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Friday, January 09, 2009

New Year Brings Lineup of Smooth Jazz Festivals

The New Year is suddenly upon us and with the new calendar comes a list of upcoming Smooth Jazz Festivals and cruises, including Berks Jazz, Portland Jazz, The Smooth Jazz Cruise and Playboy Jazz Cruise.

Fourplay’s Harvey Mason will begin the year of smooth jazz events when he performs at the 16th Annual Barbados Jazz Festival, which also features DeeDee Bridgewater and other jazz musicians.

The festival runs from January 12th through January 18th. For complete details you can visit barbadosjazzfestival.com.

The Smooth Jazz Cruise, which gathers the finest stars in the smooth jazz world together with other musicians, comedy and fun, sets sail in mid-January.

The upcoming cruise will mark the 6th sailing of the Smooth Jazz Cruise, which will be hosted by the one and only Wayman Tisdale. This cruise has become quite an enthusiastic institution with more than 60% of The Smooth Jazz Cruise guests booking reservations for the following year’s cruise before they even leave the ship.

Many artists are scheduled to share the spotlight with Wayman, among them will be Gerald Albright, Rufus with Chaka Khan, Jonathan Butler, Kirk Whalum, Peter White, Peabo Bryson, Jeff Golub, Euge Groove, Everette Harp, Jeff Lorber and a plethora of others.

The cruise runs from January 18th through the 25th. For further information you can visit thesmoothjazzcruise.com.

Commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Playboy Jazz Festival, Playboy and Jazz Cruises are hosting the first ever Playboy Jazz Cruise; taking the premise of their renowned jazz festival to the seas.

Hosted by Marcus Miller, this celebratory inaugural voyage will feature special guest Herbie Hancock along with a musician line-up, with more to come, that currently includes Dianne Reeves, Keb’ Mo’, Poncho Sanchez, James Moody and more.

The Playboy Jazz Cruise runs from January 25th through February 1st. For more information you can visit their website, playboyjazzcruise.com.

Elsewhere, on the ground, the 2009 Portland Jazz Festival will take its cue from Cannonball Adderley’s classic recording Somethin’ Else, celebrating the 70th anniversary of Blue Note Records with each of the festival headline concerts featuring current or past Blue Note artists.

Terence Blanchard will open the festival that is also scheduled to feature Casandra Wilson, Dianne Reeves, McCoy Tyner along with many other musicians.

The Portland Jazz Festival begins on February 13th and ends on the 22nd. For further details you can visit their website, pdxjazz.com.

Rounding out the first quarter of the year will be the 19th Annual Berks Jazz Fest.

As always, jazz fans can expect a diverse array of acts, from smooth jazz to blues, with festival favorites from past years making their appearance once again, including Boney James, Rick Braun, Brian Culbertson, and Richard Elliot.

The festival will also feature the legendary David Benoit, Warren Hill, Peter White, Victor Wooten, Gerald Albright, Kirk Whalum, Mindi Abair, Najee, Pieces of a Dream, Wayman Tisdale, Chuck Loeb, Jeff Kashiwa, Steve Cole, Kim Waters, Jeff Golub, Jonathan Butler and many others.

The 19th Annual Berks Jazz Fest runs from March 27th through April 5th. For more information you can visit their website, berksjazzfest.com.

Posted at: smoothjazznetwork.com

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