Jeff Franzel

Jeff Franzel is a songwriter/musician who has composed for a number of notable artists including 'N Sync, Taylor Dayne, The Temptations, Shawn Colvin, and Clay Aiken. He has collaborated with acclaimed lyricists such as Alex Forbes, Ty Lacy, Jess Cates, Monty Powell, Anna Wilson, Lindy Robbins, Darrell Brown,Tom Kimmel and Shelly Peiken. Jeff's songs have been featured on over 20 platinum albums in the U.S. and other countries. He also performs in a Jazz Quartet in his hometown, New York City.

Background

Jeff began his career as a jazz pianist and toured with many groups including The Hues Corporation and the big band legend Les Brown (bandleader). He accompanied such artists as Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Mel Torme. After an invaluable piece of advice he received from Les, he focused his energy on composing. Since then Jeff has written for numerous artists while still retaining his reputation as a top-notch performing musician.

Songwriting Career

Pop Hits

Jeff scored big in 1989 when his song Don't Rush Me was recorded by Taylor Dayne and eventually peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. He continued to write hit songs throughout his career and has established a name for himself as a respected songwriter. Among his various recorded works are "You've Got A Way" (top 10 Adult Contemporary) and "Love Was Never Meant To Die"(peaked at #1 on Christian charts) both written with and recorded by Kathy Troccoli, "Never Saw Blue Like That" (Shawn Colvin, appeared in Runaway Bride and Dawson's Creek), "When You Know" (Shawn Colvin, appeared in Serendipity (film)), "I Survived You" (Clay Aiken),"Hoops of Fire" (The Temptations), "The Only Gift" and "I Don't Wanna Spend One More Christmas Without You" ('NSync) .

Other Works and Recent Recordings

His music has also been recorded by Hayley Westenra, Phyllis Hyman, Jennifer Brown, Russell Watson, Billy Dean, Raven Symone, Billy Gilman, Shannon Noll, Anna Wilson, Nikki Webster, Louise Redknapp, and VanVelzen. Chuck Wicks (RCA Records) recently recorded his song Starting Now, which was produced by Monty Powell and Dann Huff. It was co-written by Chuck Wicks and Anna Wilson and the album debuted at #7 on the country charts. "When You Know," written with Tom Kimmel is the title track to Dianne Reeves' new CD. He has also written top 10 singles in Australia, Brazil, UK, Poland, The Czech Republic, The Philippines and The Netherlands. His most recent work, La Tua Semplicita, will be recorded by Plácido Domingo with Pope John Paul II's lyrics adapted to the melody. It will be produced by Jorge Calendrelli.

Other Highlights

Jeff has recorded three music library CD's for FirstCom and Universal's Music Production library. His compositions have been featured on numerous television programs and shows, often as background music. He is also active in performing jazz piano in the NY area and recently recorded a jazz Christmas CD with Anna Wilson, which consists of 3 original songs. It was produced by Monty Powell. Jeff often produces and develops upcoming artists. He has music directed for Hayley Westenra and Deborah Cox. He will be appearing at the Park City Jazz festival in August with Anna Wilson and will be performing at Steinway Hall this coming September with his jazz quartet. Jeff is currently a Steinway artist.