For over two decades, songwriter, arranger, producer, and keyboardist extraordinaire Philippe Saisse has maintained a thriving solo career while simultaneously collaborating on a prolific output of music. He has worked in various creative capacities with a whos who of current pop, r&b, and jazz musicians, including David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, Al DiMeola, and Chaka Kahn, to name a few. With the debut of the Philippe Saisse Trio release, The Body and Soul Sessions, Saisse is poised to become the breakout jazz artist of
the year. The album is extremely accessible while also completely innovative a truly laudable accomplishment.The story behind the stateside release of The Body and Soul Sessions is in itself extraordinary. It begins with Saisse pulling favors and raising enough money to cut the record in his basement studio in Scarsdale, NY. This unorthodox setup
allowed Philippe to make the album strictly on his own terms, never having to compromise his artistic vision. The album was then licensed to independent Japanese label Polystar. His trio, featuring Scooter Warner on drums and David Finck on bass, had already gained a substantial following in Japan due to two cover EPs entitled My Favorite Songs I & II, and The Body and Soul Sessions was set to be another overseas success.It was an import CD of The Body and Soul Sessions that triggered a word-of-mouth sensation in the States, securing unsolicited major radio play and frenetic buzz from jazz stations across the country, beginning with WQCD in New York. WQCD Program Director Blake Lawrence told his listeners, Im playing a Japanese import because it sounds like whats missing. Saisse soon received requests from other stations and DJ's who wanted copies, and began selling the import CD on his website. Within weeks, labels were percolating with interest. Ultimately Rendezvous Entertainment, saxophonist Dave Kozs chart-topping label, embraced the project, signed Saisse, and, to meet demand, rushed to release the record on April 18, 2006. The relationship with Rendezvous was quick to bear fruit as Do It Again shot into the Top 10 of the National Contemporary Jazz Radio Chart before the album had even hit stores.
New Yorks WQCD is spot on with its assessment as The Body and Soul Sessions is in many ways a comfort record. Saisse believes that music is all about communicating and being sensitive to the kind of world that we live in. He sees fans of contemporary jazz as seeking a familiar, emotionally accessible experience due to the current political climate and perpetually destabilizing sense of safety and home. And he delivers exactly what were craving a refreshingly new intimacy with songs we already value in our collective conscience.Instead of tackling the familiar jazz standards he believes have already been immortalized by other players, he puts a contemporary spin on an old idea, looking to this generations pop classics for material. His treatments of Steely Dans Do It Again (the first single), the Beatles Lady Madonna, and Bill Withers Lovely Day, to name a few, maintain the pop tempos and keys of the originals while also providing a new sonic experience.
Saisse pushes the envelope further by including Brazilian legend Jorge Bens Constant Rain, along with two numbers originally performed by French maverick Serge Gainsbourg. The intimate vibe courtesy of the home studio recording allows the Philippe Saisse Trio to let their hair down and make each song their own, uniting seemingly disparate songs seamlessly on one album.
Saisses auspicious beginnings prepared him for a long and fulfilling career traversing genres and continents. Born in Marseilles and raised in Paris, Philippe Saisse studied at the Paris National Conservatory where he focused on piano, percussion, theory, and composition. The Paul Winter Scholarship brought him to the States for the first time, where he honed his composition skills and mastered the vibraphone with his idol Gary Burton at Bostons Berklee College of Music. He eventually shifted his focus to piano and keyboards, much to the heartbreak of his Berklee mentor, performing in Al DiMeolas band. From there the doors kept opening.For the past 20 years, Saisse has trotted the globe while continuing to heighten his popularity in his native France. He acted as songwriter and producer for poet and jazz artist Claude Nougaros, Nougayork, served as resident producer for a season of the television series Popstar, Frances version of American Idol, and scored movies and series for French cable television network ARTE. In February 2005, the French Minister of Culture and Communications bestowed upon him the title of Chevalier des Arts et Lettres, one of Frances most distinguished honors.As a solo artist Saisse registered resounding plaudits for his previous outings Halfway Till Dawn (1999), Next Voyage (1997), Masques (1995), Dream Catcher (1994) and Valerian, his first solo release on Windham Hill in 1988. The musical risks he took with the African-flavored world beat/electronic dance hit, La Vie, co-written by and featuring acclaimed Benin-born singer Angelique Kidjo, supplied him a bona fide hit.Saisses talent lies not only in his playing but also in his understanding of his projects from more than one perspective. Through donning a variety of hats, and collaborating with such stalwarts as David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, Chaka Khan, the B-52s, Rod Stewart, David Sanborn, Nile Rodgers, Phil Ramone, Al Jarreau, Narada Michael Walden, Al Di Meola, and Gato Barbieri, he has gained unique insight into his own musical goals. With the help of co-producer and close friend Goh Hotoda, Saisse has crafted The Body and Soul Sessions into an album that truly resonates with the listener and, in doing so, achieves his original objective, paying homage to Ramsey Lewiss classic record, The In Crowd.So whats next for this veteran talent and musicians musician? Aside from being commissioned by Phil Ramone to write an orchestral work in honor of Berklees 60th anniversary this year, a national tour is being planned with label-mates, Marc Antoine and Michael Lington. Meanwhile, the single Do It Again continues to climb the US radio charts and initial critical reaction to his latest opus has been glowing. For Saisse, there is no limit to what projects hell take on, what boundaries hell break, and what genres hell subvert.To my loyal fans: thank you for visiting my myspace.com page! My new album, Philippe Saisse Trio, The Body And Soul Sessions , is available NOW! Please visit my website for more info and to order: www.philippesaisse.com
