CD Reviews:

The Orchestrist 2- Burning At Both Ends (2007)

Bio: (7/08)

Born: March 24, 1982 in Grand Prairie, TX to Adrienne Rayna and Artis Simms. Moved to Pennsylvania at age two and was raised by his mother and stepfather, Brydie Harris.

The second-oldest of seven, three half-siblings and three foster siblings, Justin comes from a very creative family, artistically, emotionally, and analytically. His music reflects that in variety, timbre, fusion, and specificity that is solely his own.

Justin discovered the love of music at age 12 when he joined the marching band in middle school and his mother brought home an old out-of-tune player piano.

Justin is a self-taught pianist and composer, having spent many hours in the midi labs in high school and eventually building a small home studio when he received his graduation gift, a Yamaha P-150 electronic stage piano.

Justin’s musical influences come from the likes of David Lanz, John Tesh, Wayne Gratz, and many other contemporary, new age pianists. His compositional style has been known to follow that of Cirque du Soleil, mixing world sounds with new ideas in a very rhythmic fashion, which was the doing of his experience in Drum Corps International.