Multi-Emmy award winning guitarist/composer Brian Tarquin, known for his Smooth Jazz instrumental radio hits, has reach a new pinnacle as his jazz catalog reached 32 million streams on Pandora, Spotify & Apple Music. Tarquin exploded onto the scene with the track Arrow of Truth featured on the Top 20 Billboard charting release, This is Acid Jazz, Vol. 2 on Instinct Records. From 1996 to 2001 Brian recorded 4 solo albums, Ghost Dance, Last Kiss Goodbye, Soft Touch, and High Life. LAST KISS GOODBYE garnered the top 10 Smooth Jazz radio hits, One Arabian Knight, Jeff Beck’s classic Freeway Jam, Crazy Horse, Midnight Blue. SOFT TOUCH produced the O’Jay’s remake, Darlin Darlin Baby, Tangled Web, Jive Town and the soulful vocal Rainfall. Tarquin’s final Smooth Jazz release HIGH LIFE contained The Doors remake of Riders on the Storm, Heaven & Earth and the acclaimed Spotify Smooth Jazz classic Charlemagne. Tarquin has appeared on 38 releases, has 22 million streams on Pandora, 10 million streams on Spotify and Apple: selling over 140,000 physical records in his career.
During the 2020 pandemic lock down, Tarquin delved into the Lofi Jazz genre with his alter ego Asphalt Jungle, garnering over 3 million streams on Pandora, Spotify & Apple Music. Persuaded by Rod Linnum aka “LoFi Rod,” a fan of Brian’s early Smooth Jazz releases, Tarquin successfully entered the new format releasing a host of new singles through DashGo/Downtown Music. Lofi has become a very popular style of music on streaming platforms, especially on the Study Beats playlists. Tarquin states, “Lofi really reminds me of the Acid Jazz days when we were combining hip hop grooves with jazz progressions and overtones; adding cool horn riffs with clean guitar octaves a la Wes Montgomery.”
Tarquin is also known for having won 3 Emmy's for “Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition for a Drama Series” and has been nominated for an Emmy 6 times. In 2019 he received a Global Music Gold Award for his release Orlando in Heaven for “Best Album.” Three years in a row (2016-2019) Tarquin received “Best Album of the Year” nominations from the Independent Music Awards for his releases: Guitars for Wounded Warriors, Orlando in Heaven, and Guitars for Veterans showcasing his guitar prowess alongside such world-class shredders as: Steve Morse, Larry Coryell, Billy Sheehan, Bumblefoot (Guns N’ Roses), Gary Hoey, Reb Beach (Whitesnake), Jeff Watson (Night Ranger) and Chuck Loeb (FourPlay) to name a few.
