Keyboardist Brian Simpson originally made his living as a sideman for other artists, most notably saxophonist Dave Koz but also such vocalists as Sheena Easton and Teena Marie.

These days he still works with Mr. Koz but “only at Christmas time,” he says.

Mr. Simpson makes his first Pittsburgh appearance as a leader on Saturday at the Hill House as part of the Jazz Intervention series of smooth-jazz concerts.

Mr. Simpson grew up in Gurney, Ill., 45 minutes from Chicago. His father played jazz guitar and his brother was a drummer whose bands rehearsed at his home — “It was just music, music, music.” Trying several instruments, with the tenor saxophone becoming “an unmitigated disaster,” he settled on piano and eventually studied at Northern Illinois University under the late Frank Mantooth.

“He came and left with me,” Mr. Simpson said. “That was just one of those serendipitous things — I didn’t know how fortunate I was to have him.”

In the late 1980s he moved to Los Angeles and worked with a couple of different wedding bands, recalling people telling him, “You’ll be back.” “I did go out there, and it did take a couple of years to get established,” he says. “I started at the bottom rung of the ladder. I didn’t know a soul.” But in 1990 he began playing with Teena Marie.

Mr. Simpson recorded his first CD in 1995 — “a one-off for a small label” that was received well. Trouble was, radio stations in every city played a different tune, and as a result, “I really didn’t see any profits from it.” Backing up Mr. Koz for all that time, he didn’t go back into the studio on his own until nine years later, with the CD “It’s All Good” and the title track hitting No. 1.

“I got an agent at that time, and that’s when I really started working,” he says. “It has allowed me to be Brian Simpson full time.”

His last release was last year’s “Out of a Dream,” which contains the singles “Skywatcher” and “When I Say Your Name.” He has a new one in the works for fall.

These days, Mr. Simpson spends a lot of time on the Smooth Jazz Cruise, where he serves as musical director.

“Most [people] don’t have a station in their towns,” he notes. “By coming on the cruise, it’s like you’re going to seven jazz festivals in one week.”

A perk of going on the cruise? “You get to know the artists personally — you might run into [keyboardist/trombonist] Brian Culbertson in the buffet line.”

Joining Mr. Simpson is Barbadian saxophonist Elan Trotman, a regular feature of Jazz Intervention concerts.

Rick Nowlin: rnowlin@post-gazette.com or 412-263-3871.

First Published: May 19, 2016, 4:00 a.m.