Fred Simon (born Frederick Victor Simon) is an American

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. Simon first gained recognition with Simon & Bard, the jazz fusion group he founded in Chicago with composer and reed player Michael Bard, drummer Phil Gratteau, and bassist Ken Haebich."Jazz Group Simon & Bard Return to UNLV" ''The Yellin Rebel'' University of Las Vegas, Nevada, Issue 13, Volume 2, November 29, 1984 http://digital.library.unlv.edu/objects/reb/6264 The group toured widely and recorded three acclaimed albums including collaborations with

Larry Coryell Larry Coryell (born Lorenz Albert Van DeLinder III; April 2, 1943 – February 19, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist. Early life Larry Coryell was born in Galveston, Texas, United States. He never knew his biological father, a musician. He w ...

and

Ralph Towner Ralph Towner (born March 1, 1940) is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and bandleader. He plays the twelve-string guitar, classical guitar, piano, synthesizer, percussion, trumpet and French horn. Biography Towner was born i ...

. Members of the Simon & Bard group

Paul Wertico Paul Wertico (born January 5, 1953 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American drummer. He gained recognition as a member of the Pat Metheny Group from 1983 until 2001, leaving the group to spend more time with his family and to pursue other musical int ...

and

Steve Rodby Steve Rodby (born December 9, 1954 in Joliet, Illinois) is an American jazz bassist and producer known for his time with the Pat Metheny Group. Biography Rodby was born in Joliet, Illinois, into a musical family. His father was a music teacher ...

left to join the

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progre ...

Group, and

Mark Walker Mark Walker may refer to: Politics and law * Mark L. Walker (born 1941), member of the Illinois House of Representatives * Mark Walker (North Carolina politician) (born 1969), minister and U.S. House of Representatives member for North Carolina's 6 ...

left to join the band

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. Simon often performs in the Chicago area with his wife, drummer Sarah Allen, and frequently collaborates with guitarist David Onderdonk.

The Beach Boys Distilled

In 2018, Al Gomes and Connie Watrous of Big Noise served as Executive Producers, along with Simon, for the remastering and re-release of Simon's collection of solo piano interpretations of pop classics by

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

. Grammy Award-winning Beach Boys producer

Alan Boyd Alan Boyd is an American musician, sound engineer, record producer, and filmmaker who is best known for his work with the Beach Boys. Since the 1980s, he has been an archive manager for the band's Brother Records. Since 2000, he has worked alongs ...

also assisted heavily with the project. The album was placed on the Official Ballot for the 61st Annual Grammy Awards by The Recording Academy for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. Further validation of the recording was achieved when The Beach Boys' official magazine ESQ posted a rave review of the album. 'Just beautiful,' said Beach Boy Mike Love.

Discography

* ''Short Story'', (Quaver, 1984) * ''Time and the River'', (Quaver, 1985) * ''Usually/Always'', (

Windham Hill Windham Hill Records was an independent record label that specialized in instrumental acoustic music. It was founded by guitarist William Ackerman and Anne Robinson (née McGilvray) in 1976 and was popular in the 1980s and 1990s. The label was ...

, 1988) * ''Open Book'', ( Columbia, 1991) * ''Twilight'' with Teja Bell and

Paul McCandless Paul Brownlee McCandless Jr. (born March 24, 1947) is an American multi-instrumentalist and founding member of the American jazz group Oregon. He is one of the few jazz oboists. He also plays bass clarinet, English horn, flute and soprano saxop ...

(NorthSound, 1996) * ''Summer Nights'' with Spencer Brewer and Paul McCandless (NorthSound, 1996) * ''Dreamhouse'' (

Naim Audio Naim Audio is a British hi-fi manufacturer based in Wiltshire, United Kingdom. The company was founded in 1973. Following a 2011 merger with French loudspeaker manufacturer Focal, Naim is owned by VerVent Audio Group, a French company. Hist ...

, 2000) * ''Fred Simon's Interpretation of the Beach Boys'', (NorthSound, 2003) * ''Remember The River'' with

and Paul McCandless, (Naim, 2004) * ''Since Forever'' with Steve Rodby, Paul McCandless and Mark Walker (Naim, 2009) * ''Reflections'' with Ira Antelis (Artists and Brands, 2013) * ''The Beach Boys Distilled'' (Fred Simon Music, 2018) With Simon & Bard * ''Musaic'' featuring

(

Flying Fish The Exocoetidae are a family of marine fish in the order Beloniformes class Actinopterygii, known colloquially as flying fish or flying cod. About 64 species are grouped in seven to nine genera. While they cannot fly in the same way a bird do ...

, 1980) * ''Tear It Up'' with

(Flying Fish, 1982) * ''The Enormous Radio'' (Flying Fish, 1984) With

Jerry Goodman Jerry Goodman (born March 16, 1949) is an American violinist who played electric violin with The Flock and the jazz fusion ensemble Mahavishnu Orchestra. Career Jerry Goodman was born on March 16, 1949, in Chicago, Illinois. His parents were ...

* ''

On the Future of Aviation ''On the Future of Aviation'' is an album by violinist Jerry Goodman. It was recorded at Studiomedia in Evanston, Illinois, and was released by Private Music in 1985. On the album, Goodman is joined by keyboardist Fred Simon and drummer Paul Werti ...

'' (Private Music, 1985)

References

American jazz composers American male jazz composers American jazz pianists American male pianists Living people People from Chicago Musicians from Chicago Windham Hill Records artists Jazz musicians from Illinois 21st-century American pianists 21st-century American male musicians Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-jazz-pianist-stub