Sam Barsh (born 1981) is an American songwriter, keyboardist and record producer. He has worked in the genres of jazz, R&B, hip hop and pop.
Barsh was born in Chicago, IL, and began playing piano at the age of 4. [1] He attended New Trier High School in Winnetka, IL [2] and William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey. [3] Barsh moved to New York City in 2001 and currently resides in Los Angeles. [4]
From 2003 to 2006 Barsh was a member of the band of bassist Avishai Cohen, with whom he toured the world extensively. [5] Barsh appears on Cohen's albums At Home [6] and Continuo , [7] and the live album/DVD As Is...Live at the Blue Note. [8]
Between 2008 and 2011, Barsh released three albums as a leader: the independently released Live! and Live Vol. II, and I Forgot What You Taught Me on Razdaz Recordz. [9]
Along with vocalist Jesse Palter, Barsh founded the electronic pop group Jesse Palter and the Alter Ego, (later renamed Palter Ego), in 2009. [10] The group has released 2 EPs and two albums. [11]
In 2013, Barsh co-wrote The Man for Aloe Blacc's album Lift Your Spirit . The song reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart, and #8 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was certified platinum by the RIAA, [12] selling over 2.5 million copies in the US. [13]
Barsh played keyboards on the 2014 Kendrick Lamar song I , which received the award for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song at the 2015 Grammy Awards. [14] He composed and played keyboards on the song Institutionalized on Lamar's GRAMMY-winning 2015 album To Pimp a Butterfly .
In 2016, Barsh co-wrote and played on the songs Heart Don't Stand a Chance and Your Prime for Anderson .Paak's Grammy-nominated breakthrough album Malibu , and co-wrote Man Down for BJ the Chicago Kid's Grammy-nominated album In My Mind . [15] In 2017, Barsh co-wrote Logic's Black Spiderman, which won an MTV Video Music Award for "Best Fight Against the System" and was certified Gold by the RIAA. [16]
Barsh co-wrote Logic's Indica Badu feat. Wiz Khalifa from the Billboard #1 album Bobby Tarantino II in 2018. Both the album and single were certified gold by the RIAA. [17] He also co-wrote Elevate by DJ Khalil, featuring Denzel Curry, Cordae, SwaVay and Trevor Rich which was featured in the Academy Award-winning feature Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and the accompanying soundtrack, which was nominated for a GRAMMY award and certified 2× platinum by the RIAA. [18] [19]
In 2019, Barsh released an album titled The Nine, which was commissioned as part of the Skirball Cultural Center's "Notorious RBG" exhibit on the life of US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The album's collaborators include Aloe Blacc, Justin Tranter, Amber Liu, Sid Sriram, Miles Mosley, Shea Diamond, Christine Gordon, Mic Holden, Samad Savage and Harry Mack. [20]
In 2020, Barsh received a GRAMMY award nomination for Best R&B Song for co-writing the Tiana Major9 feat. EarthGang single Collide, which was featured in the film Queen and Slim. Collide was also awarded "Best Original Song" at the 2020 Black Reel Awards. [21] [22]
Barsh has performed with Babyface, Bobby McFerrin, Boyz II Men, Branford Marsalis, Bruno Mars, Cassandra Wilson, Common, David Foster, Debbie Friedman, Emily King, Estelle, Fred Wesley, Gene Simmons, Gregory Porter, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Kiran Ahluwalia, Large Professor, Lonnie Plaxico, Mark Ballas, Mino Cinelu, Natasha Bedingfield, Quadron, Ravi Coltrane, Rez Abbasi, Robin Eubanks, Roy Hargrove, Stevie Wonder, The Brand New Heavies, and Tom Jones. [23] [24]
Barsh was a nominee for the 2021 GRAMMY Award for Best R&B Song for co-writing the Tiana Major9 feat. EarthGang single "Collide." [25]
He was the recipient of two 2015 BMI Awards, the US R&B Hip-Hop award [26] and the London Pop Award. [27]
Barsh was a nominee for the Ashford and Simpson Songwriter Award at the 2014 Soul Train Awards. [28]
His composition Black Spiderman was Awarded a 2017 MTV Video Music award for "Best Fight Against the System."
Barsh's work as a composer and keyboardist has received 3 additional GRAMMY Awards out of 9 nominations.
He was awarded a 2000 Downbeat Magazine Student Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Soloist. [29]
Donald Jay Fagen is an American musician who was the co-founder, lead singer, co-songwriter, and keyboardist of the band Steely Dan, formed in the early 1970s with musical partner Walter Becker. In addition to his work with Steely Dan, Fagen has released four solo albums, beginning with The Nightfly in 1982, which was nominated for seven Grammys.
Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III, known professionally as Aloe Blacc, is an American singer, rapper, and musician. He is best known for his guest performance on Avicii's 2013 single "Wake Me Up", which peaked the charts in 22 countries. including Australia and the United Kingdom. As a lead artist, he is known for his singles "I Need a Dollar" and "The Man", the latter of which peaked the UK Singles Chart. Aside from his solo career, Blacc is also a member of hip hop duo Emanon, alongside American record producer Exile.
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Jesse Samuel Shatkin is an American songwriter, producer and engineer. He has worked with Sia, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Lopez, Fitz and the Tantrums, One Direction, and Miley Cyrus, among others. Shatkin was nominated in 2014 for Grammy Awards as both a producer and as a songwriter. Both nominations were based on his work on the Sia track "Chandelier", which he co-wrote and co-produced. He was also nominated in the Record of the Year category in 2013 as an engineer on Clarkson's single "Stronger ".
Jesse Palter is an American singer-songwriter and recording artist. Palter's work ranges from pop to jazz. She released her debut album, Paper Trail, on Mack Avenue Music Group July 19, 2019.
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