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Monday, November 30, 2009

Smooth Jazz Chart | 11/30/09


LW - TW - Artist - Album - (Label)
1 - 1 - George Benson - "Songs And Stories" - (Concord)
2 - 2 - Peter White - "Good Day" - (Peak/Concord)
5 - 3 - Richard Elliot - "Rock Steady" - (Artistry/Mack Avenue)
3 - 4 - Paul Taylor - "Burnin'" - (Peak)
6 - 5 - Jackiem Joyner - "Lil' Man Soul - (Artistry/Mack Avenue)
4 - 6 - Boney James - "Send One Your Love" - (Concord)
7 - 7 - Najee - "Mind Over Matter" - (Heads Up)
8 - 8 - Jessy J - "True Love - (Peak)
9 - 9 - Dave Koz - "Greatest Hits" - (Capitol)
10 - 10 - Jeff Golub - "Blues For You" - (E1)
11 - 11 - Brian Bromberg - "It Is What It Is" - (Artistry/Mack Avenue)
14 - 12 - Nick Colionne - "No Limits" - (E1)
13 - 13 - Marion Meadows - "Secrets" - (Heads Up)
19 - 14 - Euge Groove - "Sunday Morning" - (Shanachie)
12 - 15 - Joyce Cooling - "Global Cooling" - (joycecooling.com)
17 - 16 - Nils - "Up Close & Personal" - (Baja/TSR)
18 - 17 - The Sax Pack - "The Pack Is Back" - (Shanachie)
16 - 18 - Bernie Williams - "Moving Forward" - (Reform)
15 - 19 - Rick Braun - "All It Takes" - (Artistry)
26 - 20 - Greg Adams - "East Bay Soul" - (Ripa)



Our thanks to smoothjazz.comVisit smoothjazz.com to view the latest complete top 50 chart.
Visit smoothjazz.com to view the latest weekly chart recap.

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Norah Jones Announces 36-City Tour Of The U.S.

Norah JonesMultiple Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Norah Jones has announced U.S. tour dates in support of her new CD The Fall, which was released by EMI’s Blue Note Records on November 17. The 36-city tour will kick off March 5, 2010. A select number of shows will go on sale beginning Friday (December 4). Full venue and ticketing information is available at Jones’ website.

Jones will also be premiering two remixes of her Smooth Jazz Top 20 hit single “Chasing Pirates” this week. On Wednesday (December 2), Stereogum will present “Chasing Pirates (Santigold and Snotty Remix).” On December 3, Artist Direct will present “Chasing Pirates (Droogs Remix),” which was created by a remix collective that included Beck. The remixes will be released digitally and on vinyl on January 12, 2010.

Tour dates:

March 5 Tulsa, OK Brady Theater
March 6 Kansas City, MO The Midland
March 7 Omaha, NE Orpheum
March 9 Des Moines, IA Civic Center
March 11 Akron, OH E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall
March 12 Louisville, KY Whitney Hall
March 13 Indianapolis, IN Murat Theatre
March 15 Madison, WI Overture Hall
March 17 St. Paul, MN The O’Shaughnessy
March 19 Milwaukee, WI Riverside Theatre
March 20 Chicago, IL Chicago Theatre
March 25 Boston, MA Wang Theatre
March 26 Mashantucket, CT MGM Foxwoods
March 27 New York, NY WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden
March 30 Baltimore, MD Lyric Opera House
April 1 Charlottesville, VA The Paramount Theater
April 2 Washington, DC Warner Theatre
April 3 Philadelphia, PA Tower Theatre
April 18 Seattle, WA Paramount Theatre
April 19 Portland, OR Arlene Schnitzer Hall
April 21 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore
April 23 Los Angeles, CA Orpheum Theater
April 24 San Diego, CA Spreckels Theatre
April 25 Phoenix, AZ Dodge Theater
April 28 Albuquerque, NM Kiva Auditorium
April 29 El Paso, TX Plaza Theatre
May 1 Austin, TX Stubb’s Bar-B-Q
May 4 Dallas, TX Majestic Theatre
May 5 Houston, TX Verizon Wireless Theater
May 6 Mobile, AL Saenger Theatre
May 8 Memphis, TN Orpheum Theatre
May 9 Birmingham, AL Alabama Theatre
May 11 Asheville, NC Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
May 12 Charlotte, NC Ovens Auditorium
May 14 Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium
May 15 Atlanta, GA Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre

