Michael Fair

Over the last 20 years, flugelhorn and trumpet artist Michael Fair has placed himself prominently into the competitive smooth jazz market. Michael has carved a unique niche for himself musically here in the Middle Tennessee area for a couple of reasons. Performing and recording smooth jazz in a city primarily known for country and contemporary Christian music makes him a bit unique, and being notorious for playing the flugelhorn and trumpet make him a Nashville anomaly. Michaels partnership with the trumpet began early in his life. At the age of 12 he was given his first horn. It was no time at all until he began playing the songs that he heard his parents listening to by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. Michael's early performances included solo features in school bands. He studied trumpet performance at Middle Tennessee State University and graduated in 1979 with a Bachelors of Music. Michael has shared the stage on shows with such legends as Michael McDonald, Christopher Cross, Larry Carlton, Olivia Newton-John, Leon Russell, Gary Puckett, Gregg Allman, John Hiatt, Sam Moore, Carman, Claude McKnight, Victor Wooten, Kirk Whalum, and Jim Horn just to name a few. Michael Fairs music has been heard throughout Nashville. He was featured on a cut with Kirk Whalum on the Kloud 9 release Yearning 2 Love, showcased in the Southeast as the solo horn in the Latin Jazz ballet, Arriving in Indigo City and has performed on various CDs and movie soundtracks. Aspiring to cultivate his own signature style, Michael teamed up with writer Brandon Barnes who has been the recipient of numerous songwriting awards, namely multi-Grammy nominations, the Soul Train Award, BMI Pop Song Award, American Music Award, MTV Music Award, Image Award, Blockbuster Award, and an ASCAP Award. Michael met Brandon Barnes in 1995 while Brandon was in Nashville working with Claude McKnight from Take 6 and right after Brandon completed his work with Brian McKnight on his first CD titled Brian McKnight. Brandon was a fan of the flugelhorn and loved Michael's sound when he heard him playing at a Nashville club. The two "hit it off" and talked about doing a smooth jazz horn project for years. Finally schedules lined up and together the two have written and produced three smooth jazz projects, the debut CD, Love Me Like That in the summer of 2001, their sophomore offering How Close Are We released in the fall of 2003 and their new 2006 release, Back for More. All three projects accentuate Michaels trademark warm sound and sensitive phrasing. Thanks to Michaels devoted listeners and his new aficionados, his CDs have enjoyed much success locally as well as nationally and internationally. You can hear Michael perform locally at F.Scotts and Sambuca and other venues being the featured artist with groups from the Nashville area. Many of the musicians Michael has worked with over the years say that they can recognize his sound anywhere. The combination of his sound and sensitive phrasing make him a natural to perform smooth jazz in a way that invites you to listen and be totally enveloped equally by the melody and the warm flugelhorn sound. Michael's distinctive smooth jazz sounds can be heard regularly at premiere jazz clubs in Nashville, performing everything from jazz standards and R & B favorites to original songs from his CDs.