“Dear Friend”: Jazz fusion keyboardist Patrick Bradley honors tangible and “Intangible” influences on his fourth album, due August 25

patrick bradley

 

“Dear Friend”: Jazz fusion keyboardist Patrick Bradley honors tangible and “Intangible” influences on his fourth album, due August 25 

ALISO VIEJO (31 July 2017): The spiritually-minded jazz fusion keyboardist Patrick Bradley doesn’t need a special occasion like marking his tenth anniversary as a recording artist to acknowledge his inspirations both tangible and divine. However, “Dear Friend,” the first single from his forthcoming fourth album, “Intangible,” due August 25, does just that, slated to arrive ten years after the release of his first solo set. Written with the album’s producer, Jeff Lorber, “Dear Friend” pays respectful homage to the seminal musicians who influence and inform Bradley’s contemporary jazz, rock, fusion and R&B mashups released on the Patrick’s Song Factory label.

“My intent was to honor the influence and significant impact that late musicians have on me musically such as keyboardist giants Keith Emerson, Richard Wright, George Duke, Joe Sample and Jon Lord. Bass players Chris Squire and Jaco Pastorius and guitarist Alan Holdsworth have a major influence on my approach to arrangements and melodies. Their influences are woven throughout my musical experiences, abilities and styles,” said Bradley, who wrote and arranged the ten songs that comprise “Intangible” with Lorber. “The tune also celebrates friendship of all kinds – whether it is the intimate friendship between a spouse or lover, a trusted best friend, a mentor, your family pet or the friendship expressed through songs of faith.”         

 Intangible” is the third outing for Bradley and Lorber, the latter of whom is a keyboardist widely recognized as one of the forefathers of jazz fusion, thus an element of mentorship is evident in their ongoing creative friendship. “Jeff and I work very well together. Coming into the studio, I had about 18 songs to work with for this project and we selected ten. Collaborating with Jeff always draws out new dimensions and makes me dig deeper.”

One of the dimensions that Bradley developed under the tutelage of Lorber was to cultivate the ability and the confidence to communicate as a trilingual keyboardist: piano, Hammond B3 organ and Moog synthesizer. Bradley’s nimble finger work dispenses harmonies in equal measures of power and grace, poignant and propulsive, riveting and rousing, and cerebral and accessible. His multi-voiced keyboard approach makes an individual track seem as if it is helmed by more than one protagonist with each unique keyboard instrument providing a different perspective on the melodies. In addition to the heavy usage of the Hammond B3 along with frequent spacy Moog forays, Bradley’s distinctive brand also consists of deep-pocketed grooves constructed by live instrumentation from a core unit of prominent musicians – guitarists Adam Hawley and Michael Thompson, bassist Jimmy Haslip, drummer Gary Novak and Lorber on synth bass, guitar and additional keyboards. A handful of cuts are bolstered by the brawn and bravura of David Mann’s horns. Paul Jackson Jr. cranks out a gale force of electric guitar riffs on “Tail Wind” while Andrew Carney’s trumpet thrives animatedly while exploring “Newport Coast.”                    

There is another essential element to Bradley’s recordings that have been present ever since he issued his debut album, “Come Rain or Shine,” a decade ago. “Music and creativity and whatever talents we each have are a gift from God. Love, faith, hope and even music are all intangible, hence the new album title. Much of our universe is intangible yet we spend the majority of our time seeking the physical and temporal things. I always want to encourage people to look beyond the physical universe and turn our hearts towards God,” said the Southern California native who balances his creative output with a corporate profile by serving as president of the Southern Pacific Region at Whole Foods Market.

Bradley’s singles regularly hit the Billboard chart, but he was especially encouraged by the success and growing support he received for his previous album, 2014’s “Can You Hear Me.” “It gave me a new drive to write, play and collaborate with a newfound zeal and energy, revealing where I am at musically at this time. All music has a piece of the artist within their songs. I find with each new project, I feel the need and responsibility to dig deeper and in a sense, be truer to the musician I am and inspire to be.”

For more information, please visit www.PatrickBradleyMusic.com.

