Edward Simon, a native of Venezuela, has made a name for himself over decades in America as a jazz improviser, composer-arranger, and band leader, with his profile heightening in recent years as he has explored the commonalities jazz can have with the folkloric sounds of Latin America.
Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, as a member of the all-star SFJAZZ Collective, he has been a Guggenheim Fellow and awarded multiple composition grants as part of the Chamber Music America’s New Jazz Works initiative. Simon, a Yamaha artist, has recorded 17 albums as a leader or co-leader; his latest is Femeninas, released via ArtistShare in 2023. This follows his album Latin American Songbook, with the four-and-a-half-star DownBeat review praising its “grand and sophisticated” sound. Latin American Songbook also won Simon an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Jazz Album. The New York Times has praised Simon’s “light, warm touch” as a pianist, while Jazz Journal International singled out “his deep emotional statements” as a composer and improviser. Simon was a 2021 recipient of the South Arts Creative Residencies award and is currently a Lucas Artist Fellow.
www.edwardsimon.com
