About Me
By Joan Bixby
Get ready for some smooth jazz peppered with a funky groove when Sunnie Paxson appears at the next SCJS meeting. She will perform songs from her new album, Groove Suite, which showcases her talents as a pianist, composer, arranger, and producer.
WFIT Program Director Todd Kennedy says Groove Suite, is one of the most requested jazz CDs at WFIT. "Sunnie’s keyboard playing is stylish yet she’s not afraid to turn up the funk when needed," Kennedy says. "Groove Suite, will definitely take Sunnie Paxson to the next level."
Raised in Philadelphia, Paxson was a 3-year old piano-playing prodigy when her grandmother insured that she was given piano lessons. After years of lessons her skills were honed by world-renowned French jazz pianist Bernard Peiffer, the Philadelphia College of Performing Arts, and Berklee College of Music. In the 80s she gravitated toward Atlantic City, where she soon had her own band. She also was a member of the Playboy Casino Orchestra and was musical director for many shows, most notably for legendary singer Billy Daniels.
By 1985 she grew weary of her life in the gambling town and began to contemplate her next professional step. That’s when she got lucky. "My dream was answered," she recalls, " when I got this phone call from Stanley." Legendary bassist Stanley Clarke unexpectedly contacted her and asked her to tour with him as his keyboardist. As she toured and recorded with Clarke’s band, her eyes were also opened to the thriving jazz climate of Los Angeles, Clarke’s home base.
After the initial tour Clarke influenced Paxson to move to Los Angeles, where there were more opportunities for her to find work as a composer. "I didn’t think it would happen," she says, " but it happened really quick." Paxson soon became one of a select group of session musicians called upon to write, arrange, produce, and perform in various media for artists, studios and advertisers. She also worked on several feature films with Clarke. Sunnie wrote and produced the title track for "Lambada the Forbidden Dance" and scored "Best Shots" and "My Boyfriends Back." She also worked on several feature films such as "Eddy," " The Book of Love," and "Love Kills" under Clarke's direction
For many years she enjoyed this lucrative work, her name bandied about among famous musicians, her compositions music to the ears of many, but her name was relatively unknown to the public. "Writing, producing, arranging and performing are all facets of the art of music that I love." Paxson says. "It’s like giving a party. You get to start from the bottom up."
When she found what she calls "the best job in town," a six-day-a-week gig at the Century Plaza Hotel, her name became better known. Five afternoons a week she led a jazz trio at cocktail hour, and on weekends she put together a quartet for dancing. The job afforded her the opportunity to meet many big-name musicians, including Michael Paulo, Al Jarreau’s saxophonist, who later joined her on recordings. By 1992, she was voted one of "Los Angeles’ Best Jazz Performers" in the Los Angeles Magazine. But nationwide, although many had heard her compositions in movies, on Fox Sports Net, ABC, CBS, NBC, Telemundo and Super Bowl shows, few recognized her name. That would soon change, however, when Paxson packed up and moved to Orlando, to record with Roadshow Music, a firm owned by her aunt and uncle Jane and Fred Frank.
After years of remaining in the background, Paxson has finally stepped out of the shadows and let her light shine. A few months ago she released her Groove Suite, CD with Stanley Clarke driving the funky beat of the hit single, ""Do It (‘Til You’re Satisfied)" and Larry Carlton helping to bring home, "The Stroll." This release marks the first time one of her CDs will be distributed to national markets. Paxson wrote or co-wrote nine of the 11 tracks on the CD.
John Mullen, Operations Manager for NYC radio station CD 101.9, christened Groove Suite's single, "Do It (‘Til You’re Satisfied)," the "Feel-Good Record of the Year."
Paxson has been in Orlando now for more than two years and she loves her life there. Since moving to Orlando Paxson has produced two solo albums, "Wild Soul" and "Groove Suite,," and released a gospel CD, "Stand Up America," featuring the "Voices of One" from Los Angeles. She is currently working on a new jazz CD and continues to perform as often as her schedule permits at local venues like WLOQ Central Park Jazz Jams, and the Grand Bohemian Hotel.
Paxson knows that her network of talented friends in the music industry has helped her enormously. She also knows that it has taken a lot of hard work to get where she is. "It’s pretty amazing the way my life has gone," she says, adding that she relies on her intuition, works really hard and believes in what she does. "Music is not just about the glamour of it all," she concludes. "It’s about a lot of meditation. You have to have a lot of honesty in your notes, and what you play, and what you write, and you have to be nice to the people because without your audience, you are nothing."
