Smooth Jazz Therapy

Former Commodores Sax Man Donn Bynum Releases Solo Debut

The solo debut from saxophonist Donn Bynum is ‘Do You Feel Me’ and although his may be a name new to many he has a pedigree that most could only dream of. In fact while other kids were making college plans, Bynum was creating a future with his horn. Even before attending Central State University in Wilberforce Bynum had already played several shows with the legendary Bootsy Collins Group and after graduating joined up with the world famous Commodores. Playing sax, flute, keyboards and drums Bynum performed with the Commodores on several tours of Europe, Asia, Africa, as well as across the USA. In addition Bynum toured for several years with The Brothers Johnson and appeared on the TV show ‘Motown Live’.

Now ‘Do You Feel Me’ gives Bynum the chance to at long last step center stage. Its ten choice tracks include the Tony Toni Tone number ‘Anniversary’ which was turned into a contemporary jazz smash by Gerald Albright. Check back here soon for a complete review of ‘Do You Feel Me’.

The Motown Collection From Time Life

It could be argued that one of the places from which smooth jazz draws its inspiration is the abundant catalogue of soul music from the sixties and seventies. This being the case there is sure to be major interest from lovers of contemporary jazz in the new five-volume (10 CD) collector’s set now available from the magazine Time Life. The set, which is not available in stores and can be purchased at www.timelife.com, features songs by The Temptations, The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, The Jackson 5, Four Tops, Martha & The Vandella's, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, Mary Wells, Marvin Gaye, and many more. As an added bonus, a DVD of 12 performances by some of Motown’s favorite artists is also included.

Jason Miles Back With New Grover Tribute

In its various forms the ‘tribute’ album seems very much the flavor of this musical year. Gerald Albright, Brian Culbertson and Mick Hucknall have already weighed in with their own individual takes on the concept and on August 19 Jason Miles is set to join them is. ‘2 Grover With Love’ is the second installment of Miles’ special homage to Grover Washington Jr that began in 2000 with ‘To Grover With Love’. It sold over 100, 000 copies, was re-released by ARTizen in July of 2006 and marked out Jason Miles as a true innovator in his field. This latest effort was recorded live at Bennett Studios in New Jersey after only one day of rehearsal and features such contemporary jazz glitterati as Chuck Loeb, Gerald Veasley, Ralph Macdonald, Najee, Kim Waters, Jay Beckenstein, Andy Snitzer and Maysa (who delivers a spine tingling rendition of the Washington classic ‘Mr. Magic’.

Chickens, Eggs And Borders Books & Music

Of late I have been particularly scathing on the current state of smooth jazz radio and the way its ultra restrictive play-lists are choking the life out of the genre’s emerging talent. I have often asked questions along the lines of ‘how can artists be expected to sell CD’s when their music is never heard on radio’ but KIFM 98.1 Deejay J Weidenheimer has put an interesting slant on the same subject with his observation on just how difficult it is now becoming to actually buy CD’s from a store.

Take, for example, Borders Books & Music in downtown San Diego. This once great music location boasted, in its heyday, an outstanding range of contemporary jazz with facilities to listen to every CD in the store. It now stands as a pale comparison of its former self with a selection so limited it is hardly worth checking out. I guess we are back with chickens and eggs. Borders have obviously scaled back its stock of product in response to falling demand. However, although demand has always been fuelled by radio play it has also been stimulated by the ability to use stores such as Borders to browse, discover, sample and buy. The consequence of lack of choice is potentially devastating. It’s hard to work out where this all started but easy to see where it might end.

Wine And Jazz Welcome Chieli Minucci

"Sweet Surrender" is the latest release from innovative New York guitarist Chieli Minucci. It was recorded with his longtime Grammy nominated band Special EFX and Chieli, along with Luna Vineyards, will be featured as part of the July package from the excellent Wine and Jazz Experience. Chieli is paired with Luna Vineyard's 2006 Sangiovese and 2007 Freakout (a white blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, and Ribolla Gialla). Legend has it that when one of Luna's founders tasted this white blend, he "Freaked Out" and the likelyhood is you will do the same with this Wine and Jazz pairing.

The Wine and Jazz Autograph Session to support the event is on Sunday July 13th at Spaghettini Grill & Jazz Club,Seal Beach, CA. Luna Vineyards will be present to answer questions and give free tastings of the featured wines. As always, 94.7 The Wave (Los Angeles) will be broadcasting live from the venue.

This promises to be one of the most special Wine and Jazz Autograph Sessions yet. Chieli is flying in from New York to meet his West Coast fans and rumour is he will also be playing Anthology in San Diego on the 11th. Check out Chieli's website or go to www.wineandjazz.com for more details.

