From his start as a studio musician to his work as an arranger, writer and producer, Jimmy Bralower has found success in a wide spectrum of popular music. His work has been heard on numerous #1 records, over 70 gold & platinum albums and his name appears on over 250,000,000 recordings sold.
His first band ‘The Young Ones” was signed to Columbia Records when he was 14. Spending his years immediately after college on the road and in the studio as a drummer/producer with bands that came “this close” to making it, his first break came as part of the creative team for legendary rap & hip hop pioneer Kurtis Blow. As a performer, writer and arranger, on songs like ‘The Breaks” (the first gold 12” record ever) and “Basketball” (resurrected as the main theme of the recent film “Like Mike”), Bralower was an early believer in the burgeoning electronic technology and was the first studio drummer to adapt programming into his work. He’s responsible for crafting sounds and exploring previously uncharted territory, paving the way for contemporary hip hop and innovating techniques that are firmly established as part of the lexicon of modern recording.
Power Station
Jimmy became a fixture at the legendary Power Station studios in New York, working with owner Tony Bongiovi, where he officially began his full time studio career. His work caught the attention of producer Nile Rodgers, with whom he spent four years making records with likes of Madonna (Like A Virgin), Duran Duran (The Reflex, Wild Boys), Chic, Mick Jagger, Peter Gabriel, Jeff Beck and many more. His profile rising, he became a first call musician and arranger, putting his stamp on recordings with Cyndi Lauper (True Colors), Hall & Oates (Say It Isn’t So, Out Of Touch), Steve Winwood (Grammy Record of the Year “Higher Love”), Carly Simon, Billy Joel, James Taylor, Eric Clapton (Tears in Heaven), Brian Wilson (Love & Mercy) and a veritable Who’s Who of music icons.
Honing his craft by working closely with mentors as diverse as Rodgers, Russ Titelman, Phil Ramone, Jim Steinman and Bernard Edwards, prompted one magazine to dub him, “the producer’s secret weapon”. His reputation as someone who could comfortably adapt to many diverse styles and be relied upon to help crystalize the creative visions of high visibility artists in high pressure situations made him a fixture on many prestigious recording sessions, as he amassed a broad palette of styles and solutions to draw from... which would come to serve him well in his future endeavors.
In the mid 1990’s, Jimmy expanded his career into the world of mixing and re-mixing, adding production touches to records that were not quite “radio ready”. His production and remix of Jimmy Cliff’s “I Can See Clearly Now” and his production of Diana King’s “Stir It Up” landed on the soundtrack to the movie “Cool Runnings”. His co-production with Cyndi Lauper of “Hey Now, Girls Just Want To Have Fun” was an international hit and he produced Nicki Holland’s “I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself” for the soundtrack to “My Best Friend’s Wedding”. He was tapped by producer/A&R executive Russ Titelman to re-work some tracks of Michael McDonald’s, leading to his Adult Contemporary/Smooth Jazz hit “Hey Girl”... and his mix of Donna Lewis’ “I Love You Always Forever” went straight to the top of the charts.
Always keeping his hand in songwriting, one of Jimmy’s co-writes, “Misled”, became a top hit for Celine Dion, paving the way for his contributions on four of her albums, including co-arranging the chart topping Grammy winning ”It’s All Coming Back To Me Now” with longtime keyboard partner Jeff Bova and Jim Steinman.
The following year, a call from old friend and band mate Andy Goldmark brought Bralower out to LA to co- produce a track for new artist Jennifer Paige. The result was her debut single “Crush”... climbing to #2 on the Pop Charts.
Atlantic Records
After working on tracks for Britney Spear’s debut album, Jimmy was summoned Oslo, Norway, to help focus the direction of Atlantic’s newly signed teen singer-songwriters M2M. The first song he produced and co-wrote with them, “Don’t Say You Love Me” became the Gold record debut single from the soundtrack Pokemon - The First Movie. He went on to co- and executive produce their debut album. He stayed around Oslo long enough to co-produce records by indie rock band Babel Fish and boy band Midnight Sons... all for Atlantic Records.
His wide ranging talent development, record making and troubleshooting skills caught the attention of the powers that be at the label and in September of 2000, Jimmy was named Vice President of A&R and Staff Producer for Atlantic Records, working in multiple capacities with their broad-based roster of artists. With young artists like M2M & LMNT, he forged relationships with Teen People magazine and Radio Disney at the earliest stages of what would become a huge pre-teen market for the entertainment business. As the climate of the record industry began to change, the balance of Bralower’s time tilted toward administrative work. It was time to get back to the studio.
Today
With his friend, composer, arranger, vocalist & guitarist extraordinaire Johnny Gale; a renowned expert in the authentic stylings of classic soul, doo-wop, r&b, blues and rock, Bralower once again found a perfect catalyst to explore uncharted territory. Their combined knowledge and experience in of such a broad scope of musical settings has allowed them to meet the creative challenges of virtually any situation.
Gale had worked with a young soul singer named Ryan Shaw, and invited Bralower to see him perform. Within weeks, he was in Jimmy’s studio putting his voice on some tracks and the results were encouraging enough for the three of them to continue working together in everyone’s spare time. After crafting an album to showcase Shaw’s unique vocal talents, Bralower played the tracks in a chance meeting with A&R executive Michael Caplan and the wheels were set in motion to release “This Is Ryan Shaw”.
Their original composition, “We Got Love” found its way on to ABC-TV’s “Brothers & Sisters” before it was even released. It was also cast in the movie “My Blueberry Nights” and on the “Sex & The City” Vol. 2 soundtrack. Ellen DeGeneres and Carson Daly became fans and showcased Shaw on their TV shows. The record received a 2008 Grammy nomination.
Bralower has launched 45 Records, a new label whose first releases are an EP from Ryan Shaw and an album from Philly's legendary Soul Survivors.