Philippe Saisse is a French

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

multi-instrumentalist, composer, record producer, and arranger.

Career

He was born in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

and raised in Paris. After studying at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

he won a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music. He was half of the duo Doppelganger with Randy Fredrix; a video for their song "Communication Breakdown" was added to MTV's playlist in 1985. He became the protégé of

Gary Burton Gary Burton (born January 23, 1943) is an American jazz vibraphonist, composer, and educator. Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the prevailing two-mallet technique. This approach caused him to be he ...

and debuted on Al Di Meola's '' Splendido Hotel''. He also worked with Nile Rodgers and Felicia Collins in the album Outloud and wrote for

David Sanborn David William Sanborn (born July 30, 1945) 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 19 ...

. He has also worked in the

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

, jazz fusion and rock world for

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

, Chaka Khan, Al Jarreau,

Gato Barbieri Leandro "Gato" Barbieri (November 28, 1932 – April 2, 2016) was an Argentine jazz tenor saxophonist who rose to fame during the free jazz movement in the 1960s and is known for his Latin jazz recordings of the 1970s. His nickname, Gato, is Spa ...

, Paul King, and

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

. 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 The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

late-night television "Night Music" episodes No. 104 (1988), No. 113 (1989), No. 114 (1989), No. 121 (1989). Saisse's 2008 solo album, '' At World's Edge'', was nominated for a

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 (songs or albums) containing quality ...

. 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 Giuseppe Henry "Pino" Palladino (born 17 October 1957) is a Welsh musician, songwriter, and record producer. A prolific session bassist, he has played bass for acts such as The Who, the John Mayer Trio, Nine Inch Nails, Gary Numan, Jeff Beck ...

, and drummer Simon Phillips. The three performers joined together as an instrumental rock/jazz fusion trio ensemble PSP (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 are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

, at the

Super Bowl XLIV Super Bowl XLIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champions New Orleans Saints and the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Indianapolis Colts to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

half-time show in the United States. Saisse was a member of ''

Dave Koz David Stephen Koz (born March 27, 1963) is an American smooth jazz saxophonist, composer, record producer, and radio personality based in California. Early life Dave Koz was born in Encino, California, to Jewish parents: Norman, a dermatologis ...

& The Kozmos'', the house band of ''

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. The announcement of the show was made by ...

''. In 2014, he worked with Japanese drummer Senri Kawaguchi on her second album ''Buena Vista'' and in 2016 he worked with her again, composing many tracks for and playing in her album ''Cider ~ Hard and Sweet'', which was released in December, 2016. In 2017, they performed together with Armand Sabal-Lecco at the 2017 Tokyo Jazz festival before touring a number of locations round Japan, including one at Motion Blue in Tokyo which won the Nissan Jazz Japan Award 2017 for Best Live Performance.

Discography

* ''Valerian'' (Windham Hill, 1988) * ''Storyteller'' (Philips, 1991) * ''Dream Catcher'' (Georges Mary, 1994) * ''Masques'' (Windham Hill, 1995) * ''NeXT Voyage'' (Windham Hill, 1997) * ''Halfway 'Til Dawn'' (GRP, 1999) * ''The Body and Soul Sessions'' (Rendezvous, 2006) * '' At World's Edge'' (Koch, 2009) * ''On the Level'' (Bander-Log, 2017)

References

External links

Official site
*

All Music AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saisse, Philippe 1962 births Living people Berklee College of Music alumni Conservatoire de Paris alumni French jazz pianists French male pianists Smooth jazz pianists Musicians from Marseille French jazz composers Male jazz composers Windham Hill Records artists 21st-century pianists 21st-century French male musicians