Chris Standring Back With Third Soul Express Tour

Coinciding with the success of his newest release, ‘Love and Paragraphs’, (the title track of which is currently number two on the chart of most played on smooth jazz radio), guitarist Chris Standring has once again called upon some of the genres top talents to join him for his third annual Soul Express tour. In the line-up for these now familiar evenings of funk, soul and R&B will be saxophonist Everette Harp and vocalist Phil Perry. The series opens up on July 11 show at the Riverfront Jazz and Blues Festival in Omaha and concludes on September 27 at Santa Fe Station in Las Vegas.

Alan Hewitt And His SoulJam Archestra

The multi talented Alan Hewitt has assembled a stunning roster of musicians from the bands of bands of James Ingram, Bruce Hornsby, Chaka Khan, Jazz Crusaders and Gladys Knight to produce what he has named his SoulJam Archestra. Indeed Alan Hewitt and the SoulJam Archestra with special guest Maysa Leak will be in Dallas, TX on July 5 to headline the Southside Holiday Blues and Coltrane Jazz Festival. This 4th of July Weekend event, which celebrates the spirit of American music, also includes Nick Colionne and will be held in the streets of Southside Dallas. Tickets can be purchased by calling 214-428-0025.

Smooth Jazz Radio Back In Denver

Effective from 6-00 AM on June 10, and in a move that is as surprising as it is pleasing; Bustos Media returned smooth jazz to the airwaves of Denver, CO. Broadcasting on 101.9 (the frequency previously occupied by Latin station KGDQ), and with the new call letters of KKHI, it will fill the void created earlier this year when Denver’s 104.3 flipped formats to sports. At the time, 104.3 explained away the shift by citing a fall in audience ratings and corresponding decline advertising revenue. Consequently the question to ask now is ‘what’s changed’? As Broadcast Architecture Smooth Jazz Network’s newest affiliate, it’s likely that KKHI will be playing the same narrow cross section of contemporary jazz and soft R & B that led to the demise of the format in New York, Houston, Baltimore, Jacksonville and Washington DC. In Denver as elsewhere, unless broadcasters wake up to the responsibility they have to showcase the fabulous array of new and emerging smooth jazz talent that currently never makes it to radio then this latest burst of excitement will be a short lived.

Shilts Makes Switch To nuGroove

Earlier this year sax man Shilts announced that he was bringing down the curtain on his long time involvement with funk outfit Down To The Bone. Now, ahead of the release of his brand new solo album ‘Jigsaw Life’, comes the news that he has signed with the excellently re-emergent nuGroove Records. In fact nuGroove was the original home for Down to the Bone and Shilts brings to it a high quality collection of music that opens with the track ‘Piece by Piece’ that he originally wrote for Rick Braun and Richard Elliot but which they never recorded. Now, funk enriched and with tempo suitably cranked, he combines the soprano sax (which he has not played in 20 years) with his more familiar tenor for a slice of what, in every respect, is vintage Shilts.

The first single to go to radio, and surely destined to be a summer hit, is the upbeat dance track ‘Back on The Hudson’’ while in complete contrast is the stunning ballad ‘A Promise is a Promise’. For ‘Broken Silence’ Shilts enlists the aid of a string quartet. It’s a track that is further enriched by use of Hammond B-3 and he plays a trio of tenor saxophones to generate a bluesy, southern soul sort of sound for the party ready ‘Outside the Box’.

Trumpeter Humphrey Lyttleton Dies At Age 87

Trumpet player Humphrey Lyttelton was not a smooth jazz musician. In fact he had built his reputation in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s as a leading British revivalist of traditional New Orleans jazz. Consequently his music was not my cup of tea yet I received the news of his recent death with great sadness. This, in no small measure, was due to the endless enjoyment I derived from the part he played in BBC radio’s spoof quiz show I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue. In fact Lyttelton was the host of this comedy panel game from 1972 right through until his untimely death, at age 87, in April of this year. He became famous for his deadpan, disgruntled, and occasionally bewildered style of chairmanship, and for his near-the-knuckle double entendres which despite always being open to an innocent interpretation went much further than most BBC ‘pre-watershed’ humour. His contribution was quite simply hilarious and I will miss him greatly.

Lyttelton was a cousin of the 10th Viscount Cobham and a great-nephew of the politician and sportsman Alfred Lyttleton who was the first man to represent England at both football and cricket. From 1967 until April 2007, Lyttelton presented The Best of Jazz on BBC Radio 2, a programme that featured his idiosyncratic mix of top-quality recordings of all ages, including current material.

As a tribute to Lyttelton BBC Radio 4 will be presenting a series of programmes devoted to him. For more information go to www.bbc.co.uk/radio