Edward Simon

Biography

Award-winning pianist and composer Edward Simon hails from Venezuela. He made his first recording as a leader in 1994 (Beauty Within, Audioquest), giving birth to the Edward Simon Trio. Since then, he founded several other ensembles such as: the Edward Simon Quartet, Ensemble Venezuela and Afinidad. Today, the Edward Simon Trio has become an established voice with five recordings and recent performances at well-known jazz venues around the world.

Simon has recorded 11 critically acclaimed albums as leader, including two New York Times Top Ten Jazz Records of the Year: Edward Simon (1995) and Simplicitas (2005). His recording Unicity was voted "Best CD of 2007" by DOWNBEAT. He has appeared as guest artist on more than 50 recordings, including Paquito D'Rivera's Grammy Award winning Funk Tango (Best Latin Jazz Album, 2007) and several Grammy Award nominated albums.

In 2010 Simon was named Guggenheim Fellow by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. That same year he became a member of the SFJAZZ Collective, a prominent musician/composer jazz ensemble dedicated to creating new work and highlighting the music of historically significant jazz composers of the modern era. The Collective is comprised of "eight of the most in-demand" (New York Times) artists performing today.

Simon has recently released Trio Live in New York at Jazz Standard (Sunnyside Records), his first live album, featuring John Patitucci and Brian Blade. He is currently working on his next album, Venezuelan Suite, scheduled for relase in early 2014 on Sunnyside Records.