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Saturday, November 28, 2009

Sade Set To Release "Soldier Of Love" Worldwide On February 8th

"Soldier Of Love" marks Sade's first new studio album since the multi-platinum "Lovers Rock"

The wait is now over. Epic Records is pleased to announce the release of Soldier Of Love, the highly anticipated new body of work from Sade. Soldier Of Love -- which will be released worldwide on February 8, 2010 -- is Sade's first official studio album since the multi-platinum release of Lovers Rock in 2000.

Known for their one of a kind timeless sound, Sade has enjoyed phenomenal success both internationally and stateside throughout the span of their twenty-five year career. Since the release of their debut album, Diamond Life in 1984, the band has seen all five of their studio albums land in the Top 10 on Billboard's Top 200 Album Chart selling a total of more than 50 million albums worldwide to date. They've been nominated for American Music Awards, MTV Video Music Awards and have won three Grammy Awards -- first in 1986 for Best New Artist, then in 1994 for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group for "No Ordinary Love", and again in 2002 for Best Pop Vocal Album with Lovers Rock.

"Soldier Of Love" was recorded in England and produced by the band and their longtime collaborator Mike Pela.

www.sadeusa.com

PRnewswire/Epic Records

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Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving [Video]

Our chance to share generously with those we love. May you and yours have many reasons to be thankful



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Upcoming Jazz Releases | December 1, 2009

