This fall, Decca will release renowned musician Boz Scaggs' 'Speak Low, ' the silken-voiced singer's newest collection of standards and first studio album in five years, available on vinyl September 30 and in all other forms October 28. Co-produced with GRAMMY award-winning producer/arranger Gil Goldstein, Scaggs interprets Ellington, Mercer, Rodgers & Hart, and other classic writers and composers. In addition to Goldstein on piano/keyboards, the line up includes Alex Acuna (drums), Bob Sheppard (woodwinds), and Scott Colley (bass).
Scaggs began his distinguished career as a teenager and over a dozen records later, when Scaggs released 'But Beautiful, ' the critical and fan response was tremendous, and the album debuted at #1 on the Billboard Jazz charts. The Boston Globe hailed that Scaggs had "made one of the year's best albums of jazz vocals" (6/28/03), while Jazz Times noted that the release marked "an enticing new chapter in an already dynamic career" (September 2003).
Scaggs once told the LA Times (6/12/03), "I'm going to be around this music for awhile. I love its melodic and harmonic qualities, and it's going to impact what I sing and what I write. The door's been opened."
Dave Koz with Smooth Jazz TV host and producer Cameron Smith. The video shows Koz giving a personal tour of his kitchen, wine cellar, gym, office, and other special corners of the house. Koz also shares family and career photos.
Al Green’s whirlwind year began in May with the release of his critically acclaimed new album, Lay It Down. For Green the album marked the highest debuting release in his long, accomplished career.
From there he became the recipient of the 2008 BET Lifetime Achievement Award and gave a well received performance at the BET Awards. He then embarked on a worldwide tour that included his first show ever at New York City’s famous Carnegie Hall.
And still, with all that under his belt, believe it or not, the Grammy Award winning icon is just getting started.
The Los Angeles Times recently wrote, “Watching Al Green sing live should be on any list of “Things to Do Before You Die.””
Now, thanks to the power of television, combined with the format of late night talk shows, the ability to see Al Green perform will be as easy as picking up your remote control. On Friday, August 8th, Green will be performing “Stay with Me (By the Sea)” on Late Night with Conan O’Brien.
Here is a glimpse of what critics have been saying recently about Al Green.
“… he displays the voice and presence that make him one of soul’s greatest singers…Onstage his voice did still have it; it was strong and vivid, with his tangy, elastic baritone moan, his gospel rasps and his hearty falsetto.” -New York Times
“Green’s voice is a miracle, an incomparable, inventive instrument that produces sublime, swooping sounds with apparently minimal effort. He sings with urgency, sensitivity, conviction, control and nuance — not to mention creativity, particularly as regards his idiosyncratic phrasing.” -Washington Post
For more information you can visit him online at algreenmusic.com.
Al Di Meola - Diabolic Inventions & (Pid ) Big Al Sears - Sear-Iously (Bear Family ) Buddy Rich - Transitions (Unidisc Can/Zoom ) Cal Tjader - Best Of Cal Tjader (Monterey Jazz Festival ) Carl Leblanc - New Orleans Seventh Ward Griotdig (Preservation Hall ) Carl Leblanc - New Orleans' Seventh Ward Griot (Preservation Hall ) Carmen McRae - MS. Jazz (Pid ) Daniele Scannapieco - Lifetime (Delta (Uk) ) Darryl Alexander - This Way (DAP Entertainment) Dave Brubeck - 50 Years Of Dave Brubeck:Live At Mont (Monterey Jazz Festival ) Donald Harrison - Chosen (Pid ) Doris Day - All-American Girl (Primo ) Gabriela Arnon - Trouble With Park Aven (Pid ) Graham Collier - Deep Dark Blue / Portraits / Alternate Mosaics (BGO - Beat Goes On ) Groove Holmes - American Pie (Pid ) Holmes / Mcgriff - Supa Cookin (Pid ) Jazz & 80'S Set 1 & 2 / Variousdig - Jazz & 80'S Set 1 & 2 / Variousdig (Music Brokers Arg ) Jean-Louis Rassinfosse - Second Move (Fuga Libera ) Jimmy McGriff - If You're Ready Come Go With M (Pid ) Jimmy McGriff - The Mean Machine (Pid ) Jimmy Witherspoon - Monterey Jazz Festival Live 