Philip Bailey

For a musical figure with an illustrious past and a busy present, Philip Bailey has somehow remained firmly focused on the future. From his childhood in Denver — not exactly a hotbed of R&B — through decades productively creating, recording and performing a wide range of music both as a shining star with Earth, Wind & Fire and as a successful solo artist in multiple genres, Philip Bailey has consistently gone to all sorts of interesting musical places.

The impact of Earth, Wind & Fire has been such that some critics even dubbed the group “The Black Beatles,” a reflection of the power of the music the group has made. That forward-thinking approach to music, and to life itself, has been at the heart of Bailey’s solo career that began with 1982′s Continuation, and the 1984 platinum follow-up Chinese Wall, produced by Phil Collins and featuring their global smash duet “Easy Lover.”

Rather than simply seek to repeat the successful pattern of Chinese Wall, Bailey has continued to use his solo career to explore. For instance, he released four gospel albums between 1984 and 1991, including the Grammy-winning Triumph in 1986. “Music is a spiritual experience for me, and I was proud to be one of the spearheads at that time in what they called Contemporary Christian Music,” recalls Bailey. “Spirituality that’s always been part of my music.”

In the '90s, as Bailey continued to help lead Earth, Wind & Fire on the road, and along with White, in the studio as well, Bailey continued to explore his musicality. 1994′s Philip Bailey album was collaboration with Brian McKnight, and members of PM Dawn and Arrested Development. With Dreams, released in 1988, Bailey began his association with the Heads Up label. It was on 2002′s Soul on Jazz that Bailey was able to begin to focus on singing jazz in a new way that continues to excite and challenge him as a musician.

Similarly, recalling two recent visits to the famed Berklee College of Music — including one at which Bailey was named as an honorary Doctor of Music — he is characteristically quick to mention not all that he taught, but rather all that he learned from this experience.