Philippe Saisse
Encyclopedia
Philippe Saisse is a French Grammy Award
-nominated Smooth Jazz
and New Age music
keyboardist
, producer
and arranger
.
He was born in Marseille
and raised in Paris
. After studying at the Conservatoire de Paris
he won a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music
. He became the protege of Gary Burton
and debuted on Al Di Meola
's Splendido Hotel
. He also worked with Felicia Collins
and wrote for David Sanborn
. He has also worked in the alternative rock
, jazz fusion
and rock
world for David Bowie
, Chaka Khan
, Al Jarreau
, Paul King
, The Rolling Stones
and others.
Between 1988 and 1990 he performed as the regular house band keyboardist in The Sunday Night Band, during the two seasons that the highly acclaimed music performance program Sunday Night
ran on NBC
late-night television.
Saisse's 2008 solo album, At World's Edge
, was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album
. Although it did not reach the commercial success normally expected of an album boasting a cast of highly ranked musicians, it reunited Saisse with two old friends: bassist Pino Palladino
, and drummer Simon Phillips
. The three performers joined together as an instrumental rock/jazz fusion
trio ensemble, PSP or Phillips Saisse Palladino. Their debut album, PSP LIVE, on the C.A.R.E Music Group label (of Munich) and the Forest Records label has been supported by a minor tour of Europe from 2009 through February 2010, spotlighting the talents of each performer in the songs chosen for their set list. The trio finished up their tour in Japan at the end of March, 2010, having allowed Palladino time in February to honor his responsibilities as the touring bassist with The Who
, at the Super Bowl XLIV half-time show in the United States.
Saisse was a member of Dave Koz
& The Kozmos, the house band of The Emeril Lagasse Show
.
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-nominated 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 ....
and New Age music
New Age music
New Age music is music of various styles intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management or to create a peaceful atmosphere in their home or other environments, and is often...
keyboardist
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
, producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
and arranger
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
.
He was born in Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
and raised in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. After studying at the Conservatoire de Paris
Conservatoire de Paris
The Conservatoire de Paris is a college of music and dance founded in 1795, now situated in the avenue Jean Jaurès in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, France...
he won a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...
. He became the protege of Gary Burton
Gary Burton
Gary Burton is an American jazz vibraphonist.A true original on the vibraphone, Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the usual two-mallets. This approach caused Burton to be heralded as an innovator and his sound and technique are widely imitated...
and debuted on Al Di Meola
Al Di Meola
Al Di Meola is an acclaimed American jazz fusion and Latin guitarist, composer, and record producer of Italian origin. With a musical career that has spanned more than three decades, he has become respected as one of the most influential guitarists in jazz to date...
's Splendido Hotel
Splendido Hotel
Splendido Hotel is an album by Italian-American jazz fusion and Latin jazz guitarist Al Di Meola released in 1980 as a double LP, and later CD.-Track listing:All songs by Al Di Meola unless otherwise noted.#"Alien Chase On Arabian Desert"...
. He also worked with Felicia Collins
Felicia Collins
Felicia Collins is an American vocalist, guitarist and occasional percussionist, best known for her work on the CBS television program The Late Show with David Letterman, as part of the CBS Orchestra.She was born in New York City and grew up in Albany, New York.-Beginnings in music:While enrolled...
and wrote for David Sanborn
David Sanborn
David Sanborn is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album Taking Off in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school...
. He has also worked in the alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
, jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
and rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
world for David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan , frequently known as the Queen of Funk, is a 10-time Grammy Award winning American singer-songwriter who gained fame in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. While still a member of the group in 1978, Khan embarked on a successful solo career...
, Al Jarreau
Al Jarreau
Alwin "Al" Lopez Jarreau is a seven-time Grammy Award winning jazz singer.- Background :Jarreau was born in Milwaukee, the fifth of six children. His web site refers to Reservoir, Inc., the name of the street where he lived. His father was a Seventh-Day Adventist Church minister and singer, and...
, Paul King
Paul King (musician, MJ)
Paul King is an Irish singer, musician, VJ, and TV presenter.-Biography:Paul King was born in Galway, Ireland, but moved to Coventry, England with his parents at a young age....
, The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
and others.
Between 1988 and 1990 he performed as the regular house band keyboardist in The Sunday Night Band, during the two seasons that the highly acclaimed music performance program Sunday Night
Sunday Night
Sunday Night, later named Michelob Presents Night Music, was a late-night television show which aired for two seasons between 1988 and 1990. The show featured performers in a wide variety of musical genres but was particularly known as a showcase for jazz and electric music. It was hosted by Jools...
ran on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
late-night television.
Saisse's 2008 solo album, At World's Edge
At World's Edge
At World's Edge is the ninth album by jazz keyboardist Philippe Saisse. The 2009 release was Saisse's first on Koch Records. It was produced by Saisse and Roy Hendrickson and was nominated for the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album....
, was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album
Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album
The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for works containing quality contemporary jazz performances...
. Although it did not reach the commercial success normally expected of an album boasting a cast of highly ranked musicians, it reunited Saisse with two old friends: bassist Pino Palladino
Pino Palladino
Pino Palladino is a Welsh bass guitarist who gained fame playing primarily rock and roll, blues rock, and rhythm and blues music, although he has been lauded for his ability to play most genres of popular music, including jazz, neo soul, and funk...
, and drummer Simon Phillips
Simon Phillips
Simon Phillips is an English jazz, pop and rock drummer.-Career:Phillips began to play professionally at the age of twelve in his father's Dixieland band for four years. He was then offered the chance to play in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar...
. The three performers joined together as an instrumental rock/jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
trio ensemble, PSP or Phillips Saisse Palladino. Their debut album, PSP LIVE, on the C.A.R.E Music Group label (of Munich) and the Forest Records label has been supported by a minor tour of Europe from 2009 through February 2010, spotlighting the talents of each performer in the songs chosen for their set list. The trio finished up their tour in Japan at the end of March, 2010, having allowed Palladino time in February to honor his responsibilities as the touring bassist with The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, at the Super Bowl XLIV half-time show in the United States.
Saisse was a member of Dave Koz
Dave Koz
Dave Koz is an American smooth jazz saxophonist.- Life and career :Dave Koz was born on March 27, 1963 in Encino, California....
& The Kozmos, the house band of The Emeril Lagasse Show
The Emeril Lagasse Show
The Emeril Lagasse Show is a weekly talk show starring Emeril Lagasse. It aired on Sundays at 5:00PM Eastern on Ion Television. The program originally premiered on April 18, 2010, airing at 8:00PM....
.
Partial discography
- PSP LIVE (2/2009)
- At World's Edge (04/15/2008)
- Halfway Til Dawn (09/13/1999)
- Halfway Til Dawn (03/03/2003)
- Next Voyage (08/1997)
- Miss you in New York (1995, with T-SquareT-Square (band)T-Square is a Japanese jazz fusion band that was formed in 1978. They became famous in the late 70s and early 80s along with other Japanese fusion bands. Its most successful lineup included guitarist Masahiro Andoh, bassist Mitsuru Sutoh, saxophonist, flutist and EWI player Takeshi Itoh,...
)- recorded piano parts in the album, as part of "T-Square and Friends". His playing can be heard on several of the tracks, including "Papillon (Cajan Style)".
- Valerian (10/25/1990)
External links
- Official site
- [ All Music]