Slim Man
Baltimore, Maryland, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
JD Considine from Rolling Stone describes the Slim Man style as "a near-perfect example of how jazz and soul can be combined as pop."
Gavin Magazine calls him "the male Sade."
- Gavin Mazazine
Discography
Faith In Us Top 10
There for You Top 20
Secret Rendezvous Top 10 Smooth Jazz Magazine
10 CDS
End of the Rainbow (1995)
Closer to Paradise (1996)
Secret Rendezvous (1997)
jazzified (1999)
All I Want for Christmas (2000)
For Now and Forever (2002)
Bella Mia (2004)
Solstice (2006)
Christmas Eve (2008)
Thousand Miles Away (2011)
SLIM MAN PRESS QUOTES
“...an album full of top notch love ballads, strong compositions, fine arrangements
and convincing and authentic vocals.”
www.Smooth-Jazz.de
That's the first review for the new Slim Man CD 'Thousand Miles Away', his tenth.
The CD features Marc Antoine on guitar and was just released in August. We're
waiting for more accolades to pour in!
J.D. Considine (Rolling Stone Magazine) calls the Slim Man style...
“...a near-perfect example of how jazz and soul can be combined as pop.”
Slim Man was nominated for International Vocalist of the Year by the Canadian
Smooth Jazz Awards. His CD, ‘Solstice’ (2006), earned him the nomination.
Smoothjazz.com calls the CD “...truly outstanding.”
Slim Man’s ‘jazzified’ CD was named ‘Best Contemporary Jazz Album’ in the 2001
Jazziz Readers Poll.
Billboard Magazine said of Slim Man’s third CD ‘Secret Rendezvous’...
”...may be his most remarkable recorded accomplishment."
Slim Man’s first CD. ‘End of the Rainbow’ had a Top Ten Hit (‘Faith in Us’) on
Smooth Jazz Radio, and made several Top Ten lists nationwide.
What they're saying about Slim Man...
“a male Sade.” Gavin Magazine
“refreshingly original, his vocals show a lot of depth and emotion.”
Strictly Jazz Magazine
“romantic lyrics, sophisticated delivery, compelling instrumentalists, grade A.”
contemporaryjazz.com.
Slim Man's latest Holiday CD, “Christmas Eve” (2008), features a scintillating
vocal duet with Antonia Bennett (Tony’s daughter) on “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”.
The video for the song ‘Christmas Eve’ got 20,000+ hits on YouTube...
in two weeks!
jazztrax calls it “...one of the best new cds this year.”
On Christmas Day, 1999, Slim Man sang in a choir for Pope John Paul II at the
Vatican as part of the Giubileo Celebration. Buon Natale!!!!!!!!!!!!!
www.slimman.com slim@slimman.com
Thousand Miles Away
Back in July, 2009, I did a concert in the USA, in the Midwest. After the show, some good friends of mine
introduced me to an intriguing young woman. We all went out for drinks after the show, and whenever I’d ask
this lovely lady about herself, she’d reply...“if you only knew.”
If I only knew...what? Was she a secret agent? A superhero? A member of a secret society that monitors alien
activity on Earth? I was intrigued. On the flight back to Baltimore the next day, the phrase kept running around
in my head. So the next day, I went into the studio, and I wrote this song called...
“If You Only Knew”. Well, actually, it wrote itself. It was one of the easiest songs I’ve ever written. And I kept
writing and writing. I was really inspired. In March of 2010, I had about ten songs written. And as fate would
have it, my good friend Marc Antoine, the guitar-playing Frenchman in Madrid, called me. Marc has played on
Selena CDs and Clint Eastwood movie soundtracks.
He told me that he had some rare free time, and that if I had any new songs, I should come over to Madrid. He
offered to play guitar and record in his studio. So I caught the next plane and made the overnight trip. He
picked me up at the airport at 9 am. I'd been up for more than 24 hours.
We went to the small village outside of Madrid where Marc lives, and we went right to a bar/cafe. Marc ordered
two espressos, and two Licor de Hierbas, an herb liquor. What kind of herbs? I was afraid to ask. The bartender
got two brandy snifters, put three ice cubes in each glass, and then poured in what looked like antifreeze.
