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The first time I met Spike and the boys was when I did a show with them at Alexandra Palace. I had such a great time and couldn\'t wait to do more. My next call came a year later and I was asked to join the Band to sub for Steve Hamilton, until he recovered from an injury. I traveled to quite a few countries with the Band, but I think the best time for me was the ‘46664’ concert in Cape Town. That was one of the highlights of my career! It is so good to play with a band that have so much enthusiasm for what they do. I hope I will get the chance to do some more one day. |
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| Paul Weimar |
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Paul “Shilts” Weimar hails from London, England and has been playing saxophone since his early teens. His career has spanned all forms of jazz, soul and pop music, and he has toured all over the world and recorded with a host of international artists.
Most recently you will have seen Paul as Bandleader and front-man of British urban jazz funk export ‘Down To The Bone’, which has enjoyed massive success in the United States. DTTB have released six albums on which Paul is heavily featured, both as a player and as a writer.
As a teenager Paul cut his musical teeth when he was asked to join the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Great Britain at the age of 15. It was with NYJO that Paul originally got a taste for the business, backing such great jazz stars as Nancy Wilson, Buddy Greco, Rosemary Clooney, George Shearing and Mel Torme.
After turning professional at the age of 16, Paul began working in nightclubs, once again backing many great American stars such as The Temptations, Four Tops, Drifters and Rose Royce. Keen to see more of the world, Paul then embarked on a travel spree that saw him working in Hong Kong, the Middle East, Europe, and the Caribbean.
On returning home, Paul began to firmly establish himself on the London session scene, recording with artists such as David Bowie, Jimmy Paige, Bill Wyman, Lulu, Conner Reeves and Dina Carroll. Working in such great company as this led Paul to join UK pop band Breathe, who went on to have Top Ten hits in the US with ‘Hands to Heaven’ and ‘How Can I Fall’. Despite a few years of touring and pop success, Paul never lost sight of his love for jazz, and co-formed System X with five other like-minded London session musicians and went on to record the highly acclaimed album ‘Beat The System’, whilst playing regularly on the London jazz club circuit.
By then Paul was highly regarded for his soulful, funky saxophone style, which ensured an invitation to join British Acid Jazz group The Brand New Heavies in 1994. This association lasted for six years, during which time he toured the world several times and was featured soloist on their album ‘Shelter’, which also gave him a chance to work with legendary vocalist and song writer Siedah Garrett. Paul also found time to tour America with UK chart toppers Jamiroquai in 1995.
Whilst with The Heavies, Paul met keyboard player Neil Cowley, which in turn led to an introduction to Chris J Morgans at Internal Bass and Stuart Wade, the creative force behind DTTB. After featuring heavily on the ‘Urban Groove’ album, Chris and Stuart asked Paul to form and front the live DTTB band, which would tour the US. Numerous tours and six albums later, Paul had now become the face of the DTTB live band and a target of great interest as a solo artist.
An approach from Higher Octave records in the US led to the creation of his debut ‘Shilts’ album, ‘See What Happens’ which features a crop of London’s finest musicians, including many of the talents heard in the DTTB live band. This, his debut album, was recognised in 2001 as one of the top releases in the US and received an industry nomination in the National Smooth Jazz Awards for the category of “Best New Artist”.
In 2004 Paul moved from the UK to the Los Angeles area with his wife and two young children. Since then he has featured not only on the session scene, but has also been the special guest to many of the top Smooth Jazz artists such as Jeff Lorber, Paul Brown and Peter White.
Paul’s ethos is a desire to produce good music without ever losing sight of the fact that it should be good fun at the same time. Now let’s just wait and “see what happens”!
Also check out Shilts’s new album ‘Headboppin’.
CREDITS
As well as having solo albums out entitled ‘SEE WHAT HAPPENS’ |
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