Albert Ayler - Greenich Village (Universal Japan/Zoom )
Amanda Martinez - Amor (Phantom )
Anita O'Day - Sings Winners (Universal )
Anita Spring - Let Them Talk (Phantom )
Art Blakey - Jazz Message (Universal )
Art Sherrod Jr. - Seasons (Pacific Coast Jazz )
Benny Carter - Further Definitions (Universal Japan/Zoom )
Bernie McGann - Solar (Indies Aus/Zoom )
Bill Evans - With Symphony Orchestra (Universal )
Bill Evans - Empathy (Universal Japan/Zoom )
Billie Holiday - Lover Man (Universal )
Billie Holiday - Songs For Distingue Lovers (Universal Japan/Zoom )
Blossom Dearie - Give Him The Ooh La La (Universal )
Buddy Defranco - Mr. Clarinet (Universal Japan/Zoom )
Carmen McRae - Blue Moon (Universal )
Charlie Haden - Liberation Music Orchestra (Universal Japan)
Clifford Brown - Brown And Roach Incorporated (Universal Japan/Zoom )
Coleman Hawkins - Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins (Universal )
Dave Brubeck - Brubeck Plays Brubeck (Phantom )
Dave Halls - Burning Time (Phantom )
DODO MARMARROSA - Dodo's Back (Universal Japan/Zoom )
Ella Fitzgerald - Christmas (EMI )
Ella Fitzgerald - Definitive (Indie Europe/Zoom )
Eugen Cicero - Classics In Rhythm (Universal Uk/Zoom )
George Shearing - September In Rain (Universal Japan/Zoom )
Gil Evans - Out Of Cool (Universal Japan/Zoom )
J.J. Johnson - Great Kai & JJ (Universal Japan/Zoom )
Jim Hall & Friends - Complete Townhall Concert (Disconforme )
Jimmy Smith - Organ Grinder Swing (Universal )
Jimmy Smith - Plays Red Hot Blues (Universal Uk/Zoom )
KAI WARNER - Fantastic Sound Of Kai Warner (Universal Uk/Zoom )
Kai Winding - Incredible Trombones (Universal Japan/Zoom )
Kenny Burrell - Generation Ago Today (Universal )
Kenny Burrell - Night At Village Vanguard (Universal )
Kenny G - Breathless (BMG Japan/Zoom )
Kenny G - Duotones (Phantom )
Kenny G - G Force (Phantom )
Kenny G - Gravity (Phantom )
Kenny G - Silhouette (Phantom )
Lee Konitz - Tranquilty (Universal Japan/Zoom )
Lee Morgan - Expoobident (Veejay )
Lester Young - President Plays W/ Oscar Peterson (Universal Japan/Zoom )
Lionel Hampton - You Better Know It (Universal Japan/Zoom )
Max Roach - Roach, Max 4 (Universal Japan )
Mccoy Tyner - Plays Ellington (Universal )
Mccoy Tyner - Inception (Universal Japan/Zoom )
Mel Torme - Swings Shubert Alley (Universal Japan )
Michel Legrand - Shelly's Manne Hole (Universal Japan/Zoom )
Necks - Silverwater (Phantom )
Omri Ziegele - Can Walk On Sand (Phantom )
Oscar Peterson Trio - Plays (Universal )
Oscar Peterson Trio - One Clark Terry (Universal Japan/Zoom )
Oscar Pettiford - Deep Passion (Universal Japan )
Patrick Bebelaar - Joe Fonda - Mike Rabinowitz - The Four O'Clock Session (dml-records)
Quincy Jones - Quintessence (Verve (USA) )
Quincy Jones - How I Feel About Jazz (Universal Japan/Zoom )
Ron Carter - New Album (EMI Japan/Zoom )
Roy Haynes - Out Of Afternoon (Universal Japan/Zoom )
Sarah Vaughan - No Count Sarah (Universal )
Shelly Manne - 2 3 4 (Universal Japan/Zoom )
Shirley Horn - Swingin Shirley Horn (Universal Uk/Zoom )
Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus (Prestige )
Sonny Rollins - On Impluse (Universal Japan/Zoom )
Sonny Stitt - Sits In W/ Oscar Peterson Trio (Universal Japan/Zoom )
Stan Getz - In Stockholm (Verve )
Stan Getz - At The Shrine (Verve )
Stan Getz - West Coast Jazz (Universal Japan )
Stan Getz - Getz Au Go Go (Universal Japan/Zoom )
Stan Getz - Plays Bossa (Universal Uk/Zoom )
Sun Ra - Antique Blacks (Phantom )
Swingle Singers - Swinging The Classics (Universal Uk/Zoom )
Tal Farlow - Swinging Guitar (Universal Japan/Zoom )
Tommy Dorsey & His - Complete Recordings 1935-39 (Phantom )
Ulrich Gumpert & Gunter Baby Sommer - Das Donnernde Leben (Phantom )
Zoot Sims - Waiting Game ( )

Reissues
-Mika Pohjola, Theo Bleckmann, Rigmor Gustafsson - Christmas Carols (BlueMusicGroup.com)
Ben Webster - See You at the Fair (Impulse!)
Bill Evans - Live (Pid )
Clifford Brown - More Study in Brown (Emarcy)
Miles Davis - Porgy & Bess (Sony Bmg )
Sarah Vaughan - With Clifford Brown (Pid )

Our thanks to:New release information provided by allaboutjazz.com
The Upcoming Release Center at allaboutjazz.com is the most comprehensive new release listing for jazz music on the internet.
The information is updated biweekly by John Kelman


