Bradley Joseph
The Official Bradley Joseph Website
Bio
SHORT BIO
Bradley Joseph was a featured keyboardist on Yanni's "Ethnicity 2003 World Tour". Performing to over 500,000 people on the world's greatest stages, including Madison Square Garden and The Hollywood Bowl. Billboard Magazine ranked it the fourth largest tour of the year. Bradley has worked with him for over six years and is a featured keyboard player on the CD Yanni - Live At The Acropolis.
Bradley has also worked with artists under RCA, Epic, Warner Brothers, and Polygram. Additionally, he toured with Sheena Easton for five years as her co-music director and appeared on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno". Some of Bradley's compositions and ever-popular CD, Rapture are part of Narada's line up. His release, One Deep Breath held a position in "NAV's Top 100" radio chart for over six months.
Bradley owns Robbins Island Music and has produced, performed and distributed worldwide, his own compositions including 15 CD and DVDs and numerous piano books. Recently he was named one of the "Ten Outstanding Young Minnesotans" of 2004!
DETAILED BIO
It has long been an unwritten adage among musicians that within every great sideman is a solo artist waiting to emerge. After years touring the world with Yanni and Sheena Easton, keyboardist/composer Bradley Joseph is creating his own remarkable music.Born and raised in Willmar, Minnesota (a hundred miles from Minneapolis), Bradley started playing classical piano at the age of 8 and easily understood music's complexities.
One morning his father taught him how to play a boogie-woogie blues tune, by nightfall he could play the entire piece.
While playing in the jazz band in junior high, Bradley took a concert field trip which left no doubt that music was the only possible path in his future:
"I saw Buddy Rich perform, I sat in the first row and when Buddy's sax player stood up to take his first solo something just clicked - the world closed in around me. I felt the power of music and knew that it was something special, a gift to be shared."
Inspired by keyboard oriented pop/rock bands like Styx and Journey, Bradley started playing in local Twin Cities rock bands when he was 19. After attending Moorhead State College as a music major, he led some of his own bands around the area before hooking up with veteran guitarist Dugan McNeill, whose U2-like group was signed to Polygram. Coincidentally, McNeill and Yanni had once played together in the technopop band Chameleon back in the late '70s and early '80s.
In 1989, Yanni, whose greatest popularity was yet to come, was looking to replace keyboardist John Tesh, who was launching his own solo career. Bradley recorded his first demo tape and sent it off to Yanni who hired him for his next tour, sight unseen, based solely on his compositions. 
Bradley toured with Yanni from 1990-1995 and is featured on the platinum billing, Yanni: Live at the Acropolis CD and video. Bradley recalls:
"My first show was at the Starplex in Dallas with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and we were filming a video project. It was a real trial by fire for me." (pictured rehearsing at Sony Studios in L.A.)
In between Yanni tours, Bradley also joined Sheena Easton's touring band as keyboardist and co-musical director. They toured extensively throughout the United States, as well as Japan, Indonesia, Puerto Rico, and an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (pictured below).
Bradley's touring experiences inspired him to eventually do his own project.
"I am a composer first and foremost, and have always believed that being able to write memorable melodies is what sets musicians apart.
In 1994, Bradley released his first solo album, Hear the Masses. The album contains ten original compositions written, recorded and produced by Bradley.
Bradley's compositions demand top notch players. He incorporates other high caliber musicians on Hear The Masses, including world class drummer, Charlie Adams, and Rick Fierabracci on fretless bass, Grammy award winning violinist Charlie Bisharat, and vocalist Jeanette Clinger, all world-touring & recording veterans.
Through the magical reach of the World Wide Web, Bradley caught the attention of Narada Records in 1997. Drawing upon a lifetime of reflections and experiences, Rapture, Bradley's stunning album for Narada, is a beautifully realized journey into the heart and soul of an artist. Recorded with a fifty-piece orchestra, it features intimate piano pieces, quartets, and full orchestral works.
In 1998, Bradley started his own company, Robbins Island Music, and released his third CD, Solo Journey, ten piano pieces designed for relaxing, reflecting and healing.
"Over the past few years I've been approached by listeners with the most wonderful stories of how my music has affected their lives. Stories of how it played as they brought their first born child into the world , or comforted them during a long term illness. Solo Journey was written with their stories in mind. They provide an intimate and peaceful environment for the special times we all encounter in our lives."
At the request of his fans, Bradley's fourth CD Christmas Around The World came out in 2000 and reached NAVS top 100 radio playlist. Bradley hand-picked songs from around the world and recreated them with his own unique style. Each melody contains history and meaning that has endured for centuries.
Bradley's fifth CD One Deep Breath reached awaiting fans in 2002. This remarkable CD is based on moods, memories, and dreams. Ranked on NAVS top 100 radio charts for 6 months, the music on this CD has a dream-like quality that helps the listener pause, take one deep breath, and go beyond their daily lives.
Beginning with simple melodic lines on the piano, Bradley has a unique way of creating even the most highly textured productions:
"Basically, I write from a two person standpoint. First, I let the song take hold and I put down the idea as a raw emotional statement. Then I let it breathe and come back, approaching from more of an objective point of view. This allows me to rediscover the true meaning I intended in the beginning, shedding new light on how I can best represent that to the listener."
At the beginning of 2003, Bradley embarked in another tour with Yanni. 60 cities. 60 shows. "It's great being with old friends again - making beautiful music." Bradley's sixth CD, The Journey Continues, was written while on tour and released in 2004.
More information on all of Bradley's music here!