Composer and producer James Lloyd’s “Steady As She Goes” has spent two weeks in a row at number one on Billboard’s Smooth Jazz Songs chart. Lloyd, the co-founder and keyboardist for the enduring contemporary jazz collective Pieces of a Dream, penned and produced the chart-topping track for saxophonist/vocalist Walter Beasley ’s latest album, Free Your Mind, released on January 27, 2009 on Heads Up International, a division of Concord Music Group.
“This is truly an exciting time for me,” says Lloyd. “Being recognized to such a high degree is an indescribable feeling. Over the past few years, Walter and I have established a musical chemistry that is purely spiritual and magical – as this is our second number one song together. Believe it or not, I still get as excited about such milestones as I did when I heard Pieces’ first single on the radio in 1981. Special thanks to Heads Up for their belief in me, the radio stations for their support, Walter for sharing his gifts, and the fans who make this all possible.”
“James is very clear about what he hears in a song and what he sees as the end result,” says Beasley, who previously enlisted Lloyd for a track on his 2005 release, For Her (“Coolness,” which shot to number 5 on the smooth jazz charts). “You just have to trust that the end result is going to be good, because with James, it always is. Sometimes you get too close to a project and you have to step back, and for those tracks I just stepped back, because I knew they were in good hands.”
Lloyd, a resident of Canfield, Ohio (a suburb of Youngstown)for over 10 years, has recorded all of his recent hits at his home studio. Soul Intent, his latest CD with Pieces of a Dream, was released on Heads Up International on February 24, 2009. While there’s no denying the consistently high caliber of music generated by the veteran jazz combo, Soul Intent may be the group’s most direct, back-to-basics experience in many years.
Also this week, Lloyd’s “Sway On,” the second single from Soul Intent, debuted as New & Active and number one most increased spins (+35) on Billboard’s Smooth Jazz Monitored Chart and number 16 on the Smoothjazz.com Chart.
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