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Monday, November 23, 2009

Smooth Jazz Chart | 11/23/09


LW - TW - Artist - Album - (Label)
1 - 1 - George Benson - "Songs And Stories" - (Concord)
2 - 2 - Peter White - "Good Day" - (Peak/Concord)
3 - 3 - Paul Taylor - "Burnin'" - (Peak)
4 - 4 - Boney James - "Send One Your Love" - (Concord)
5 - 5 - Richard Elliot - "Rock Steady" - (Artistry/Mack Avenue)
6 - 6 - Jackiem Joyner - "Lil' Man Soul - (Artistry/Mack Avenue)
8 - 7 - Najee - "Mind Over Matter" - (Heads Up)
7 - 8 - Jessy J - "True Love - (Peak)
11 - 9 - Dave Koz - "Greatest Hits" - (Capitol)
9 - 10 - Jeff Golub - "Blues For You" - (E1)
10 - 11 - Brian Bromberg - "It Is What It Is" - (Artistry/Mack Avenue)
12 - 12 - Joyce Cooling - "Global Cooling" - (joycecooling.com)
14 - 13 - Marion Meadows - "Secrets" - (Heads Up)
13 - 14 - Nick Colionne - "No Limits" - (E1)
16 - 15 - Rick Braun - "All It Takes" - (Artistry)
19 - 16 - Bernie Williams - "Moving Forward" - (Reform)
15 - 17 - Nils - "Up Close & Personal" - (Baja/TSR)
17 - 18 - The Sax Pack - "The Pack Is Back" - (Shanachie)
18 - 19 - Euge Groove - "Sunday Morning" - (Shanachie)
20 - 20 - Craig Chaquico - "Follow The Sun" - (Shanachie)



Our thanks to smoothjazz.comVisit smoothjazz.com to view the latest complete top 50 chart.
Visit smoothjazz.com to view the latest weekly chart recap.

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Friday, November 20, 2009

Jackie Ryan - "Doozy"

Jackie Ryan's "Doozy" via Open Art,recently held the #1 position on JazzWeek's industry-standard chart for seven weeks and has been called “One of the most satisfying albums to come along this year, or any year.”

The double album release features the formidable talents of Cyrus Chestnut, Eric Alexander, Romero Lubambo, and Jeremy Pelt, and is a tour de force through the seemingly limitless breadth and bounty of this artist's myriad musical gifts. Jackie Ryan and company have pulled from a variety of sources for inspiration, including rarely-heard gems, to lush intimate ballads, sensuous Brazilian bossa novas, passionate Spanish love songs, sassy New Orleans blues, and sizzling hard-driving bebop, all exquisitely punctuated by Ryan’s unmistakable voice.

Doozy is only the second album in history to hold #1 slot on the JazzWeek charts for 7 weeks. The only other vocalist to exceed this milestone is Diana Krall (w/ From This Moment On). An achievement in itself, but even more impressive is the fact the album reigned at the top of the charts with only 2 weeks of radio play! In addition, Ryan has been noted as a featured artist on NPR, CNN en Espanol, Voice of America, and Primetime A&E.

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Thursday, November 19, 2009

Upcoming Jazz Releases | November 24, 2009

African Methodist Choir - African Hymns (Arc Music )
Alessandr Magnanini - Someway Still I Do (Phantom )
Bob Baldwin - Collector's Pack (NuGroove )
Bruce Turner - Dirty Bopper (United States Of Distribution LTD. )
Bruce Turner - The Dirty Bopper (United States Of Distribution LTD. )
Caledonia Jazz Band - Street People ( )
Collage - Fifty-Four Minutes Twenty Seconds (Wool )
Collage - Fifty Four Minutes Twenty Seconds (Wool )
Dave Brubeck - Brubeck Plays Brubeck (Phantom )
Dave Brubeck Quartet - Great Concerts Amsterdam Copenhagen Carnegie Hall (Phantom )
David "Fathead" Newman - Keep The Dream Alive (Phantom )
David Campbell - Keep On Lovin (Phantom )
David Sanborn - Taking Off (Collector's Choice )
Doc Severinsen - Brand New Thing (Wounded Bird )
Dorothy Ashby - Rubaiyat Of (Dusty Groove )
Enrico Pieranunzi - Wandering (Phantom )
Evan Parker - House Of Flowers (Tzadik )
Evan Parker - House Full Of Floors (Tzadik )
Glenn Miller - Tba (JVC Japan/Zoom )
Glenn Miller - In The Christmas Mood (JVC Japan/Zoom )
Hank Jones - Live In Marciac 1993 (Kindred Rhythm )
Henry Mancini - Brass On Ivory (Wounded Bird )
Henry Mancini / Doc Severinsen - Brass On Ivory (Wounded Bird )
Housse De Racket - Forty Love (Geneon Japan/Zoom )
Humphrey Lyttelton - This Old Gang Of Ours (United States Of Distribution LTD. )
Jacques Schwarz-Bart - Abyss (Ume Imports )
Jamie Cullum - Pursuit (Universal Uk/Zoom )
Judzas Milasius - Slow ( )
Ken Colyer - Christmas With Colyer (United States Of Distribution LTD. )
Ken Colyer - One More For Auntie (United States Of Distribution LTD. )
Ken Colyer - Once More For Auntie (United States Of Distribution LTD. )
Les Paul - How High The Moon:Hits & Rarities Fro (Indie Europe/Zoom )
Lula Galvao - Bossa Da Minha Terra (Kindred Rhythm )
Madeline Bell - Bells A Poppin (RPM Records Uk )
Martin Medeski & Wood - Radiolarians: The Evolutionary Set (Indirecto )
Miles Davis - Complete Columbia Album Collection (Phantom )
Nestor Torres - Nouveau Latino ( )
Nicola Conte - Modern Sound Of Nicola Conte (Schema )
Pat Register - Soul Groove ( )
PSP - PSP Live (Indie Europe/Zoom )
Razer - Dark Devotion (NuGroove )
Robin Verheyen - Starbound ( )
Ryuichi Sakamoto - Playing The Piano (Universal Uk/Zoom )
Wynton Marsalis - Marsalis,Wynton Vol. 1-Marsalis Standard Time (Phantom )

