Brian Simpson 2007

Brian Simpson

Brian Simpson has been known as Dave Koz’s keyboard player for the last ten years. He is also Dave’s Musical Director and most recently, Musical Director for the "Dave Koz and Friends Cruise 2006" as well as the "Smooth Jazz Cruise 2007" hosted by Wayman Tisdale.

Brian’s new CD, ‘Above The Clouds’ is being released this month on Dave Koz’s Rendezvous label. His first CD, released in 1995, “Closer Still” was an excellent debut, yet Brian did not release his next CD until “It’s All Good”, in 2005. The title track of It’s All Good proved instantly 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.

Brian Simpson grew up in small town north of Chicago where after an unsuccessful attempt at playing the tenor sax (it was just too big!), he started piano lessons at the age of ten. He rallied back and forth through the teen years, but kept being drawn back to the piano, finally going on to study at Northern Illinois University where he majored in piano and starred in the school’s big band, an ensemble that won numerous Downbeat awards and offered Brian the chance to perform all over the world. (This is the same music department where Brian Culbertson studied.)

After graduation he moved to Los Angeles and immersed himself in the local jazz scene. He soon found himself jamming after-hours with other session men, Everette Harp, Boney James, and Norman Brown. He moved into the pop music scene when he was picked up by Teena Marie, Sheena Easton, and Janet Jackson, as were so a many other Smooth Jazz artists. In 1991, he co-wrote the #1 Pop hit “The First Time” by Surface, which placed well on both the R&B and Adult Contemporary charts.

Coming back to his first love, Brian Simpson reentered the Smooth Jazz genre touring with some of the greats of recent jazz history, including George Duke, Stanley Clarke, Larry Carlton, George Howard, Billy Cobham, and Gerald Albright, as well as Jonathan Butler, Rick Braun, Norman Brown, and of course, Dave Koz.

Now in 2007, ‘Above The Clouds” promises to deliver more compelling acoustic piano melodies, bright jazz improvisations and spirited funky jazz grooves.

SJN: You have a new CD, “Above The Clouds”. Please tell us all about it?

Brian: One of the biggest factors about this CD that makes it special to me is all the guest artists who appear. The first guy who appears is Kirk Whalum, someone I have known for many years. We actually played together, I played in his band and we have done shows together over the last few years, and we happen to be on the same record label, Rendezvous. In fact, we both have CD’s being released on the same day, August 28 th. When I started working on this record two years ago, he was one person I knew for sure that I wanted on this record, so he was the first person I asked. I love composing a song with an artist in mind because you can really tailor things to how they perform and I think that this really shows off what Kirk can do, and hopefully shows what Brian Simpson can do, too. I also have Chuck Loeb as a guitarist and he plays an amazing solo. Dave Koz and Wayman Tisdale are both featured on the same song. A song I wrote for one of my kids, my daughter Fiona. It has turned into such a special song with the way Dave played and the way Wayman played. Neither one had heard what the other guy had played. It’s kind of the magic in which music is made now-a-days. I’m working in my studio, Wayman recorded his parts in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Dave did his track in LA, but I put it all together and it became a really special moment. One of my mentors, George Duke is also on this CD. Once again, amazing work from that guy. So, in a way I wanted to showcase the amazing abilities of my friends on this CD. Also, something I pride myself on is coming up with good songs. I really spent the two full years since my last CD making sure that the songs were strong enough to be on the CD. I think every song has a catchy melody and definitely some distinct moments with solos.

SJN: We understand you enjoy playing solos. Are there a lot of solos in “Above The Clouds”?

Brian: Oh yes, there are lots of solos. I try to make a solo that someone would want to transcribe, where it is so good that someone would want to write it out note for note to see what you did. That’s how I try to perform. A lot of jazz that you hear on the radio, the soloing isn’t really what matters. You’ve got to have a great song, great melody, and great production first, and if it happens to have a great solo, then that’s fine. But I don’t think that’s necessarily foremost in some people’s minds when they are making records. For myself, it is in the foremost of my mind and I will not let any of my songs go out until I am truly satisfied with what I played. The solo is the really special thing for me since I began listening to guys like George Benson and his early records. They were great songs, but it was the solo that blew me away! So I have tried to carry on the tradition of having great solos, and great songs.

SJN: Your second CD, “It’s All Good”, did very well, hitting #1.

Brian: That was a great feeling! A lot of people have asked me how it felt and if I was surprised when it went to #1. I have to tell them that I wasn’t really that surprised. From the inception I knew it sounded like a hit record. Every time I would add something or work on it with someone else, they would say, ‘Wow, that really is a hit song!’ So I always felt that it had the makings of a hit song. Once you release a song to radio, no one has any control. It’s on its own, so I was extremely happy to see it move up the charts. It’s an incredible feeling. Especially for myself, being more in the background for so many years, to actually have a song with my name on it moving up the charts, it’s an amazing feeling. But, I just felt that song deserved to be #1, so I have to say I was happy, but I wasn’t surprised.

SJN: You released your first CD, “Closer Still” in 1995. Why did you wait ten years to release your second?

