Smooth Jazz Therapy

Jamie Glaser's Music Supports Animal Charities

Jamie Glaser is perhaps best known for his collaborations with jazz greats such as Jean Luc Ponty, Manhattan Transfer, Lenny White and Chick Corea. Across genres, Glaser has worked with Bryan Adams and Chaka Khan while currently he is composing music for outlets as diverse as Animal Planet, ESPN, History Channel, Discovery and a host of network sports shows.

However, the big news is that Glaser’s new CD, ‘Music for Pets and People’ is now out on Lucky Records with $2-00 from every copy sold being allocated to animal rescue charities. Recently this has led to donations to organizations such as Best Friends Animal Society, the chinchilla rescue group Forchinate Chins, and Chintuition which specializes in funding adoption of those animals that have been victims of the despicable practice of ‘animal testing’ within industry.

‘Music for Pets and People’ can be both sampled and purchased at www.jamieglaser.com/petmusic.html. It is also now available on ITUNES and www.amazon.com

New Album From Nils Scheduled For Early 2009

News is that Nils is back in the studio to work on a brand new CD. It’s the follow up to his hugely successful ‘Ready to Play’ which garnered no less than three top thirty rated radio singles and is expected to have a strong soul influence. Work is already underway with the rhythm section that features drummer Ricky Lawson and bassists Alex Al and Reggie McBride plus percussionist and original KC and the Sunshine Band member Oliver Brown.

Also included in the line-up will be singer/keyboard player Clydene Jackson who is one of LA's best session singers, a regular member of Nils live band and, if that were not enough, the voice on Disney's ‘The Lion King’. Clydene and Oliver are also members of the R&B band Gravity 180 that recently created quite an internet stir with 35,000 hits on their My-space music player in one day.

The album will be Nils third on the Baja/TSR label and is slated for release early in 2009.

Chart Topping Sax Pack Headed For Thornton Winery

Not only are the superstar sax trio of Jeff Kashiwa, Kim Waters and Steve Cole (known as the Sax Pack) setting their sights on an impressive chart record they have also added a new date to their current tour schedule. With their ‘Fallin' for You’ topping the chart of most played on smooth jazz radio for an eighth consecutive week they have surpassed the seven weeks at number one previously enjoyed this year by both Kenny G's ‘Sax-o-loco’ and Jessy J's ‘Tequila Moon’. In fact eight weeks at the top marks the longest stay at #1 since Rick Braun & Richard Elliot’s ‘R n R’ spent 10 weeks there in the fall of 2007.

No doubt the Sax Pack will be playing ‘Fallin' for You’ when they perform at the Thornton Winery, Temecula, CA on October 5 where show time is at 4-00 pm. This late addition to the Thornton’s ‘Champagne Jazz Concert Series’ is sure to draw a crowd so to get your tickets go to www.thorntonwine.com

G John Martin - Black Ice

Under siege from lack of radio play and in need of a fresh identity, there are many (me included) who consider that to survive as a viable genre, contemporary jazz must move closer to an urban R & B format. This being the case vocalist G John Martin seems ideally placed to reap the benefit. After touring the world and opening a record label in Japan, Martin has released his debut CD ‘Black Ice’ which, although widely described as “a familiar sounding smooth soul mix that recalls Motown greats such as Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye”, is in fact replete with hugely relevant jazz tinged urban vibes.

Remix Of DeNate's Sweet Dreams Set For Radio

Take vocalist Deborah Connors, add multi-instrumentalist Nate Harasim and the result is the sophisticated smooth soul sound of DeNate. The duo was formed when Harasim and Connors collaborated on the song ‘Feel The Love’ for Harasim’s second solo album ‘Love’s Taken Over’. The chemistry was such that ‘Reminisce’, their first album together, was released August 19 on the rapidly emerging nuGroove label. It features a number of special guest performers including bassists Mel Brown and Bob Madsen, trumpeter Gordon James (whose own excellent CD ‘In Joy’ was reviewed here in November of 2007) and guitarists Frank Selman and Michael Powell. In fact the hot news is that a remix of the tune ‘Sweet Dreams’, from the ‘Reminisce’ album, is scheduled to debut as a single at the end of September. This radio friendly re-imagining is the work of contemporary jazz mastermind Darren Rahn who played sax on the album and been pivotal in the recent charting success of Wayman Tisdale, Dave Koz and Eric Darius.

