Renowned Keyboardist Brian Simpson Releases, “Just What You Need” | LISTEN TO NEW MUSIC!

Speaking of groove …Brian Simpson’s bluesy and funky “D’Groove,” featuring saxophonist Gerald Albright, is a perfect example of the pianist’s flair for creating soulful buttery numbers stir the soul and move the feet! “Gerald Albright and I have been friends for many years and I was finally able to get him in the studio to make some musical history with me. When people hear his solo, there will be no mistaking who’s playing that tenor sax!” exclaims Simpson.  Just What You Need delivers with every note. A masterful composer, Brian Simpson either composed or co-wrote seven of the album’s ten tracks. The CD opens with the free spirited and jubilant “Wherever You Go.” The joyous interplay between Brian Simpson’s soaring piano lines and Jonathan Butler’s warm guitar riffs set the scene for an inviting musical foray. The opener was the first song that Simpson starting working on for the album and it was serendipitous that Butler, who recorded on his first album in 1995 joins him once again. “South African guitarist/vocalist Jonathan Butler is a dear friend. The funny thing about his performance was that my opportunity to record him occurred while we were on a tour together, so I ended up recording his guitar backstage in a dressing room on my laptop! Our friendship goes back to the early 90s when we were both working with George Duke so I was very excited to be able to feature him on this new release.” The album’s title track is a sensuous number that Simpson co-wrote with fellow keyboardist Michael Broenig, featuring tenorman Elan Trotman. “Whenever possible I enjoy showcasing an emerging artist,” shares Brian Simpson. “This time I’m featuring a great young saxophonist from Barbados named Elan Trotman. I think the listeners that are not familiar with him will appreciate the fact that he has such a unique sound, which is difficult to find in a jazz market so crowded with sax players! I absolutely love everything he played on my CD and can see he’s got quite a future in store.”
 
“What makes this CD different from my previous ones is that I collaborated with some new young composer/producers at the inception of the project. Nicholas Cole is the youngest of these composers (nineteen years old), and I was so happy with the songs we did together. I think I was able to make a CD that had my signature style yet also has the fresh spirit of these young jazz music producers.” Cole co-wrote three of the songs on the album including “Emerald City” and “A Love Like This.” “Emerald City” is an R&B flavored track which modulates in mood and key and features the trumpet of Ron King and serves up a robust and funky groove supported by bassist Alex Al and guitarist Darrell Crooks.  Al serves up that delectable bottom heavy groove on the song “A Love Like This,” which nearly sweeps you off your feet. Simpson says, “When you have a rhythm section that plays with the same groove you can feel it instantly and the result is quite powerful.” Other highlights on Just What You Need are the two beautiful ballads “Soul Embrace” and “In the Rain.” The latter showcases guitarist Marc Antoine, while “Soul Embrace” features Brian Simpson’s ethereal piano lines dancing about a gyrating rhythmic groove that gives way to a memorable melancholy guitar solo from Yarone Levy.
 
Not only does the musicianship on Just What You Need resonate but so does the pristine recording quality. Each special nuance of every instrument is carefully brought to life and illuminated in the mix and warmth of the recording. “I keep all instruments that I record on my CD’s as natural as possible, and that includes my piano,” confides Simpson. “When I’m recording some of the world’s greatest musicians I want to hear what they’re playing with the greatest fidelity.” Just What You Need features two delightful, surprising and imaginative re-workings of well-known songs from two different eras. The first is Antônio Carlos Jobim’s 1960s classic that spawned an entire movement,  “The Girl From Ipanama” and the 1994 hit “You Gotta Be” by British pop soul singer Des’ree. Simpson has long wanted to record Jobim’s iconic hit. “I’ve been dreaming about doing an all Bossa Nova CD for years. When I started this project I recorded “The Girl From Ipanema” kind of on a whim just to see how it turned out. Once I finished the basic tracks I got in my mind the idea of having Dave Koz play tenor sax on it, and thankfully that is exactly what happened. The result was something even better than I had imagined, so hopefully there will be more Bossa Nova in my recording future!” Captured by the allure of Ipanema, Simpson and company get shipwrecked and linger in the tropical heat with “Castaway.” Simpson’s languid piano riffs seem to saunter through the track while the sublime rhythm section (with keyboards augmented by Oliver Wendell, who co-wrote the song with Stanley Berger), blows the track along with their swinging steady groove.  On collaborating with his friends and contemporary jazz pioneers, Brian Simpson states, “My longest friendships in this business have been with Dave Koz and Marc Antoine. They have both made appearances on previous CDs of mine, and always deliver performances that far exceed my expectations.”

Hailing from Gurnee, Illinois, Brian always knew music would play center stage in his life. “Our house was filled with music. My older brother and sister both played instruments, and my brother’s rock band rehearsed in our living room every weekend. I never really considered any other lifestyle,” shares the keyboardist.  Simpson’s breakthrough as a solo artist began in 2005 with the #1 radio hit “It’s All Good.” 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. In 2007 Simpson released Above the Clouds, which delivered the memorable radio hits “What Cha Gonna Do?” (Top 10) and “Juicy” (Top 15).  After graduating from Northern Illinois University, Simpson relocated to Los Angeles where he quickly immersed himself in the local jazz scene.  Late night jazz sessions found him playing alongside everyone from saxophonists Everette Harp and Boney James to guitarist Norman Brown.
 
The free-spirited musician soon found himself taking a temporary leave of absence from the jazz scene, touring the world with pop divas Teena Marie, Sheena Easton and Janet Jackson.  His foray into the pop world didn’t end there; in January 1991, he co-wrote the #1 Pop hit “The First Time” by Surface, which conquered both the R&B and Adult Contemporary charts.  
 
Placing his success in pop aside, Brian Simpson has always been a working jazz musician.  He has toured with some of the greats of recent jazz history, including George Duke, Stanley Clarke, Larry Carlton, George Howard, Billy Cobham, and Gerald Albright.  Brian has been the musical director for jazz saxophonist Dave Koz for close to 20 years, and for close to a decade the Musical Director of the ambitious and highly popular “The Smooth Jazz Cruise.” Just What You Need follows on the heels of Brian Simpson’s 2010 recording South Beach, whose title track was a Top 5 hit.

Brian Simpson has delivered a gift to the world – his own musical oasis –with Just What You Need. He shares, “When I begin a CD project I’m attempting to create the same kind of magic that got me into this style of music in the first place. Where does this magic come from? For me it is both in the composition and in the gifts that each individual musician brings to the recording. My wish is that a person can listen to this CD and single out any particular instrument, concentrate on it, and then appreciate the beauty of what that individual musician is playing, and then the magic of all these individual musicians playing together…that’s what makes a ‘song’…that is when the magic begins.’’ Your magic carpet ride awaits. Hop on!