Brian: Well, that’s a good question. I came up with a lot of excuses over those ten years. I started having kids, and I had to work harder than ever to support a family, and that meant spending a lot of time touring, which means I’m not spending time in the studio and writing. Honestly, during those ten years, I did do a lot of writing and there are a couple of songs that ended up on this project that were written in that ten year period. It’s a matter of timing. I guess the time was not right. I didn’t have a record deal, so sometimes it’s hard to get motivated to get a project done without a record label behind you. I wear a lot of hats as it is, as artist, producer, songwriter, and ultimately, this record was financed by me, as well. It takes a lot to get a record done and I really had to learn time management to make it happen. With three kids, I’m driving them to school! I’m the chauffer in the morning and the afternoon when I am home. But, you know now I think I’ve got it together where I can be a good dad and still be an artist that can produce a record!

SJN: We understand that you are the Musical Director for Dave Koz, as well as several of the cruises. Please tell us what that job entails?

Brian: As Musical Director for Dave Koz, I basically organize all things musical for the tour. I help with the arrangement of the music, if we have new songs, I will have charts written for the musicians and I will rehearse the musicians on that. Most recorded songs just fade out, but we have to come up with an ending when you’re going to perform live, so that’s all part of this job. We will change keys of songs a lot of times to make it more interesting for the audience. Many times we are making melodies of his old songs.

As far as the cruises go, yes, I am Musical Director for Dave Koz and Friends at Sea that goes out in November and also the Smooth Jazz Cruise, hosted by Wayman Tisdale that leaves in January. That is quite an undertaking because I am in charge of arranging music for at least 15 or 16 artists that come on the cruise. That means we have two entire bands that will back up eight artists each. If you have eight artists and they do about an hour of music, that’s 80 songs for each band to learn. So, I have to collect all that music, decide which artists are going to play with which band. Then we have a week to rehearse before the cruise starts. I have to arrange the schedules with the bands and the artists, so it is quite an undertaking.

SJN: You have been a sideman for some of the best artists in the business. Which artists do you consider to have influenced you the most?

Brian: The artists that I have worked with who have influenced me the most would most definitely be George Duke because we play the same instrument, we have a lot in common musically, and I spent so many years working with him. The other major influence would be Koz, who I’ve worked with for a decade. What’s great about Dave is I love the way he connects with the audience and his work ethic is amazing. He’s quite a perfectionist and the results are plain to see in how he operates. He is one of, if not, the most successful people in Smooth Jazz. He’s definitely a good role model!

SJN: You have worked with a lot of artists; tell us one of your favorite touring stories?

Brian: Every time you go on a tour, it’s like family. I have been so fortunate that I am at a level where there’s no people that we go on the road with that we don’t like being around. They really become part of your family, the people I work with. But, I’ll say that some of the more interesting things, when I worked with Janet Jackson back in 1995, just the sheer size of the audience we played for was overwhelming. We played in Australia for four or five nights straight with an audience of 12,000 people every night, and screaming so loud, I needed earplugs for the audience, not for the music! That’s quite a feeling. On the downside, you walk on stage and it’s such a massive shell! Ultimately, it’s intimacy. I love playing in jazz clubs and for this kind of music that is the ultimate experience because it’s the kind of music that has subtleties and you are going to miss those. The bigger the venue is the more you are going to miss.

SJN: Have you done any interesting session work or projects lately?

Brian: I did a solo for Everette Harp which will be on his new CD. I’m very excited about that, Everette and I are old friends. He actually played on my first CD. We have known each other since we both moved to LA back in the mid-eighties. We have a long history together!

SJN: Do you have any far reaching plans as to where you want to go in your life & career?

Brian: As of now, I like the direction things are moving. I am just releasing a second CD, and I plan on releasing a third. I just hope that the success of ‘It’s All Good’ continues with whatever follows. I definitely hope to do a lot more Brian Simpson shows. I spend most of my year touring with other artists. I have a couple of trips coming up. I am going to Japan with Eric Benet in September and I’m going back to Tokyo with Dave Koz ten days later. As wonderful as it is to tour with such great artists, it even better to do a Brian Simpson show. I only have a few coming up this year, I’m going to be in Huntington Beach with the BB Jazz Fest on September 8 and I will be in Atlanta doing a show for the jazz station there on September 15. It’s my goal to do more shows with my band.

SJN: On the personal side, we understand that you are married with three kids. Please tell us about your family?

Brian: I met my wife in Los Angeles while she was waitressing at a jazz club, what a surprise! I remember coming home from that gig and telling my roommate, who was in the band with me, that I was going to marry that girl. He said I was crazy! But, along came the three kids. I don’t know if any of them are going to be involved in music. They all take piano lessons. Now, all of them have a song named after them. On my first CD, I had a song named after my first daughter April, then ‘It’s All Good’, had a song, ‘Blues For Scott’, and this CD has ‘Fiona’s Song’, which I mentioned features Dave Koz and Wayman Tisdale. It maybe one of the top two tracks on the record, it really has turning into a great song!

SJN: How old are your kids now?

Brian: April is 16, Fiona is 11, and little Scott is 7.

SJN: How do you spend your leisure time?

Brian: Well, what little I could call leisure time I spend with the kids riding bikes; that’s what my wife and I do for fun.

SJN: Do you have any hobbies, outside of music?

Brian: Honestly, it’s all music. If I had any time for some kind of hobby, it would involve music in some way. Because, when I’m not working with it, I do enjoy listening to it. So, I would say if I had spare time I would listen to music.

SJN: Thank you so much for spending some time with us.

Find more photos on the Dave Koz and Friends page

Find out more about Brian at www.briansimpson.com

Smooth JazzNotes