1972 Feat (Monterey Jazz Festival ) Jimmy Witherspoon - MJF Live 1972 (Concord ) Jo Jones - Drums By Jo Jones (Pid ) Joe Thomas - Joy Of Cookin' (Pid ) Joe Thomas - Masada (Unidisc Can/Zoom ) Joe Thomas - Feelin's From Within (Unidisc Can/Zoom ) John Nugent - Live At The Blue Note (DSM Dominic Sciscente Music ) John Zorn - News For Lulu (Pid ) Johnny Pate - Outrageous (Dusty Groove ) Lester Young - Jazz Giants 56 (Phantom Sound & Vision ) Lonnie L. Smith - Keep On Lovin (Unidisc Can/Zoom ) Preservation Hall Jazz Band - The Hurricane (Preservation Hall ) Reuben Wilson - Sweet Life (Unidisc Can/Zoom ) Reuben Wilson - Bad Stuff (Unidisc Can/Zoom ) Roy Haynes - Te Vou & Praiseltd (Dreyfus ) Roy Haynes - Te Vou/Praise (Dreyfus Jazz ) Rufus Harley - Bagpipes Of The World (Transparency ) Saudade Nova - Trianca (Pid ) Ted Nash - Mancini Project (Palmetto ) Teddy Wilson - Portrait (Documents Classics ) Thomas Faist - Me-We (Pid ) V.Sjoberg New Jazz Ensemble - Do Nothing Til You Hear From Me (Pid ) Variations In Time: Jazz Perspective - Variations In Time: Jazz Perspective (Public Transit Recordings ) Versatile Jazz - Versatile Jazz (Essential Media GRP ) Weather Report - X2: Heavy Weather/Black Market (Legacy )
Impromp2 - It Is What It Is (JCS Records) Shirley Horn - Monterey Jazz Festival Live 1994 (Concord Records (USA) )
Keyboardist Jeff Lorber has completed his next solo recording for the Peak Records label. The new CD, titled Heard That, will be released on September 30th.
Lorber co-produced the album with keyboardist Rex Rideout. The set features all-new songs, except for a cover of Amy Winehouse's Grammy-winning hit "Rehab."
The title track was co-written with saxophonist Eric Darius.
Heard That is Lorber's follow-up to his Grammy-nominated 2007 set He Had A Hat.
This fall, seven-time Grammy-award winning vocalist Al Jarreau will release his first-ever Christmas album – his first album of newly recorded music since 2006’s sensational Givin’ It Up with George Benson. Al Jarreau Christmas includes the singer’s distinctive vocal spin on a dozen yuletide classics. The album will be released on October 14th.
Al Jarreau Christmas opens with “Winter Wonderland,” written by Felix Bernard and Richard B. Smith in 1934 for Guy Lombardo, who hit #2 with the song’s timeless melody. The album is packed with festive favorites including “The Christmas Song,” “Come All Ye Faithful,” and “White Christmas,” the ageless tune written by Irving Berlin and first sang by Bing Crosby in the 1942 musical, Holiday Inn.
The album also features Jarreau’s versions of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” “Carol Of The Bells,” “Hark The Herald Angels Sing,” “Some Children See Him” and “Gloria In Excelsis,” a sacred song used in the Roman Catholic Mass.
After singing with Reprise in 1975, Jarreau has become a master of both studio and stage. Jarreau is the only artist to ever win Grammy awards in pop, jazz and R&B categories. During his career, Jarreau has earned awards and accolades from around the world.
Jarreau was recently featured on opening night of the Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. This year marked the 30th anniversary of the renowned festival, which was emceed by Bill Cosby. He will embark on a tour of Southeast Asia in September and the United States in December.
For more information about Al Jarreau, visit him online at aljarreau.com.
Alicia Keys has responded to criticism over a concert, after it emerged her forthcoming Jakarta show appeared to be sponsored by a tobacco company.
Tobacco Free Kids claim posters advertising the show, made it seem like the R&B singer's concert was being held in association with Mild Live Production - a subsidiary of tobacco producers Philip Morris International.
A statement from Alicia Keys says after the issue was made aware, she "immediately asked for an investigation and that corrective actions be taken."
"As a result, the tobacco company has respectfully withdrawn their sponsorship and all billboards, signage and other forms of advertising will be immediately removed." Keys also apologized for "any misleading advertising initially associated with the show".
