Shane Simpson (musician)
Encyclopedia
Shane Simpson is a Canadian
jazz
guitarist from Ottawa
, Ontario
. Simpson is a musician
, guitar instructor, record producer
and audio engineer
. He performs technically demanding fingerstyle-jazz
compositions.
in Toronto.
in 2000 Simpson started the "Shane Simpson Band". Since early 2004, Simpson has toured with two-time Juno Award
winner David Francey
)
of blues
, jazz, flamenco
, and bluegrass music
. The song "Not Talking At All" was chosen by the members of Blue Rodeo to be included in a "Best of the New Music Network" compilation CD.
's music. Simpson and Bourdeau's jazzgrass guitar-duo playing was reviewed in the November 2004 copy of Acoustic Guitar
. C. Michael Bailey’s review of Wild Rice in AllAboutJazz.com calls it “...a damn fine recording of two very talented and very different guitar players.” Bailey calls Simpson’s playing “finesse-oriented”, and says that the album will appeal to fans of David Grisman, Bele Fleck, Tony Rice, Jerry Douglas, and Nickel Creek.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
guitarist from Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. Simpson is a musician
Musician
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....
, guitar instructor, record 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 audio engineer
Audio engineering
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
. He performs technically demanding fingerstyle-jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
compositions.
Musical career
Simpson attended the jazz program at Humber CollegeHumber College
Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning is a polytechnic college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Humber offers more than 150 programs including: bachelor’s degree, diploma, certificate, post-graduate certificate and apprenticeship programs, across 40 fields of study. Humber serves...
in Toronto.
in 2000 Simpson started the "Shane Simpson Band". Since early 2004, Simpson has toured with two-time Juno Award
Juno Award
The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...
winner David Francey
David Francey
David Francey is a Canadian folk singer-songwriter. Born in 1954 in Ayrshire, Scotland, Francey immigrated to Canada with his family at age 12. After spending much of his life doing labour such as carpentry, he began a career in folk music, quickly making a name for himself on the folk festival...
)
Debut album
The band's debut album "Sketches", which was a fusionFusion (music)
A fusion genre is music that combines two or more styles. For example, rock and roll originally developed as a fusion of blues, gospel and country music. The main characteristics of fusion genres are variations in tempo, rhythm, i a sometimes the use of long musical "journeys" that can be divided...
of blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, jazz, flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
, and bluegrass music
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
. The song "Not Talking At All" was chosen by the members of Blue Rodeo to be included in a "Best of the New Music Network" compilation CD.
Second album
Simpson's second release, "More Electric" appeared on the television broadcast on Roger’s Television “Front Row Centre.” The where song "Nowhere Near" became one of the 16 winning songs in Canada to appear in Canadian Music Magazine's "Great Canadian Talent Search." Stacey Board’s review of “more electric” in musesmuse.com praises Simpson’s “versatile guitar playing” and says that he “...did an excellent job of self-producing this CD”, which has “...captured great energy in each song.” However, Board states that “[h]is lyrics though are lost on me. They are kind of free form imagery that obviously connect for him emotionally but don’t connect for me.”Third album
In 2004, Paul Bourdeau recorded the album "Wild Rice", which was inspired by Tony RiceTony Rice
Tony Rice is an American acoustic guitarist and bluegrass musician. He is considered one of the most influential acoustic guitar players in bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, newgrass and acoustic jazz.Rice spans the range of acoustic music, from traditional bluegrass to jazz-influenced New...
's music. Simpson and Bourdeau's jazzgrass guitar-duo playing was reviewed in the November 2004 copy of Acoustic Guitar
Acoustic Guitar (magazine)
Acoustic Guitar is a monthly magazine published in the United States since July/August 1990 by String Letter Publishing. The magazine offers information related to acoustic guitars for players of all levels from beginners to teachers. Each issue includes a half dozen or so songs with notation and...
. C. Michael Bailey’s review of Wild Rice in AllAboutJazz.com calls it “...a damn fine recording of two very talented and very different guitar players.” Bailey calls Simpson’s playing “finesse-oriented”, and says that the album will appeal to fans of David Grisman, Bele Fleck, Tony Rice, Jerry Douglas, and Nickel Creek.
Recent activities
In 2006, Ottawa Life Magazine included Shane Simpson in the magazine’s “Ottawa’s top 50" list for 2006, a list of the top fifty Ottawans in the fields of “medicine, law, business, the arts, writers, architects, politics and media” (of which only the top ten are numbered). The paragraph on Simpson called him “The Fred Astaire of the Fretboard” and states that his articles on music and guitar transcriptions appear regularly in leading guitar publications.Discography
- Sketches (2001)
- More Electric (2002)
- Wild Rice (2004)
- The First Set - Live From Folk Alley (2006 as guitarist for David Francey)
- Hi-Phi (2006 performance with James Cohen)