With the release of his previous CD, The Bottom Line, Michael Manson joined the ranks of today's premiere jazz artists as he moved from sideman to center stage.His first single “Outer Drive” reached the top 10 on the R&R Smooth Jazz.
His passion and precision are displayed with both unrelenting power and laid-back grace on the album that, he says, “reflects the deepest expression of all I have felt making music for the last twenty years.”
For Michael Manson, the bottom line has always been great music. Since he first picked up a guitar (not a bass), he has moved persistently from strength to strength, one association leading inevitably to another in a career that has brought him front and center with the most esteemed names in jazz, gospel, R&B, rock and pop.
A native of Chicago, he joined City Lights and began performing regularly on Chicago's jazz circuit. In 1999, he was invited to play the Montreux Casino Lights Festival. Sharing the stage with the likes of Boney James, George Duke and Kirk Whalum, he made connections that would eventually lead to a spot performing on the Montreux Jazz Tour.
On Michael Manson's new CD Just Feelin' It, he is credited for writing and production. For this album Michael has collected the who's who of Smooth Jazz: Rick Braun, Kirk Whalum, Jeff Lorber, Brian Culbertson, Nelson Range, Norman Brown, Paul Jackson Jr., the legendary George Duke and many more great jazz musicians. This album is a great mix of contemporary jazz, R&B and even a little gospel.
For Michael Manson, love of musical communication, exploration, collaboration and celebration is clearly what it's all about. This sophomore release reflects Manson's unabating passion with joy and inspired artistry, “There are musical conversations that are intriguing and I hope the audience shares in that. But it is just great for musicians to communicate in thai way. That's the joy of music. To make great music like that every night, that's what it's all about.”
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