Back in 2010 it is no exaggeration to say that producer and keyboard player Nate Harasim was a real Smooth Jazz Therapy favorite. His impressive grasp of what a contemporary jazz vibe should be appeared to know no limits. His production skills had been instrumental in propelling guitarist Steve Oliver's ‘Fun In The Sun’ to the top of the Billboard chart and he was also writing and producing for Paul Hardcastle’s daughter Maxine.
His brand of smooth jazz, tempered as it was by club and hip-hop vibes, betrayed the fact that this Michigan native grew up intensely influenced by Motown while his ‘side project’ DeNate (his collaboration with vocalist Deborah Connors that garnered the sumptuous ‘Reminisce’) seemed to offer endless possibilities.
His solo release ‘Rush’ hit the streets in 2011 and was followed in 2015 by ‘Shades Of Nate’. Then everything went quiet.
Nate Harasim, before the age of forty, had retired from the music business.
Now, six years after walking away from the recording studio, he is back writing and producing music. The driver for this return is the chance to produce the debut album from sax-man Nick Stone.
Over the years Nate had received repeated calls from Stone, another Detroit-based musician, trying to convince Harasim to work with him. Now, for Harasim who back in the day earned a Grammy nomination for his work on Dave Koz’s ‘Hello Tomorrow’ project and who has worked with a veritable who’s who of smooth jazz talent including Vandell Andrew, Nils Jipter, Phil Denny, Lin Rountree, Darren Rahn, Rob Tardik, and Elizabeth Mis, the time seems right for him to again engage with the creative process.
Although it is perhaps too early to anticipate if Harasim will also return to writing and producing music for himself one thing is clear, Nate Harasim is very much back.