Smooth Music Cruise Sampler In NYC

Not sure what smooth jazz cruising is all about? Well, now is your chance to find out. Returning by popular demand and for one night only, Smooth Jazz New York and Haven Entertainment has announced that it’s SPIRIT OF NEW YORK ‘All Star Jam & Cruise’ will depart from Chelsea Piers – Manhattan, New York City on Friday, October 10th at 6-30 pm and 9-30 pm. This is a perfect way to sample the musical delights that will be on offer when the 2009 Smooth Music Cruise sets sail from Miami on January 31 2009 for six intoxicating days on what is being terms the ultimate music vacation. These October 10 vignettes, which promise to sell out quickly, will feature some of the biggest names from the Smooth Music Cruise including Norman Brown, Nick Colionne, Shilts, and ‘Hollywood’ Dave Hiltebrand.

In January they will be joined by such contemporary jazz luminaries as Boney James, Mindi Abair, Larry Carlton, Acoustic Alchemy, Greg Adams, Michael Lington, Marion Meadows, Steve Cole and many more. For more information go to www.smoothmusiccruise.com

In Memory Of Isaac Hayes

The sad death, on August 10, of Isaac Hayes filled me with great sadness. I grew up listening to his wonderful music and continued to do so right up until the present. The loss his passing represents to a generation of music lovers is incalculable and the influence he has had on soul (and contemporary jazz) music over four decades is immense. Although I have found it difficult to find the words with which to articulate the magnitude of what his death means I am indebted to my good friend Tanisha Jackson for her beautifully written memory of Hayes life that first appeared at www.soulinterviews.com. I am honored to reproduce it as follows.

Nicole Mitchell - A Sound Of My Own

Merging classic soul sensibilities with hip hop in a way which emulates Angie Stone at her sizzling best, Nicole Mitchell has burst onto the scene with her brand new CD ‘A Sound Of My Own’. Her divaliscious performance on all 18, (yes 18), songs is sometimes seductive, often sexy and always assured yet although it could be argued that an album of, say, 12 selected tracks might have been a safer path to tread, it cannot be denied that ‘A Sound Of My Own’ is a collection of tremendous merit and a brilliant showcase for Mitchell’s work. In fact it was as far back as 2004 that Nicole gave the first indications of what her music was all about. Her debut ‘Many Moods Of Me’, a cool concoction of hip hop infused neo soul, included the soulfully sexy ‘Everything I Miss At Home’ and ultra catchy tunes such as ‘Many Moods’ and ‘Over You’. It signposted the direction in which Nicole was headed and now, four years on, with her own great compositions, increased production nous and top notch input from Sharay Reed and Keith Henderson, Mitchell has really arrived.

Smooth Jazz Dumped In Philadelphia

Sad news from Philadelphia, where at 6 pm yesterday, (Friday September 5, 2008), Greater Media abandoned its smooth jazz output on 97.5 and, in what was the nation’s seventh-ranked market, effectively ended the tenure of WJJZ. The fact it signed off after Boys II Men's ‘I'll Make Love to You’ speaks volumes as to how out of touch radio programmers have become with what smooth jazz listeners want to hear. It is hoped when 97.5 re-launches on the morning of Monday September 8, with an as yet unspecified format, that it tries a little harder to connect with whatever audience the new target demographic happens to be.

Indeed, smooth jazz in Philadelphia has experienced a checkered history since August 10, 2006 when Clear Channel, which had aired WJJZ on 106.1 for the previous 13 years, chose to pull the plug. Although Greater Media resurrected WJJZ in November of the same year, and in the process moved it to 97.5, the failure of the company to tap into the obvious advertising potential of a genre that is not only about the music but also the lifestyle associated with it is now clear for all to see.

Spotlight On Patsy Meyer

Now for a feature on the excellent Patsy Meyer that originally appeared in my regular column at ABYSSJazz. Subscriptions for this top notch smooth jazz magazine, which includes nine issues plus a free CD, can be had for as little as $24-95. For more information send an e-mail to [email protected]

Multi tasking is a term that might have been invented specifically for singer and percussionist Patsy Meyer. In 2007, after touring with Norman Brown and Patti Austin the previous year, she reconnected with Brown for his now annual Summer Storm Tour. This year, in the company of Paul Taylor, Alex Bugnon and Chante Moore, she is again on the road with Brown as part of his newly named Summer Storm Orchestra but for Patsy Meyer this is far from the full story. Singing, while playing congas, bongos and other hand percussion, has become her trademark and has created opportunities for her to open as a solo artist for the likes of Spyro Gyra, Chuck Mangione, Lisa Loeb, Ambrosia and the Rippingtons. Amidst all of this her voice has been featured on commercials for dozens of Fortune 500 companies, from AT&T to Walmart, and more than of 60 of her original songs have graced television and the big screen. In fact she continues to write for TV and film and is a regular contributor (both as a writer and an occasional singer) to NBC’s music-rich daytime soap, Passions.