from NIELSEN/PEARSON
Written by Reed Nielsen & Mark Pearson
This week, go back to 1980 and the sophisticated soft/rock music of Nielsen/Pearson. The late Reed Nielsen (died November 15, 2014) and his partner Mark Pearson were among those gifted musicians who walked the quality pop road. On their Nielsen/Pearson album, they wrote songs with beautiful melodies, great hooks and arranged them with an irresistible jazzy flavor not far from the Steely Dan or Gino Vannelli world. Lyrically, they were more conventional than Donald Fagen and Walter Becker of Steely Dan. Nielsen’s and Pearson’s music presented similar, unusual chord changes and superior musicianship delivered by session aces comprising of Vinnie Colaiuta on drums, Neil Stubenhaus on bass, Charles “Icarus” Johnson on guitar, Tom Scott and Chuck Findley playing the horns.