“Intangible” contains the following songs:

“Dear Friend”

“Funky Greens”

“Tail Wind”

“On Tap”

“Intangible”

“Find the Way”

“Newport Coast”

“Winds of Change”

“Destiny”

“Out of Bounds”

I HEAR PATRICK BRADLEY

On the day of the release of his third album titled “Can You Hear Me, Patrick Bradley was thrilled that fans would finally hear his new project. Bradley has spent his life playing music; he taught himself at an early age. His instrument of choice was the organ, and he displays his keen skills playing the Hammond organ on this album. The sound he projects is profoundly crisp and is a pleasure to hear. It is a rare opportunity to hear a Hammond organ played in music these days. Although Patrick has a career as a business man working for Whole Foods Market, he has never strayed from his love of music. He has always written songs and is fortunate to have made three albums. Patrick wrote this album with the concept in mind of blocking out the noise that surrounds us all of the time along with the idea of having his music speak louder. The title and first radio single is a reflection of that premise. The song and title (“Can You Hear Me”) came to him at once as he wondered if his late mother could hear his music. Making this album even greater, he joined forces with producer Jeff Lorber whom also produced his second album “Under The Sun.” Together, their chemistry is the perfect formula for making music magic. “Can You Hear Me” features Dave Koz, Rick Braun, and Eric Marienthal. Also adding their musical chops to the project are Jimmy Haslip, Gary Novak, David Mann, Dwight Sills, and Michael Thompson.

Patrick and I talk about the evolution of “Can You Hear Me”:

 

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A constellation of friends helps keyboardist Patrick Bradley get heard‏

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A constellation of friends helps keyboardist

Patrick Bradley get heard

 

“Can You Hear Me,” due September 23, features guest stars Dave Koz, Rick Braun and Eric Marienthal on the contemporary jazz fusion set produced by Jeff Lorber.

Aliso Viejo, Calif. (11 August 2014): To bolster his effort to be heard above the incessant din cluttering our world, keyboardist Patrick Bradley called upon a few high-profile friends on his third album, “Can You Hear Me,” produced by jazz fusion icon Jeff Lorber, which is slated for release September 23 on the Patrick’s Music Factory label. Boil it down further and the desire to be heard by our parents is inherent in all of us, which is the genesis of the title track and first radio single, a plaintive piano lullaby graced with the serene soprano sax presence of Dave Koz on the song inspired by Bradley’s late mother.

Collaborating on their second album together, Bradley and Lorber composed and arranged all ten songs on “Can You Hear Me.” Bradley nimbly emotes graceful harmonies on piano, adds depth and texture via gurgling Moog synthesizer embellishments and uncorks feverish organ blasts with reckless abandon when the mood to pontificate strikes. A variety of jazz visages – fusion, contemporary and smooth – emerge from tracks rooted in R&B that reflect prisms of funk, soul and blues with the deep-pocketed grooves stitched by bassist Jimmy Haslip and drummer Gary Novak. David Mann’s fiery horns and crisp horn arrangements fatten the sound on “Blue Skies,” “Daylight,” “For Her” and “Voyage” with hitman Rick Braun captured blowing away on trumpet on a pair of cuts (“Blue Skies” and “Voyage”) and Eric Marienthal chiming in some swinging sax on a few numbers (“Blue Skies,” “Shoreline” and “Catalan”). Lorber’s keyboard and Dwight Sills’ guitar riff rhythmically throughout the session with Sills and guitarist Michael Thompson dousing kerosene before slash and burn solos. Both Bradley and Lorber solo on the blistering progressive rock thrill ride “North Of Evermore.”

“I’ve been playing my whole life and I’m trying to be heard in this noisy world as a musician. My mom passed before hearing my last album (“Under The Sun”) including the song I wrote for my (late) father (“Tears From The Sky”). I wonder if she can hear me and my music. I wrote ‘Can You Hear Me’ with her in mind, but it is also a question I ask God as well,” said Bradley, a man of faith who hails from Southern California. “The original album title was ‘All In’ (the first song on the record) because I wanted to dig deeper than ever before. The whole purpose of the album was to make sure that I got all of my musical chops into it and I think we did it.”

Bradley’s professional music career began as a member of a rock band (Joshua) signed to Polydor Records. He released his solo debut, “Come Rain or Shine,” in 2006, the title cut hitting the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Singles chart. “Under The Sun” arrived in 2011 and a few tracks from the offering garnered radio play while the album peaked at No. 6 on the Smooth Indie Chart. Over the years, Bradley and Koz have cultivated a friendship with the multimedia sax personality inviting Bradley to perform aboard the Dave Koz Cruise to Alaska next month as well as to open for Koz, Mindi Abair, Gerald Albright and Richard Elliot’s “Summer Horns” concert September 19 in Newport Beach, Calif. Balancing dual careers, Bradley “sunlights” as president of the Southern Pacific region for Whole Foods Market. Additional information about Bradley will soon be available at www.PatrickBradleyMusic.com.

The songs contained on “Can You Hear Me” are:

“All In”

“Blue Skies”

“North Of Evermore”

“Can You Hear Me”

“Daylight”

“Shoreline”

“Catalan”

“For Her”

“Sierra”

“Voyage”