Philippe Saisse 2025

Despite the challenges of the post-pandemic music industry, Grammy-nominated composer, keyboardist, and producer Philippe Saisse has remained remarkably prolific. In recent years, he has scored four #1 smooth jazz singles, collaborated with legendary guitarist Nile Rodgers on a Fender commercial, and co-written hit songs for Candy Dulfer. He also spearheaded a global music project to support CORE, the nonprofit co-founded by Sean Penn, aiding high-risk communities during COVID-19.

Saisse’s first single of 2025, a lo-fi hip-hop jazz reimagining of his 1987 international hit “Nougayork” (co-written with Claude Nougaro), features trumpeter Marquis Hill. The original version, which revitalized Nougaro’s career, remains Saisse’s most successful song, surpassing 8.5 million Spotify streams. The track follows his 2021 single “Shift”, which gained heavy SiriusXM Watercolors airplay and was featured on Spotify’s State of Jazz and 21st Century Jazz playlists.

In 2023, Saisse co-wrote and produced Candy Dulfer’s Billboard #1 hit “Convergency” with Rodgers, while another of their tracks, “Jammin’ Tonight”, climbed the European charts. He also co-wrote and produced Dave Koz’s holiday single “Wrapped Up In Your Smile”, from the album Christmas Ballads, which he arranged and produced. Additionally, he wrote and produced The Allen Carman Project’s single “All For One” and contributed to the Michel Legrand tribute box set, Hier & Domain, by producing a special Al Jarreau-Jasmine Roy duet of “Les Parapluies de Cherbourg.”

Saisse’s 2023 release “Flute Æterna” was a unique time-traveling project, blending a 1990 NYC recording session with jazz legends Dave Valentin and Hiram Bullock and a new L.A. session featuring Rick Braun, Brandon Fields, and David Mann. This came on the heels of his Top Ten single “Lost Words”, a lushly orchestrated, multi-genre track featuring Marc Antoine, originally intended as a collaboration with Al Jarreau before the singer’s untimely passing.

His latest “Nougayork” mixes were handled by Grammy-winning engineer John Kercy (worked with Giveon, Lucky Daye, and Victoria Monét) and mastered by Colin Leonard, fresh off his Grammy win for Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter. His son, Dorian Saisse, directed a striking cityscape animation video for the song, incorporating rare studio footage of Nougaro.

Saisse’s 2021 single “The City That Never Sleeps” featured Marcus Miller and Poogie Bell, longtime collaborators from his early-’90s NYC trio. This and “Nougayork” will be part of his upcoming solo album, a follow-up to his Grammy-nominated 2009 album At World’s Edge.

His 2020 single “Eva Kant Dance” hit #2 on Billboard’s Smooth Jazz chart and #1 on Mediabase’s SmoothAC chart for five weeks. That same year, he co-wrote and produced Rick Braun’s Billboard #1 hit “Crossroads” and Dave Koz’s five-week #1 song “Side by Side” (a duet with David Sanborn).

Saisse has also contributed to film, providing two songs for Michael Shannon and Don Johnson’s film A Little White Lie (2022). In world music, he co-wrote and produced “Oyaya” for five-time Grammy winner Angélique Kidjo, featuring Nile Rodgers.

During the pandemic, Saisse remained highly creative, co-writing and producing “Inside the Box”, a song featured in Fender’s Acoustasonic Stratocaster commercial, which amassed 2M+ YouTube views.

As the leader of The Philippe Saisse Trio, he achieved six weeks at #1 on Radio & Records’ airplay chart with a Fender Rhodes-driven cover of Steely Dan’s “Do It Again.” The trio later scored multiple Billboard Smooth Jazz hits, including “And So But Then” (#8), “Blue Rondo” (#6), “Lucky Luke” (#10), and “Marienbad” (#20).

A recipient of France’s Medal of Chevalier des Arts et Lettres, Saisse has also worked extensively as a session and touring musician, contributing to Jeff Golub’s #1 hit “Swagster”, Rick Braun’s “Can You Feel It”, and Al Di Meola’s “La Lluvia”, which became the guitarist’s first Billboard Smooth Jazz hit. More recently, he was featured on Marc Antoine’s #1 single “Why Not”.

His collaborations extend to Nile Rodgers & CHIC, co-writing and producing “State of Mine” for their 2018 album It’s About Time. In 2019, he toured Japan with T-Square, appearing on the DVD T-Square Live at the Tokyo Blue Notes. He has also worked on Donny Osmond’s upcoming album and conducted the Royal Philharmonic at Abbey Road Studios for a Rolex commercial.

From 2009 to 2011, Saisse toured with PSP, a supergroup featuring Simon Phillips and Pino Palladino, which released Live in Tokyo and an upcoming Live in Zoetermeer DVD. His history with Phillips dates back to the early ’80s when they both toured with Al Di Meola—Saisse’s first major jazz gig.

In 2024, Saisse reunited with Di Meola’s electric band for a six-month U.S. and European tour, alongside Gumbi Ortiz, Elias Tona, and Tom Brechtlein. He also composed the score for Sitting Still, a documentary on renowned urban designer Laurie Olin, featuring performances by Rick Braun, David Mann, and David Finck.