Singer Will Downing has returned to the stage after a year and a half of battling the degenerative muscle disease polymyositis, which led to months of hospitalization and rehabilitation. Last month, Downing visited five cities on a meet-and-greet promotional tour, and last weekend the popular vocalist performed for the first time in nearly two years in Berkeley, California, with an all-star lineup.
Downing described the experience: "Actually the first show back was this past weekend. We did a jazz festival and it was great. Yeah, in the Oakland-Berkeley area. And it was me and Kenny G, Najee, Maysa, Brian Culbertson, and Sheila E and the Escovedo Family. So it was a moving day, it was a touching day, it was good to be back to work. And, you know, gradually we're gonna do more."
Downing will perform again this Saturday (July 26th) with the same lineup as part of the L.A. Jazz Explosion at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles.
The singer logged a Number One R&B album with his latest released After Tonight. His current single is "Fantasy (Spending Time With You)."
Scott Yanow, a veteran jazz journalist who has written about all styles of jazz during the past 30 years, recently completed The Jazz Singers. The huge book, which has profiles on the top 521 jazz singers of all time, is scheduled to be published and released by Hal Leonard in October 2008.
The Jazz Singers covers every significant jazz vocalist from 1900-2007, ranging from Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday and Mel Torme to Diana Krall and Jamie Cullum. It follows a long string of important and highly rated books by Yanow, including Classic Jazz, Swing, Bebop, Afro-Cuban Jazz, Trumpet Kings, Jazz On Film and Jazz On Record 1917-76. Yanow's vast knowledge of both jazz history and the current jazz scene has resulted in his work becoming definitive books that are widely read and consulted.
In his career, Scott Yanow has contributed to virtually every important jazz magazine including Jazz Times, Jazziz, Downbeat, Cadence, Coda, The Mississippi Rag and the Los Angeles Jazz Scene plus the All Music Guide website. He was the jazz editor for Record Review, co-produced a series of reissue CDs for Allegro Imports, has contributed to several festival programs (most recently the Playboy Jazz Festival), has penned over 500 liner notes and was the editor of the 3rd edition of the All Music Guide To Jazz. It is believed that he has written more jazz record reviews than anyone in history.
32 Festival De Jazz De Vitoria-Gasteiz - 32 Festival De Jazz De Vitoria-Gasteiz (Pid ) Adriana Calcanhotto - Mare (Pid ) Airto Moreira - Identity (BMG Japan ) Airto Moreira - Promises Of The Sun (BMG Japan ) Akiko Grace - Old & New-Retrun To New York- (Pid ) Al Cohn / Barry Harris - Barry Harris Trio With Al Cohn (Gambit Spain ) Albert Hammond Jr. - Como Te Llama ? (Pid ) Alyssa Graham - Echo (Sunnyside Records) Andre Kostelanetz - Scarborough Fair & Other Great Movie Hits / Traces (Collectables ) Andre Kostelanetz - Stereo Wonderland Of Golden Hits (Collectables ) Andre Kostelanetz - Today's Golden Hits / The Shadow Of Your Smile (Collectables ) Andre Kostelanetz - Scarborough Fair & Other Great Movie Hits/Traces (Collectables ) Andre Kostelanetz - Stereo Wonderland of Golden Hits/I Wish You Love (Collectables ) Andre Kostelanetz - Today's Golden Hits/The Shadow of Your Smile (Collectables ) Andre Kostelanetz - Stereo Wonderland of Golden Hits/ I Wish You Love (Collectables ) Andre Kostelanetz - Today's Golden Hits/ The Shadow of Your Smile (Collectables ) Andrea Pozza Trio - Drop This Thing (Pid ) Andy McKee - Art Of Motion (Candyrat Records ) Antonio Carlos Jobim - Mucha & Tom Jobim (BMG Japan ) Art Blakey & Jazz Messengers - With Thelonious Monk (Pid ) Atjazz - Full Circle (Mantis Recordings ) Banda Black Rio - Gafieira Universal (BMG Japan ) Barney Wilen - Dear Prof. Leary (MPS ) Barney Wilen - Dear Prof Leary (MPS ) Battle Jazz Bigband 3rd - Battle Jazz Bigband 3rd (Pid ) Beegie Adair - My Romance (Green Hill Productions ) Beginners Guide To Latin Jazz - Beginner's Guide To Latin Jazz (Nascente/Box ) Black Hole Quartet - Black Hole Quartet (Pid ) Blue Note Jazz Band: Early Days 1968-1978 - Blue Note Jazz Band: Early Days 1968-1978 (Saydisc ) Bobby Hackett - Most Beautiful Horn In The World / The Night Love (Collectables ) Bobby Hackett - The Most Beautiful Horn In the World/Night Love (Collectables ) Bobby Hackett - The Most Beautiful Horn In the World/ Night Love (Collectables ) Bobby Mcferrin - Don't Worry, Be Happy (Collectables ) Brecker Brothers - Return Of The Brecker Brothers (Verve ) Candy Dulfer - Candy Store Tour Edition (Pid ) Cannonball Adderley - Quintet Plus (Universal Japan ) Cape Town Jazz - Cape Town Jazz (Sheer Sound ) Changyao Zhu - Erhu Art Of (Pid ) Cheo Hat - Vietnamese Folk Theatre (Pid ) Chet Baker - Estate (Gambit Spain ) Chris Connor - All About Ronnie: Bethlehem Recordings 1953-55 (Acrobat [cit570] ) Chukp'A Kim - Kayagum : Sanjo (Pid ) Clementine - Chocolat Et Sweets (Pid ) Daniel Colin - French Cafe Music-Swing!Musette (Pid ) Distel / Lewis - Afternoon In Paris (Pid ) Divas Du Jazz - Divas Du Jazz (Wagram ) Dizzy Gillespie - Cool World (Verve ) Dizzy Gillespie - The Cool World (Verve ) Dizzy Reece - Asia Minor (Universal Japan ) Dr. John - City Lights (Verve ) Duduka Da Fonseca - Samba Jazz Fantasia (Anzic ) Dusko Goykovich - Handful O'Soul (Pid ) Dusko Goykovich - Samba Do Mar (Pid ) Dusko Goykovich - Balkan Blue (Pid ) Dusko Goykovich - In My Dreams (Pid ) Dusko Goykovich - Portrait (Pid ) Ekkehard Wolk Ensemble - Homage To Nino Rota (Pid ) Ellen Goynor - Lazy Jazz Of Goynor Ellen (Pid ) Eloise Laws - Love Factory (Castle/Sequel ) Elvin Jones - It Don`t Mean A Thing (Pid ) Elvin Jones - When I Was At Aso Mountain (Pid ) Elvin Jones - In Europe (Pid ) Erin Bode - The Little Garden (Native Language) Erin Bode - Little Garden (Native Language Music ) Gale Garnett & The - Gale Garnett & The Gentle Reign (Phantom Sound & Vision ) Gale Garnett & The Gentle Reign - Gale Garnett & The Gentle Reign (Pid ) George Otsuka - Maracaibo (Pid ) Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra - Casa Loma In Hi Fi (Collectables ) Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra - Swingin Decade (Collectables ) Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra - Casa Loma In Hi-Fi (Collectables ) Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra - Swingin' Decade (Collectables ) Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra - Casa Loma In Hi-Fi! (Collectables ) Hiroyuki Namba - Golden Best Nanba Hiroyuki (Pid ) Hugh Masekela - Home Is Where The Music Is (Verve ) Hugo Fattoruso & Tomohiro Yahiro - DOS Orientales (Pid ) Ichiro Masuda - My Way (Pid ) Ichiro Masuda - Bewithed-Richard Rodgers Song Book (Pid ) Ichiro Masuda - Cheeck To Cheek-Irving Berlin Song (Pid ) Ichiro Masuda - What Is This Things Called Love-Co (Pid ) Ivan Lins - Modo Liver (Pid ) JFK Quintet - New