Blake Aaron
Encyclopedia
Blake Aaron is a guitarist
, composer
, recording artist and radio
show host.
s as Philip Bailey
(Earth, Wind & Fire
), Bobby Womack
and Carlos Santana
(Womack-Save the Children), The Gap Band, Lakeside
, Dynasty
, The Drifters
, The Coasters
, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Joe Houston
, Mary Wells
, Billy Bass
, Bernie Worrell
, Fish (Fishbone
), producer Bill Laswell
, Hiroshima
, David Benoit, Najee
, Eric Marienthal
, Nelson Rangell
, Marion Meadows
, Ricky Lawson
, Steve Reid's
Bamboo Forest, Kuh Ledesma
, and Gloria Trevi
.
-based session guitarist
, TV and film composer and has been the guitarist
and/or composed for such television shows and films as MADtv
where he was the show's guitarist for 14 years and co-composed the show's latest theme, Half Past Dead 2
, (Steven Seagal
) Super Dave Osborne
(Spike TV), co-composed the show's latest theme, Chocolate News
(Comedy Central
), The Next Best Thing
(ABC), The Starlet
(w/Faye Dunaway
) (UPN), 10-8 (ABC), The Jamie Kennedy Experiment
(WB), Gary and Mike (UPN), The Ben Stiller Show
(FOX), Sunday Night Comics (FOX)
, With Every Touch (2001), included guest appearances by Eric Marienthal
and David Benoit. Three singles from this CD stayed in the Top 50 on the Gavin/SmoothJazz.com charts for 8 weeks each.
"She's So Fine," the first single from his second album, Bringin' It Back (2004), moved Blake into the forefront of smooth jazz
by remaining in the Top 30 on the Radio and Records charts for 8 straight weeks. Two of the sophomore effort's singles reached a spot in the Top 100 of the year on the R&R charts.
In 2007, Blake recorded and released his 3rd Innervision Records
CD, DESIRE. Singles included "Bumpin' on the Wes Side," and "Desire," The DESIRE CD was in the Top 20 on the Radio and Records charts for 15 weeks, and #1 on the Indie Charts for 20 weeks.
Blake Aaron's DESIRE CD has received international airplay on stations such as KTWV
The Wave Los Angeles
, WQCD
New York
, KIFM
San Diego, KKSF
San Francisco, WNUA
Chicago
, KWJZ Seattle, WLOQ
Orlando
, 105.7 "The Oasis" Las Vegas
, KJCD
Denver, WJZZ
Atlanta, WMAL-FM, Washington D.C.
. Many affiliate stations are broadcasting the Blake Aaron Radio Show including KSBR
/Mission Viejo, KIHT
- HD3 St. Louis, WVSU
/Birmingham
, Solar Radio (Satellite radio in the UK and Western Europe
), AmbianceJazzOnline.com, Jazz-City.com, CitySoundsRadio.com, WavJazz.net, SmoothJazzExpressions.com, Smooth Jazz Beach Radio, KSBR.com, OhZone.com (Taiwan
) and JazzMatrix.com.
The Blake Aaron Radio Show is a musical interview live radio show in an artist to artist format. The show features live music
and has had such guests as, Bill Medley
(The Righteous Bros.), Craig Chaquico
, Boney James
, Neal Schon
(Journey
), Peter White
, Najee, Hiroshima, Mindi Abair
, Spencer Day
, Chieli Minucci
, Paul Jackson Jr., Ricky Lawson, Evelyn Champagne King, Freddie Fox
, Freddie Washington
, Caleb Quaye
(Elton John
), Jessy J., Jackiem Joyner
, UNam, and Nils
.
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, recording artist and radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
show host.
Collaborations
Aaron has recorded and/ or performed with such artists, composers, and musicianMusician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
s as Philip Bailey
Philip Bailey
Philip Irvin Bailey is an American R&B, soul, gospel and funk singer, songwriter, percussionist and actor, best known as one of the longtime members of Earth, Wind & Fire. Together with Verdine White, B. David Whitworth, and Ralph Johnson he forms the heart of the current EWF line-up on...
(Earth, Wind & Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire is an American soul and R&B band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1969 by Verdine and Maurice White. Also known as EWF, the band has won six Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards. They have been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of...