I liked it. It tasted like nothing else I’d ever had. We had another...and maybe another. And maybe one more...
I woke up the next morning in Marc’s spare bedroom. I went looking for Marc--he was in his studio. He had
been up since the early morning, and had already finished the guitar parts for “If You Only Knew”.
One guitar track was his signature nylon-string guitar that he’s so famous for. The other guitar track was a
steel-string, Eric Clapton-style blues guitar part. I’d never heard him play like that before. I don’t use the word
'perfect’ a lot. But his guitar parts were about as perfect as could be. I was very pleasantly surprised. Amazed
is more like it. Love that Licor de Hierbas!
We continued like that for two weeks--without quite as much drinking. Marc did most of his guitar parts late at
night until early in the morning--while I slept. And when I got up, I'd go down to the studio, and Marc would be
finished. I wanted him to do six songs. He played on almost all the songs on "Thousand Miles Away".
I was glad he recorded while I slept, because he took some chances I might not have, and went in directions I
might not have gone. We al
Photos
Bio
SLIM MAN BIO
When Slim Man was young, his Dad showed him a movie --’The Five Pennies’, starring Danny Kaye and Louis
Armstrong. When Slim Boy saw Louis sing and play, he told his Dad...”That’s what I want to do.”
He then studied trumpet for ten years, and taught himself to play guitar as well. He studied classical music at
Peabody Preparatory. He took private jazz piano lessons, voice lessons, theory and harmony lessons.
While in middle school he took up bass, and started the legendary pre-punk band ‘Momma Max’, who opened
up for Iggy Pop and the Stooges, The Raspberries, and others. When Young Slim snuck backstage and met Jimi
Hendrix at a concert, it was an encounter that changed his life, lending new inspiration to his musical
aspirations.
Slim Man’s First Big Break came when he went on a trip to NYC to meet a publisher who expressed some
interest in Slim’s Songs. The meeting was a disaster. Mr. Man left the meeting discouraged but determined.
He started calling every publisher he knew about.
A few hours later, he was in the office of Roxanne Gordy, Motown executive and niece of the famous Berry
Gordy. Motown signed Slim Man as a songwriter, and one of the first tunes he wrote (Summer Days) was
included on Angela Bofill’s first critically acclaimed CD, ‘Angie’. He also wrote songs for the Temptations, Carl
Anderson, and others.
While working at Motown in NYC, Slim Man became friendly with a record company downstairs from Motown’s
office. The record company? Stiff Records. Stiff had Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Ian Dury and others on their
roster. Stiff expressed some interest in some Slim Songs, and named the project...BootCamp.
BootCamp had considerable success. They had two of the first hundred videos ever played on MTV. They did
shows with the B-52s, Squeeze, Split Enz, The Tubes, Johnny Winter and a bunch of other bands.
After the break-up of BootCamp, Slim Man started organizing and MC-ing nationwide country music talent
contests sponsored by Marlboro. The contest was a Big Deal--$50,000.00 and a contract with producer Barry
Beckett (Bob Dylan, Hank Williams, Jr.)
It was during the contest that the Slim Man name came about. An alias was needed to avoid the losing bands,
and Slim Man was born. His Big Discovery during the Marlboro contest? Ronnie Dunn, who later joined Kix
Brooks to form the Grammy-winning Country Duo, Brooks and Dunn.
After the Marlboro Contest ran its course, Slim Man started writing and producing songs featuring a rock singer
named Brian Jack, who landed a deal with Epic based on the Slim Man songs. Producer Frankie LaRocca (Spin
Doctors) was hired, but none of the original Slim Man songs were used. Brian Jack was dropped from Epic after
four non-Slim songs.
So, undaunted, Slim Man went back into the studio, re-sang the songs he’d written for Brian Jack, added a few
new songs, and...End of the Rainbow, the very first Slim Man CD, was born. The CD yielded a Top Ten Hit, ‘Faith
In Us’, and the CD went on to be included in over a dozen Top Ten lists for the year (1995).
J.D. Considine (Rolling Stone) says of the Slim Man style...
“...a near perfect example of how jazz and soul can be combined as pop."
www.slimman.com slim@slimman.com
Links
