Doc Heavyside is a jazz pianist, producer, and composer hailing from the Deep South of the United States that currently resides in the Austin, Texas area. Doc’s music is a tasteful and intentional blend of R&B, soul and funk injected with jazz. His track “In Love” blends elements of jazz and R&B and features vocals by Andrea Tyler, drums by Iajhi Hampden, and bass by Jamaal Andrews. The track captures the happiness that comes with love through a peaceful atmosphere that paints an auditory emotional picture.
Doc composed “In Love” as he reflected on a romantic experience. However he does not think the song is limited to an expression of romantic love, but is rather a reflection of love of all kinds. This could be divine love, familial love, romantic love, platonic love and even love for pets. When people hear this song, Doc wants them to reflect on whoever they love and the good times and memories they had with them.
“I think love can solve a lot of problems. When a person is in love, they are very happy and they want everyone around them to be happy too. I think if there were more feelings like that in the world, it would solve a lot of problems…Love draws out the best in us.” he said.
Like most of his music, Doc started creating the song by jamming at the piano. When the music started to take him in a particular emotional direction, the lyrics came as a natural result of his sentimental thoughts and memories. Next, came the rest of the instrumentation like strings and guitar, which he purposely arranged to compliment the mood of the song. Andrea Tyler’s vocals bring these lyrics to life and uphold the jazz and R&B fusion based atmosphere of the song.
Doc has recently released several songs that encompass the multiple emotional directions love can go in. From tracks like “You Hurt Me” to “Can’t Let You Go” to “Crazy About You,” he enjoys expressing how love can have stages and be multifaceted. Additionally, he enjoys composing tracks that showcase and express his skill as a musician, such as his new track “Heavyside Calculus.”
“The track ‘Heavyside Calculus’ is a bit more musically challenging. I’m focusing more on the technical jazz side of my playing and musical abilities.” he said. Heavyside Calculus is more hard hitting and resembles the musical concept Miles Davis explored in the late 60’s and early 70s with famed rhythm section personnel like Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and Jack DeJohnette. The track delves into the advanced harmonic realm of polyphony as practiced by people like Coltrane and Davis.
Music has been a part of Doc’s entire life. His father was also a jazz pianist, specializing in the boogie-woogie style, which Doc learned from him. Doc also played the saxophone from elementary school to junior high school and became quite skilled at it for someone his age when he reached ninth grade. With teaching from his father and formal music lessons that his mother wanted him to take, he gained a strong foundation in understanding the world of jazz.
Doc started his journey into jazz as a pianist that just wanted to play the piano. However, with years of playing, he’s expanded to being able to call himself a producer and composer. He’s learned how to arrange music and effectively communicates with musicians to direct them on what to play and how to play it.
“I want to continue to build my reputation not only as a musician but as a producer, composer and songwriter. I want to continue to learn how to bring the right musicians and vocalists together to create something that sounds good.” he said.
“In Love” by Doc Heavyside is on streaming services now and you can listen to “Heavyside Calculus” here.
You can experience more layers of love and jazz by following Doc on these platforms:
Website | Apple Music | Spotify | YouTube | Facebook
The Starlight PR Team thanks Doc Heavyside for taking the time to speak with us.
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