South Bank, and Jarvis’s programme notes stated that “Mr Clifford Slapper has been adding a touch of class to many late-night establishments for a number of years now. He’s an accomplished pianist with an extensive repertoire”.

Clifford Slapper is also a published author, having written the authorised biography of Bowie’s most prodigious musician, who played with him 1972–2006: Bowie’s Piano Man: The Life of Mike Garson (Hal Leonard, USA, 2018), which has received great acclaim and was named Classic Pop magazine’s Book of the Year.

Photo Credits:

(1): Frédéric Leloup 

(2): (Photo of Clifford Slapper with David Bowie): Ray Burmiston