Ian Bairnson
(born 3
August 1953,
Levenwick, Shetland
Isles, Scotland)
has been one of the most sought after session
musicians in the music industry, working with a myriad
of artists
from many musical genres. The record
producer, sound engineer, composer and long
time collaborator Alan Parsons has said of Bairnson, "he
is arguably the best guitarist in the UK".
Although born in Shetland, Bairnson grew up in Edinburgh, Midlothian,
Scotland.
His commercial success started in 1974, with the band, Pilot.
During this time with Pilot, he first collaborated with Parsons, the
producer on their debut self-titled album. It was this relationship that helped
move most of the band's members (bassist/lead singer David
Paton and drummer Stuart Tosh) into The Alan Parsons Project.
His guitar work, emphasis, and influence is evident all
throughout the Project's long history, however critics feel his
strongest performances came from the early 1990s, when the Project became the Alan
Parsons Band. Critical acclaim is drawn to songs from the album Try
Anything Once (especially "Mr. Time" and
"Jigue"), as well as songs from the follow-up album On Air
(especially "Cloudbreak" and "Blown By The Wind").
Bairnson's ability as a saxophone player is evident on The Time Machine,
his collaborative effort with Parsons. More recently, he is doing
session and touring work with a number of different bands, the latest
being with the band Junk (Bairnson, Jesús
Gabaldón, Pau Chaffer, Sarah Rope and Ángel Celada).
Collaborations
Besides working with Parsons, Bairnson has also worked with
the following artists:
Yvonne Keeley, Scotch
Mist, Jack
Harris, David Courtney, William
Lyall, Marylin Miller, Arlan Greene, Hudson-Ford, Paul McCartney &
Wings, Don Black & Geoff
Stephens, Steve Harley, Kate
Bush, Rab Noakes, Chris
De Burgh, Chris Rainbow, John Townley, Lenny
Zakatek, Eberhard Schoener, Maximum
Penetration, Les Lavin, Jon
Anderson, Bucks Fizz, Elaine
Paige, Paris,
Mick
Fleetwood, Bob Fish, Bananarama,
Esther
Ofarim, Bardo,
Panarama, Akira Inoue, Prelude, Rick Cua, David
Van Day, Julia Downes, Andrew
Powell, Bobby Gee, Keats, Kenny
Rogers, Mari
Iijima, Uwe Buschkotter, David
Sylvian, Anri,
James
Reyne, Nobuhide Saki, Thomas
Anders, Masamichi Sugi, Eric
Woolfson, Yukio Sasaki, Yui Asaka, Kyoko
Koizumi, Chage & Aska, Marie
Claire, Tom Jones, David
Paton, Tam
White, Marian
Gold, Stefano Pieroni, Beverley
Craven, Jim Diamond, Marajan,
Takafumi Ishida, Mary Mac, Jargon, Manolo Garcia, Alfonso
XII, Carola, and Liverpool
Express.
External links
