Welcome to the Music Thursdays segment! Each week here on Geek Alabama, Music Thursdays will feature music related content. Music Thursdays will feature an artist or band and their latest song and / or music video. People love music, and we here at Geek Alabama love featuring artists and bands!
Nothing, not even a global pandemic, could stop Nils from once again dominating the radio airwaves with those trademark ultra-melodic, funky and infectious vibes that perfectly reflected the title of his 2020 album Caught in the Groove. Billboard declared the multi-talented guitarist, composer and producer the #1 Smooth Jazz Airplay Artist for all of 2021 on the strength of four hit singles that added extra fire to a 15-year legacy that began with making contemporary jazz history with his first #1 “Pacific Coast Highway,” which was Billboard’s Song of the Decade 2001-2010. In addition to the #1 hits “Caught in the Groove” and “Outta Sight,” his last album included “Above the Clouds” (#3) and the Top 10 track “I Like the Way You Do It.” Nils also scored big in 2020 as producer and co-writer of pianist Lisa Addeo’s #1 smash “Listen To This.” And on the side, he got back to his hard rockin’ roots by producing an album for emerging indie rock singer Ayline Artin.
Though the hipster title of Nils’ latest (and eleventh overall) Baja/TSR album Cool Shades might lead longtime fans to believe the collection is dazzling, eclectic and potential hit filled business as usual, there’s a deeper emotional story behind the recording that speaks to the power of music to be cathartic, healing and uplifting during challenging emotional times.
While music was helping all of us collectively cope with the great anxieties of the past few years, writing and producing Cool Shades was helping him keep his sanity, process and heal and get his mind off the heaviness of traveling back and forth multiple times from Los Angeles to his hometown of Munich, Germany to care for his ailing mother and his father Kurt Jiptner, who fell ill and passed away in October 2021. Nils, who wrote many of the 13 tunes in a studio he set up in the basement of his parents’ house in the summer and fall of that year, dedicates the 13-track collection to the memory of his father.
“This album was harder for me to write and overall not as lighthearted, with a lot of ballads like ‘Our Last Goodbye’ and ‘Sweet Soul’ that expressed these deeper emotions I was feeling during this challenging time, serving as a healing tool for me,” says Nils, whose array of Top 20 radio smashes over the years includes classics like “Let’s Bounce,” “Georgy Porgy,” “Ready to Play,” “Catnap” and 2011 Song of the Year “Jumpstart.” “I won’t sugarcoat it. I was distracted from my usual creative process by a lot of heaviness. So, I set up the studio and forced myself to work on music, and I found it very helpful. But the good news is that overall, it’s not a sad record, so to speak.
“Considering what everyone had been going through during these few years, the last thing we needed was a depressing album,” he adds. “I wanted to dedicate it to my father but also wanted it to be uplifting and get people dancing and celebrating life. So, I made a conscious decision to not make it too dark. My process is always, just start writing and don’t judge and allow things to develop naturally – then take stock of what I have and decide what ideas and songs stand out.”
Categories: Music Talk Stuff