), Bobby Womack
Bobby Womack
Robert Dwayne "Bobby" Womack is an American singer-songwriter and musician. An active recording artist since the early 1960s where he started his career as the lead singer of his family musical group The Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guitarist, Womack's career has spanned more than 40...
and Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
(Womack-Save the Children), The Gap Band, Lakeside
Lakeside (band)
Lakeside is a funk band, best known for their 1980 number one R&B hit, "Fantastic Voyage."-Formation and early years:In early 1969, The Nomads, a singing quartet consisting of lead singer Mark Wood; Tiemeyer McCain; Tony White; and Brian Marbury, met the Montereys, a band that featured Stephen...
, Dynasty
Dynasty (band)
Dynasty was an American R&B band, based in Los Angeles, California, created by producer and SOLAR Records label head Dick Griffey and Leon Sylvers III. The band was known for their dance/pop numbers during the late 1970s and 1980s...
, The Drifters
The Drifters
The Drifters are a long-lived American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group with a peak in popularity from 1953 to 1963, though several splinter Drifters continue to perform today. They were originally formed to serve as Clyde McPhatter's backing group in 1953...
, The Coasters
The Coasters
The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group that had a string of hits in the late 1950s. Beginning with "Searchin'" and "Young Blood", their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting and producing team of Leiber and Stoller...
, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Joe Houston
Joe Houston
Joe Houston is an American tenor saxophonist who played jazz and rhythm and blues.-Biography:...
, Mary Wells
Mary Wells
Mary Esther Wells was an American singer who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s...
, Billy Bass
Billy Bass Nelson
William "Billy Bass" Nelson is a U.S. musician, who was the original bassist for Funkadelic. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic....
, Bernie Worrell
Bernie Worrell
George Bernard "Bernie" Worrell, Jr. is an American keyboardist and composer best known as a founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic and for his work with Talking Heads. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic...
, Fish (Fishbone
Fishbone
Fishbone is a U.S. alternative rock band formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California, which plays a fusion of ska, punk rock, funk, hard rock and soul. Critics have noted of the band: "Fishbone was one of the most distinctive and eclectic alternative rock bands of the late '80s...
), producer Bill Laswell
Bill Laswell
Bill Laswell is an American bassist, producer and record label owner....
, Hiroshima
Hiroshima (band)
Hiroshima is an American jazz fusion/smooth jazz band formed in 1974 by Sansei Japanese American Dan Kuramoto , Peter Hata , June Kuramoto , Johnny Mori , Dave Iwataki and Danny Yamamoto...
, David Benoit, Najee
Najee
Jerome Najee Rasheed , known professionally as Najee, is an urban jazz saxophonist and flautist.He attended New England Conservatory of Music in Boston where he studied with George Russell and Jaki Byard....
, Eric Marienthal
Eric Marienthal
Eric Marienthal is a Los Angeles-based contemporary saxophonist best known for his work in the jazz, jazz fusion, smooth jazz, and pop genres....
, Nelson Rangell
Nelson Rangell
Nelson Rangell is an American velvet-smooth jazz musician and composer originally from Castle Rock, Colorado. Although Rangell is known for his work with the tenor, alto, and soprano saxophone, his primary instrument is the piccolo flute, which he began playing at the age of 15...
, Marion Meadows
Marion Meadows
Marion Meadows is an American tenor saxophonist, soprano saxophonist, composer, and smooth jazz recording artist of Native American, African American and Caucasian descent. Meadows has released a total of 9 albums to date.-Upbringing:...
, Ricky Lawson
Ricky Lawson
- Overview :Ricky Lawson started playing drums at the age of 16. He would borrow is Uncle's drum set, and would carry it to his house all the way across town via the Detroit Buses that ran in the town. In high school Lawson played in his high school jazz band, which consisted of only 5 members...
, Steve Reid's
Steve Reid (musician)
Steve Reid is an American jazz percussionist, best known as a founding member of The Rippingtons.Reid began playing as a session musician in the 1970s, playing on hundreds of recordings. Reid cofounded The Rippingtons in 1987 and also played with Supertramp in 1987-88. In 1993, 1995, and 1997 he...
