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Artist
Brian Simpson
12+ albums
Smooth Jazzjazzpianobrian simpsonMJ-smooth jazz
about
A longtime studio musician, musical director, and touring keyboardist to stars as diverse as Janet Jackson and Dave Koz, Brian Simpson’s breakthrough as a solo artist with his Rendezvous Entertainment debut It’s All Good was the genre’s major story of 2006. Focusing once again on compelling acoustic piano melodies, bright jazz improvisations and spirited funk grooves, Simpson keeps the extraordinary momentum hopping--and, true to the moniker he chose for the new album, soaring--with Above The Clouds. The title track of It’s All Good proved instantly and joyfully prophetic, as it hit #1 on the Radio & Records Smooth Jazz Airplay chart and remained in the Top 5 for four months; his follow-up single “Saturday Cool” went Top 15. The sessions for Above The Clouds brought out some of the best from his hefty Rolodex: guitarists Tony Maiden, Darrell Crooks and Ray Fuller; bassists Alex Al, Smitty Smith, Larry Kimpel and Melvin Davis; drummer Michael White and percussionist Lenny Castro. A jazzman from an early age, he grew up in Gurnee, Illinois, a small town north of Chicago, picking up piano at the age of 10. “My father was a jazz aficionado so I grew up listening to lots of great music. My first and greatest influence on piano was Oscar Peterson, though initially I was much more drawn to the sound of jazz guitar, so Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery, and Kenny Burrell were equally influential,” he explains. Brian went on to study at Northern Illinois University where he majored in pi