Jazz Frontiers From Washington (Universal Japan ) Jin Chau - Traditional Songs Of Hue (Pid ) Joao Donato - New Sound Of Brazil (BMG Japan ) John Klemmer - Barefoot Ballet (Verve ) John Schroder - Sir Lemuel's Dance (Pirouet ) John Tchicai - Afrodisiaca (MPS ) Johnny Griffin - Lady Heavy Bottons Waltz (Pid ) Johnny Music Almond - Hollywood Blues (Phantom Sound & Vision ) Johnny Music Machine Almond - Hollywood Blues (Pid ) Jun Fukamachi - Golden Best Fukamachi Jun (Pid ) Kiyoto Fujiwara - Jump Monk (Pid ) Ku'Uipo Kumukahi - Let's Hula With-Hawaii's Sweethear (Pid ) Lee Konitz - Stereokonitz (Pid ) Life Music 9 - Life Music 9 Rio De Janeiro (Pid ) Locomotora Negra - Jazzin & Dancin 08 (Pid ) Luiza - Luiza (BMG Japan ) Mabumi Yamaguchi - Mabumi (Pid ) Mark Murphy - Rah (Universal Japan ) Masaki Ueda - Golden Best Ueda Masaki (Pid ) Maximum Sound Presents - Maximum Sound Presents-Breezy One Dr (Pid ) Maynard Ferguson - Octet (Verve ) Michael Franks - Best Of Michael Franks: A Backward Glanceocrd (Rhino ) Michael Franks - The Best of Michael Franks: a Backward Glance (Rhino ) Mike Westbrook - Celebration (Universal Japan ) Mike Westbrook - Marching Song Vol.1 (Universal Japan ) Mike Westbrook - Marching Song Vol.2 (Universal Japan ) Milt Jackson - Live At The Museum Of Modern Art (Verve ) Miucha - & Antonio Carlos Jobim (Pid ) Natasha K. Oda Selects Best Of Hula - Natasha K. Oda Selects Best Of Hula (Pid ) Nobuyuki Yanagisawa - Memories Of You (Pid ) Olaf Kubler - Turtles-Live At Domicile 1968 (Pid ) Pablo Held - Forest Of Oblivion (Pirouet ) Pamovio A / Rec R / Ruggeri G - Tears And Smiles (Pid ) Plunky - Drive It (Name Brand ) Pony Poindexter - Gumbo (Universal Japan ) Pork Pie - Transitory (MPS ) Quagero Imazawa - Bassist Electric (Pid ) Ramsey Lewis - Goin' Latin (Verve ) Richie Havens - Nobody Left To Crown (Verve Forecast ) Ron Carter - Jazz & Bossa (Emd Int'L ) Ron Westray - Medical Cures For The Chromatic Commands Of The Inner City (Blue Canoe ) Ronnie Mathews - Dointhankg (Universal Japan ) Rosinha De Valenca - Um Violao Em Primeiro Plano (BMG Japan ) Roy Haynes - Cracklin (Universal Japan ) Sambossa 5 - Zero Hora (BMG Japan ) Shigeru Kayano - Yukar The Ainu Epic Songs (Pid ) Shu-Feng He - Chinese Pipa (Pid ) Sinh Kim - Soul Music Of Vietnam (Pid ) Smell Trio - Naiko (Pid ) Stan Getz - Sweet Rain (Verve ) Steppin' Jazz Sol - Steppin' Jazz Sol (Pid ) Thelonious Monk - Evolution Of An Artist (Zyx ) Thierry Lang - Lyoba (Musiques Suisses ) Various Artists - Beginner's Guide To Latin Jazz (Demon Music Group ) Voice+Bossa - Voice+Bossa (Video Arts Japan ) Walt Dickerson - This Is Walt Dickerson (Universal Japan ) Wes Montgomery - Wes Montgomery:Best Of (Collectables ) Wes Montgomery - The Best of Wes Montgomery (Collectables ) Wes Montgomery - Best Of Wes Montgomery (Collectables ) Willie Bobo - Bobo Motion (Verve ) Yasuko Agawa - Meu Romance (Pid ) Yasuko Agawa - Miss-A-Mixture (Pid ) Yoku Tamura - Ballad For Hamp (Pid ) Yoku Tamura - Jazz Prestige (Pid ) Yoku Tamura - You & Me (Pid ) Yoku Tamura - Memories Of Summertime (Pid ) Yoku Tamura - Sweet Amami (Pid ) Yoku Tamura - Blue Wing (Pid )
Ahmad Jamal - Happy Moods (Jazz Beat ) Art Blakey - Ugetsu (Riverside) Art Pepper - Eleven (Pid ) Bill Evans - Portrait In Jazz (Universal) Elvin Jones - Going Home (Enja) John Coltrane - Blue Train (Phantom Sound & Vision ) Latin Jazz Quintet - Latin Soul (Newjazz) Michael Garrick - Black Marigolds (Vocalion) Michael Garrick - Cold Mountain (Vocalion)
