Willie Bradley
Biographie Willie Bradley
Willie Bradley
is a native of Orangeburg, SC and a graduate of South Carolina State University, Orangeburg, SC where he earned his BS Degree in Music Education and Performance. Over the course of his career he has become a go –to musician for many of soul music’s greats over the years. Willie’s stage presence includes performances with jazz greats including Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Frank Foster, Max Roach, Betty Carter, Gerald Albright, Walter Beasley, Alex Bugnon, Ronnie Laws, Hiroshima and Marion Meadows.
In 2014, Willie released his debut Contemporary Jazz CD “Another Day & Time” produced and co-written by keyboardist/Recording Artist Nicholas Cole. Tracks from this CD made the Smooth Jazz Billboard Charts and have been added to Smooth Jazz Radio Stations worldwide to include Music Choice, Pandora, Spotify, and iHeart Radio.
Willie has performed at high profile shows around the country including Catalina Island Jazztrax, Denver's Premier Jazz Room, The Soiled Dove Underground, Magic City Smooth Jazz in Birmingham, Spaghettini Lounge, Ocean City Jazz Fest, Columbus Jazz & Rib Festival, Carson Jazz Festival, Newport Beach Jazz Festival, Lake Arbor Jazz Festival, Southern Maryland Wine, Jazz & R&B Festival, and the Jacksonville Jazz Coalition Jazz Festival. He is also known for being part of the brass section with RJ & The Original James Brown Band touring abroad in France, Osaka and Tokyo Japan's Billboard Live and Summer Sonic Music Festival.
Willie’s sophomore CD ”Going With The Flow” is being considered for a Grammy, “Best New Contemporary Jazz Instrumental Album 2018”. Title track, “Going With The Flow” and “Bring Your “A” Game” are smooth winners being added to Sirius XM “Watercolors” and Direct TV’s Music Choice Smooth Jazz Chanel. To put a sharper point on that, the first single from the album is out, and it is terrific. "In the Meantime" featuring legendary vocalist Gerald Alston was released in the UK on October 3, 2017 by Soul Music Records (SMR)/Platinum Garage. "In The Meantime," was written and produced by award-winning multi-faceted music man Preston Glass. Experts in the music world say this is "Real soul music for the 21st century...timely lyrics, amazing musicianship, heartfelt vocals..." These lyrics are timely and powerful as America heals. “In the Meantime” is a cool midtempo number that borders soul and jazz and has a positive message of living in harmony at a time of an awful lot of confusion in the world.
Bold, yet simultaneously charming; Edgy, yet at the same time beautiful; these seemingly opposing adjectives might well-describe the music of artist/trumpeter Willie Bradley, but also fittingly tell about the man! Willie Bradley’s music brings together many varied styles, but takes smooth jazz to a whole new level. On his new CD project “Going With The Flow”, Willie is definitely not just going with the average flow of things. Together with multi-award winning producer Preston Glass, (Kenny G., George Benson, Earth Wind & Fire and many more) they have brought together a fantastic group of songs as well as a cast of stellar musicians with varied styles (Greg Manning, Gerald Alston from The Manhattans, Bob Baldwin, Club Nouveau, and Jerry Martini of Sly & The Family Stone).
This musical adventure promises to be an appetizer of sweet things to come for Willie; savor it with open ears; and heart!