Bamboo Forest, Kuh Ledesma
Kuh Ledesma
Kuh Ledesma is a popular Filipino pop and jazz singer. She is known in the Philippines as the "Pop Diva". Kuh Ledesma has been performing for 25 years in the music industry which encompasses more than 300 concerts, numerous awards in the Philippines, and 18 albums in the Philippine recording...
, and Gloria Trevi
Gloria Trevi
Gloria Trevi is a Mexican pop-rock singer-songwriter. She was described as the "Supreme Diva of the Mexican Pop" by the music channel VH1 and sold over 20 million records.-Biography:...
.
As a composer
Aaron is also an LALos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
-based session guitarist
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
, TV and film composer and has been the guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
and/or composed for such television shows and films as MADtv
MADtv
MADtv is an American sketch comedy television series. It licensed the name and logo of Mad, but otherwise had no connection with the humor magazine outside the animated Spy vs. Spy and Don Martin cartoon shorts and images of Alfred E. Neuman that the show featured during the late 1990s. Its first...
where he was the show's guitarist for 14 years and co-composed the show's latest theme, Half Past Dead 2
Half Past Dead 2
Half Past Dead 2 is a straight to DVD 2007 action film and is a sequel to the 2002 Steven Seagal and Morris Chestnut action movie, Half Past Dead. Among the main cast of the original movie, only Kurupt returns to reprise his role of Twitch.-Plot:...
, (Steven Seagal
Steven Seagal
Steven Frederic Seagal is an American action film star, producer, writer, martial artist, guitarist and reserve deputy sheriff. A 7th-dan black belt in Aikido, Seagal began his adult life as an Aikido instructor in Japan...
) Super Dave Osborne
Super Dave Osborne
Super Dave Osborne is a character created and played by comedian Bob Einstein. He is a naive but optimistic stuntman who is frequently injured when his stunts go wrong.-Appearance history:...
(Spike TV), co-composed the show's latest theme, Chocolate News
Chocolate News
Chocolate News is a satirical news show hosted and head written by David Alan Grier with an emphasis on African American culture. The show aired on Wednesday nights at 10:30 PM on Comedy Central as a lead-in to their other news satire programs, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert...
(Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
), The Next Best Thing
The Next Best Thing (TV series)
The Next Best Thing: Who Is the Greatest Celebrity Impersonator? was an American reality TV series competition of celebrity impersonators with a grand prize of $100,000. It was hosted by Michele Merkin. The judges were Jeffrey Ross, Elon Gold and Lisa Ann Walter; ultimately, the winner was chosen...
(ABC), The Starlet
The Starlet
The Starlet is a reality television program on The WB.Ten young actresses lived together in a home formerly owned by Marilyn Monroe, while competing in a series of acting challenges for the chance to win a role on the WB drama One Tree Hill and a management contract with 3 Arts Entertainment.Hosted...
(w/Faye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway is an American actress.Dunaway won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Network after receiving previous nominations for the critically acclaimed films Bonnie and Clyde and Chinatown...
) (UPN), 10-8 (ABC), The Jamie Kennedy Experiment
The Jamie Kennedy Experiment
The Jamie Kennedy Experiment is a half-hour-long American hidden camera/practical joke reality television series that was broadcast on The WB...
(WB), Gary and Mike (UPN), The Ben Stiller Show
The Ben Stiller Show
The Ben Stiller Show was the name of two sketch comedy television shows that aired on MTV from 1990 to 1991, and then on Fox from September 1992 to January 1993. The Fox show starred Ben Stiller, Andy Dick, Janeane Garofalo and Bob Odenkirk. Character actor John F. O'Donohue also appeared in every...
(FOX), Sunday Night Comics (FOX)
Solo music career
The debut release from Blake Aaron on Innervision RecordsInnervision Records
Innervision Records was an independent record label distributed by CBS Records. The label was established around 1981 by Mark Dean and Shamsi Ahmed which included Wham! on their artist roster, who scored four top-ten hits while signed to Innervision...
, With Every Touch (2001), included guest appearances by Eric Marienthal
Eric Marienthal
Eric Marienthal is a Los Angeles-based contemporary saxophonist best known for his work in the jazz, jazz fusion, smooth jazz, and pop genres....
and David Benoit. Three singles from this CD stayed in the Top 50 on the Gavin/SmoothJazz.com charts for 8 weeks each.
