Stephen Jacob Tubin

Stephen Jacob Tubin, one of the top musical arrangers and studio pianists of the 1990s, who worked with everyone from Liza Minnelli and David Bowie to Jennifer Holiday and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, has died. He was 68.

Steve was from Brooklyn, and he wouldn’t let you forget it. He did what he wanted, and didn’t let anyone tell him how to live. This attitude and his amazing musical talent took him on world tours with famous musicians, where he performed in front of thousands of people every night and saw things most of us only read about.

In the 1970s, during the Cold War, Steve travelled to the Soviet Union as the pianist for the Joffrey Ballet. Steve’s favorite story from the tour, aside from having to stay in a KGB bugged hotel room, was when the Soviet army invaded a concert hall the Ballet was performing in.

The ballet performance had just ended and the audience was calling for the band to keep playing. Steve and the other musicians began playing some popular American songs, never before heard by the Soviet people. Within minutes, a battalion of Soviet soldiers wielding machine guns flooded the concert hall and cut the power. The room went dark. Steve could hear the Russian soldiers barking orders. The stubborn Brookynite in him said, “screw these guys, let’s keep playing.” Thank god he cabined that thought. Eventually the soldiers escorted the band back to their KGB monitored hotel room. That was the last encore they performed in Russia.

Several years later, Steve was on tour with Liza Minnelli. One of the stops was in Copenhagen, Denmark. While eating at the famous Red Pimpernel, Steve met Lene Gudmundsen. They instantly fell in love, and married five months later.

Lene and Steve spent 39 wonderful years together. They raised two loving children, Kristina and Marcus, in their beautiful home in Tarrytown. Unfortunately, Steve fell ill later in life, suffering from diabetes and kidney failure. While he survived on dialysis for several years, Steve caught a deadly infection in October 2017. His immune system was too weak to fight it, even with excellent medical treatment. Steve succumbed to his infection on October 24, 2017. He is survived by his loving wife and children, sister, and brother.

*Visiting hours will be Sunday October 29, from 2 to 5pm. A service will begin at 3pm.

                                            In lieu of flowers or other gifts, please put the money towards a

                          donation to the National Kidney Foundation.

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