Philippe Saisse Says Cover Tunes Provide Comfort In Uncertain Times

Keyboardist and composer Philippe Saisse is faring well in the smooth jazz realm with his latest single from the Philippe Saisse Trio album The Body & Soul Sessions, released last year by Rendezvous. The tune is a cover of Bill Withers'"Lovely Day," which was first a hit in 1978.

Though as a composer and producer, the French-born Saisse has recorded plenty of original music, he says that the popularity of remakes and cover tunes has to do with the current climate of the country, which is currently waging a war overseas. Familiar music provides a certain comfort, he explained: "Incredible composers who've had many, many hits and have given us classics -- I'm thinking of Hall & Oates and Barry Manilow and Rod Stewart and everybody has been doing covers. And I think there's a mood in the country of being so insecure about the zeitgeist of what's happening ... and this conservatism has only pushed people into producing really what the audience wants to hear and where they're comfortable in what they're listening to."

Saisse's version of "Lovely Day" has landed at Number 24 on the smooth jazz airplay chart this week.

By: Janine Coveney - icebergradio.com

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