"She's So Fine," the first single from his second album, Bringin' It Back (2004), moved Blake into the forefront of smooth jazz
Smooth jazz
Smooth jazz is a genre of music that grew out of jazz fusion and is influenced by R&B, funk, rock, and pop music styles ....
by remaining in the Top 30 on the Radio and Records charts for 8 straight weeks. Two of the sophomore effort's singles reached a spot in the Top 100 of the year on the R&R charts.
In 2007, Blake recorded and released his 3rd Innervision Records
Innervision Records
Innervision Records was an independent record label distributed by CBS Records. The label was established around 1981 by Mark Dean and Shamsi Ahmed which included Wham! on their artist roster, who scored four top-ten hits while signed to Innervision...
CD, DESIRE. Singles included "Bumpin' on the Wes Side," and "Desire," The DESIRE CD was in the Top 20 on the Radio and Records charts for 15 weeks, and #1 on the Indie Charts for 20 weeks.
Blake Aaron's DESIRE CD has received international airplay on stations such as KTWV
KTWV
KTWV is a commercial radio station located in Los Angeles, California, broadcasting to the Los Angeles, Orange County, Riverside–San Bernardino and Ventura County areas on 94.7 FM. KTWV airs a hybrid Smooth AC radio format branded as "94.7 The Wave"...
The Wave Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, WQCD
WQCD
WEMP , known on-air as FM News 101.9, is an all-news radio station located in New York City. WEMP is owned by Merlin Media LLC, and has studios located in New York's West Village neighborhood. WEMP's transmitter is located at the Empire State Building...
New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, KIFM
KIFM
KIFM is a commercial Smooth Jazz/Urban AC/Soft AC music radio station located in San Diego, California, broadcasting on 98.1 FM branded as 98.1 Smooth FM-History:...
San Diego, KKSF
KKSF
KKSF, known as "Oldies 103.7", is a classic hits radio station in San Francisco, California. The station is owned and operated by Clear Channel Communications.-History:...
San Francisco, WNUA
WNUA
WNUA is a Spanish Pop radio station located in Chicago, Illinois, owned and operated by Clear Channel Communications and branded as Mega 95.5.-History:...
Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, KWJZ Seattle, WLOQ
WHKQ
WHKQ is a radio station, playing Spanish CHR music, under the name "KQ 103". WHKQ licensed to Windermere, Florida and is serving the Orlando area.-History:...
Orlando
Orlando
Orlando is a major city in the U.S. state of Florida.Orlando may also refer to-Places:* in Florida** Orlando, a major city** Greater Orlando, the 27th-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, 105.7 "The Oasis" Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
, KJCD
KJCD
KKFN is a sports radio station serving the Denver-Boulder area. The Lincoln Financial Media outlet broadcasts with an effective radiated power of 91 kW and is licensed to Longmont, Colorado.-104.3 history:...
Denver, WJZZ
WJZZ
WJZZ is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to serve North Salem, New York, USA. The station is owned by Foothills Public Radio, Inc. The station will air a jazz music and community radio format.-Call sign:...
Atlanta, WMAL-FM, Washington D.C.
The Blake Aaron Radio Show
In 2008, Blake Aaron began hosting an internationally syndicated weekly radio show recorded live from host station KSBRKSBR
KSBR is a non-commercial radio station in Mission Viejo, California, broadcasting to the Orange County, California, area on 88.5 FM. KSBR airs a jazz music and smooth jazz format branded as "Jazz-FM" along with news programming.- History :...
. Many affiliate stations are broadcasting the Blake Aaron Radio Show including KSBR
KSBR
KSBR is a non-commercial radio station in Mission Viejo, California, broadcasting to the Orange County, California, area on 88.5 FM. KSBR airs a jazz music and smooth jazz format branded as "Jazz-FM" along with news programming.- History :...
/Mission Viejo, KIHT
KIHT
KIHT is an FM radio station often referred to by St. Louis area listeners as "Classic Hits KHITS 96".Music that is played on this station is classic hits from the 1970s and 1980s, with an occasional trip to the 1990s....
