Mannheim Steamroller is a New Age band co-founded by Chip Davis and Jackson Berkey. The band was named after an 18th-Century musical technique, now known as crescendo.
Mannheim Steamroller albums feature instruments from harpsichord to synthesizer, with a lot of strings. Chip Davis composes, arranges and plays drums with the band, while Jackson Berkey and his wife Almeda Berkey do most of the keyboard work. Other permanent band members include Ron Cooley (Guitar), Eric Hansen (Bass), Steven Shipps and Arnold Roth (Strings), Roxanne Layton (percussion and woodwinds), and Chuck Pennington (Conductor). Mannheim Steamroller frequently collaborated with The London Symphony Orchestra, and The Cambridge Singers.