NJPAC - January/February/March 2020

meet the artists
Valerie Simpson is half of
the songwriting-performingproducing
entity formerly known as
Ashford and Simpson. Their award
winning collaborations began four
decades ago and Valerie along
with her late husband, Nick Ashford,
have penned classic hits such as
“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,”
“You’re All I Need to Get By,”
“Reach Out and Touch Somebody’s
Hand,” “I’m Every Woman,”
“Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing,”
“Solid,” “Your Precious Love,” “I Don’t
Need No Doctor” and “Let’s Go Get
Stoned,” among others.
Simpson serves on the board of
the ASCAP Foundation where the
REACH OUT AND TOUCH Award,
honoring Nick Ashford, has been
established to aid struggling
songwriters.
In 2019-20 Simpson has toured
with Dave Koz and Paul Shaffer &
The World’s Most Dangerous Band.
Her music is in constant demand;
four Ashford & Simpson songs are
now featured in the Broadway hit
MOTOWN-The Musical, which is
currently touring the country. “I’m
Every Woman” is featured in a play
of The Bodyguard, currently on tour.
More recently, Simpson was featured
in Broadway’s CHICAGO, The Musical
for a limited engagement in the
role of Mama Morton.
Also in 2019, the National Academy
of Recording Arts and Sciences
presented the Trustees Award to
Ashford & Simpson during the
GRAMMY ® Awards telecast, adding
yet a new exciting dimension to a
highly diversified career.
In a career that spans more
than three decades, saxophonist
Dave Koz has racked up an
astoundingly impressive array of
honors and achievements: nine
GRAMMY® nominations, ten No. 1
albums on Billboard’s Current
Contemporary Jazz Albums chart,
numerous world tours, playing for
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