- HD3 St. Louis, WVSU
WVSU-FM
WVSU-FM is a non-commercial, listener-supported College radio station licensed to Birmingham, Alabama, and owned and operated by Samford University. The station broadcasts smooth jazz and other music programs, and it covers the university's intercollegiate athletic program. The station's...
/Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, Solar Radio (Satellite radio in the UK and Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
), AmbianceJazzOnline.com, Jazz-City.com, CitySoundsRadio.com, WavJazz.net, SmoothJazzExpressions.com, Smooth Jazz Beach Radio, KSBR.com, OhZone.com (Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
) and JazzMatrix.com.
The Blake Aaron Radio Show is a musical interview live radio show in an artist to artist format. The show features live music
Live Music
Live Music is a reggaeton company owned by DJ Giann.-Artists:* Jowell & Randy* Tony Lenta* Watussi* De La Ghetto* Guelo Star* Galante "El Emperador"-Producers:*DJ Blass*Dexter*Mr. Greenz*DJ Giann*Los Hitmen*Dirty Joe*ALX...
and has had such guests as, Bill Medley
Bill Medley
William Thomas Medley is an American singer and songwriter, best known as one half of The Righteous Brothers....
(The Righteous Bros.), Craig Chaquico
Craig Chaquico
Craig Chaquico is an American guitarist of Portuguese and Native American descent. He has had over thirty years of success in a variety of genres: in the 1970s with the post-Summer of Love Jefferson Starship, in that band's 1980s incarnation, Starship, and in the 1990s and 2000s as a...
, Boney James
Boney James
Boney James, is a saxophonist, songwriter and producer who popularized urban jazz...
, Neal Schon
Neal Schon
Neal George Joseph Schon is an American rock guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist best known for his work with the band Journey. He is the only member to have recorded on all of Journey's albums...
(Journey
Journey (band)
Journey is an American rock band formed in 1973 in San Francisco by former members of Santana. The band has gone through several phases; its strongest commercial success occurred between the 1978 and 1987, after which it temporarily disbanded...
), Peter White
Peter White (musician)
Peter White is a smooth jazz and jazz fusion guitarist. He also plays the accordion and the piano. His brother, Danny White, was one of the original members who formed the UK based band Matt Bianco.-Career:...
, Najee, Hiroshima, Mindi Abair
Mindi Abair
Mindi Abair is an American smooth jazz saxophonist with a strong Top-40 pop music background. Mindi has toured and/or recorded with the Backstreet Boys, Duran Duran, Mandy Moore, Josh Groban, Adam Sandler, Keb' Mo', Lalah Hathaway, Lee Ritenour, Teena Marie, John Tesh, Bobby Lyle, Jonathan Butler,...
, Spencer Day
Spencer Day
Spencer Day is a modern jazz singer and songwriter who has released three albums: Introducing Spencer Day , Movie of Your Life , and Vagabond .- Early life :...
, Chieli Minucci
Chieli Minucci
Chieli Minucci is an American contemporary jazz guitarist, composer, music producer, and arranger of Italian descent.Minucci was born in New York City and is primarily known as the leader of the Grammy-nominated contemporary jazz group Special EFX...
, Paul Jackson Jr., Ricky Lawson, Evelyn Champagne King, Freddie Fox
Freddie Fox
Frederick Samuel "Freddie" Fox was an English football goalkeeper....
, Freddie Washington
Freddie Washington
Freddie Washington was an American jazz pianist.Washington moved to California around the year 1918, where he joined Kid Ory's band in 1921. He recorded with Ory's band, and it is for his role in these sessions that he is primarily known. He led his own band in the 1920s and 1930s, in addition to...
, Caleb Quaye
Caleb Quaye
Caleb Quaye , is an English Afro-European rock guitarist and studio musician best known for his work in the 1960s and 1970s with Elton John, Mick Jagger, Pete Townshend, Paul McCartney and Hall & Oates...
(Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
), Jessy J., Jackiem Joyner
Jackiem Joyner
Jackiem Joyner , also known by the stage name Lil Man Soul is a saxophonist and flute player from Norfolk, Virginia, United States. He has worked in contemporary jazz, gospel and world music.-Biography:...
, UNam, and Nils
Nils
Nils is a Scandinavian given name, a chiefly Norwegian and Swedish variant of Niels, cognate to Nicholas and Neil. As with Niels, its pet form is Nisse...
.