Jim Wilson:
    To Love and Be Loved

One of the most popular new contemporary instrumental pianists to emerge in the past few years, Jim Wilson returns with his fifth album, A PLACE IN MY HEART (on Artemis Nashville, a division of Compendia Music). The CD is a tribute to the people and places that have made a deep impact on his life, especially his adopted state, California.

Jim grew up in Texas, but left there when he was 19-years-old with all of his possessions in a van and headed to California to pursue his dreams of a career in the music business. "For many people California has represented the Promised Land, the Land of Dreams. I love the energy of the people and the encouragement of the arts. But I also fell in love with the varied and unsurpassed beauty of the scenery, from the astoundingly gorgeous coastline to the peacefulness of the desert to the wide range of mountain vistas. It's one of the few places in the world where you can surf in the morning and snow-ski in the afternoon."

Jim Wilson has had previous recordings hit the Top 10 on BILLBOARD magazine's "Top New Age Albums" chart, has taught MIDI-piano techniques to many of the biggest pop stars in the business, has composed music for television shows, has had his own nationally-televised PBS-TV special, and has many top pop and jazz artists appear as guests on his CDs (from Dan Fogelberg and Stephen Bishop to David Sanborn, Rick Braun and Dave Koz).

Although the public thinks of Jim Wilson as a rapidly emerging pianist and composer, the music industry knows he has even more talents. He helped develop a revolutionary MIDI-adaptor for the acoustic piano, which for the first time allows this age-old instrument to interact with computers and synthesizers. He developed a top-flight reputation, teaching uses of MIDI-piano to the upper echelon of pop musicians such as Paul McCartney, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Jackson Browne, Burt Bacharach, Carole King and many, many more. Whenever Jim played his own music for them while sitting at their pianos, they encouraged him to pursue his own musical dreams.

This led to an official endorsement by Yamaha Pianos, with the company providing instruments for his performances across the country both as a solo artist and with his six-piece band (more than a thousand shows so far and counting). Jim transports his concert audiences on a "cinematic melodic journey" enhanced by his compelling performance videos -- evocative multimedia montages coordinated with the music and projected behind him as he plays. Additionally, Wilson composed music for the CBS-TV series "Frank's Place." CNN's "Showbiz Today" television show also devoted a segment to Jim's music.

Jim started learning music when he was seven. He picked up a guitar at the house of a family friend who then decided to give the instrument to Jim. "From then on I had this incredible passion for music and learning to play it. Around nine or ten I started composing songs. About that time my charismatic cousin from California came to visit. He breezed into town with his long hair, guitar, songs and stories, and that really ignited the musical fire in my life. I couldn't wait to be a musician. I started playing in professional bands when I was 14. I switched to playing piano when I was 19."

Jim began his recording career in 1997 when his best friend died suddenly. "That was a life-changing event that made me realize that you never know when you're going to be called, so you better be proud of what you've done and the legacy you're leaving behind." Now that musical legacy is enriched even further with A PLACE IN MY HEART.

http://www.jimwilson.net/