Jeff Franzel is a multi-talented songwriter and composer with over 35 years’ experience in the music business. As a jazz pianist, he toured with many groups, including Les Brown and The Hues Corporation (Rock The Boat) and has accompanied such artists as Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Mel Tormé.
Jeff has 2 Grammy Nominations-2025 and 2026.. He co-wrote Latto’s “Big Mama” which was nominated for Best Melodic Rap Performance this year. His song “Right in Front of Me” co-written with Nicole Zuraitis is nominated for Best Jazz Vocal Album for 2026.
Jeff recently worked with Marie Claire Giraud and Sondra Radvanovsky. He arranged the Barccarole in a jazz style also arranged 5 songs for Marie Claire’s upcoming EP to be released this month.
His songs have been featured in films including Runaway Bride- “Never Saw Blue Like That” -Shawn Colvin, Serendipity- “When You Know”-Shawn Colvin, Deja Vu, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Saturday Night Live, Dawson’s Creek and Touched by an Angel. Jeff’s song “Hold On To My Heart” will be featured in Sean McNamara’s new film 21 Down featuring Ashley Paul. His song Wishing Well is the main feature for Finding My Own Voice which premiers in The Manchester Film Festival in March, 2026
Jeff’s first ever recorded song was Taylor Dayne’s “Don’t Rush Me” which was a #2 pop hit. Latto -“Big Mama”-top 10 Urban Radio, Dennis van Aarssen “Hitch A Ride with Santa” -#1 Smooth Jazz Streaming Chart , Imen Siar -“Lonely People top ten Sirius XM- The Pulse . Jeff had a top 10 AC hit Kathy Troccoli -“You’ve Got A Way” and a #1 Contemporary Christian Dove Nominee – “Kathy Troccoli Love Was Never Meant To Die”. Jeff had hits with The Temptations, Phyllis Hyman, NSYNC -“The Only Gift”/I Don’t Wanna Spend One More Christmas Without You”, Dianne Reeves – “When You Know”, Shawn Colvin, Clay Aiken,-“I Survived You”, Josh Groban, Placido Domingo, Pope John Paul II- “La tua Semplicita”.
