# Edward Simon (musician)

Edward Simon (born July 27, 1969) is a Venezuelan jazz pianist and composer.

## Early life

Simon was born in Punta Cardón, Venezuela. When he was ten years old, he went to the United States of America to study at the Performing Arts School in Philadelphia. After graduating, he attended the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, where he studied classical piano, then the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied jazz piano.

## Later life and career

In 1988, he recorded as a sideman with Greg Osby, then worked as a member of the band Horizon led by Bobby Watson. For the next eight years he was a member of Terence Blanchard's band. He has also worked with Herbie Mann, Paquito D'Rivera, Bobby Hutcherson, Jerry Gonzalez, John Patitucci, Arturo Sandoval, Manny Oquendo, and Don Byron. Simon recorded Beauty Within (AudioQuest, 1994), his first album as a bandleader, with Horacio Hernández and bass guitarist Anthony Jackson. During the same year, he was a finalist in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition. Then the following year he composed Rumba Neurotica for the Relache Ensemble.
He formed Ensemble Venezuela in 2003 to combine jazz with the music of Venezuela. He was given a commission by Chamber Music America to write "Venezuelan Suite". He recorded the album in 2012 with musicians from Venezuela, Colombia, and the U.S.
Simon has played on several Grammy-nominated jazz albums. Besides his trio he leads the Sexteto Venezuela, the Afinidad Quartet, and the group Simon, Simon, & Simon with his brothers. He has taught at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City and has been artist in residence at Western Michigan University.

### As leader

| Album | Label | Year released | Session musicians |
| Beauty Within | AudioQuest | 1994 | Horacio Hernández, Anthony Jackson, Diego Urcola |
| Edward Simon | Kokopelli | 1995 | Larry Grenadier, Adam Cruz, Mark Turner, Milton Cardona |
| La Bikina | Mythology | 1998 | Adam Cruz, Ben Street, Mark Turner, David Binney, Pernell Saturnino, Diego Urcola, Milton Cardona |
| Afinidad | Red | 2001 | David Binney, Scott Colley, Brian Blade, Adam Cruz, Lucia Pulido, Adam Rogers |
| The Process | Criss Cross | 2003 | John Patitucci, Eric Harland |
| Fiestas de Agosto | Red | 2005 | David Binney, Donny McCaslin |
| Simplicitas | Criss Cross | 2005 | Avishai Cohen, Adam Cruz, Luciana Souza, Adam Rogers, Pernell Saturnino |
| Unicity | CAM Jazz | 2006 | John Patitucci, Brian Blade |
| Océanos | Criss Cross | 2007 | David Binney, Scott Colley, Brian Blade, Luciana Souza, Adam Rogers, Shane Endsley, Jesse Newman, Alan Ferber, Pernell Saturnino |
| Poesia | CAM Jazz | 2009 | John Patitucci, Brian Blade |
| Danny Boy | Audio & Video Labs | 2010 | Philip Donkin, Stephen Keogh |
| Live in New York at Jazz Standard | Sunnyside | 2013 | John Patitucci, Brian Blade |
| Venezuelan Suite | Sunnyside | 2014 | - |
| Latin American Songbook | Sunnyside | 2016 | - |
| Sorrows & Triumphs | Sunnyside | 2018 | David Binney, Scott Colley, Brian Blade, Adam Rogers |
| Solo Live | Ridgeway | 2021 | - |

### As sideman

With Craig Handy
* Split Second Timing (Arabesque, 1992) – recorded in 1991
With Greg Osby
* Mindgames (JMT, 1988)
* Season of Renewal (JMT, 1990) – recorded in 1989
With Terence Blanchard
* 1994: Romantic Defiance (Columbia, 1995)
* 1995: The Heart Speaks (Columbia, 1996)
* 1999: Wandering Moon (Sony Classical, 2000)
* 2001: Let's Get Lost (Sony Classical, 2001)