Our thanks to:New release information provided by allaboutjazz.com
The Upcoming Release Center at allaboutjazz.com is the most comprehensive new release listing for jazz music on the internet.
The information is updated biweekly by John Kelman


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Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Norah Jones New Studio Album "The Fall" - In Stores Today

Today, Tuesday November 17th, Norah Jones releases her new record The Fall on EMI/Blue Note Records. Produced by Jacquire King (Tom Waits, Modest Mouse, Kings of Leon), The Fall features Norah’s new band as well as songwriting collaborations with Ryan Adams, Okkervil River ’s Will Sheff, and Jesse Harris. See below for the link to the recent NPR full-length stream as well as upcoming TV appearances, and video links.

NPR Stream
Chasing Pirates Video

Upcoming TV appearances:
November 18 – Comedy Central The Colbert Report
November 23 – ABC The View
December 15 – NBC Tonight Show w/ Conan O'Brien
December 16 – ABC Jimmy Kimmel

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Smooth Jazz Chart | 11/16/09


LW - TW - Artist - Album - (Label)
1 - 1 - George Benson - "Songs And Stories" - (Concord)
2 - 2 - Peter White - "Good Day" - (Peak/Concord)
3 - 3 - Paul Taylor - "Burnin'" - (Peak)
4 - 4 - Boney James - "Send One Your Love" - (Concord)
6 - 5 - Richard Elliot - "Rock Steady" - (Artistry/Mack Avenue)
5 - 6 - Jackiem Joyner - "Lil' Man Soul - (Artistry/Mack Avenue)
7 - 7 - Jessy J - "True Love - (Peak)
10 - 8 - Najee - "Mind Over Matter" - (Heads Up)
8 - 9 - Jeff Golub - "Blues For You" - (E1)
9 - 10 - Brian Bromberg - "It Is What It Is" - (Artistry/Mack Avenue)
12 - 11 - Dave Koz - "Greatest Hits" - (Capitol)
11 - 12 - Joyce Cooling - "Global Cooling" - (joycecooling.com)
14 - 13 - Nick Colionne - "No Limits" - (E1)
15 - 14 - Marion Meadows - "Secrets" - (Heads Up)
16 - 15 - Nils - "Up Close & Personal" - (Baja/TSR)
13 - 16 - Rick Braun - "All It Takes" - (Artistry)
25 - 17 - The Sax Pack - "The Pack Is Back" - (Shanachie)
43 - 18 - Euge Groove - "Sunday Morning" - (Shanachie)
17 - 19 - Bernie Williams - "Moving Forward" - (Reform)
18 - 20 - Craig Chaquico - "Follow The Sun" - (Shanachie)



Our thanks to smoothjazz.comVisit smoothjazz.com to view the latest complete top 50 chart.
Visit smoothjazz.com to view the latest weekly chart recap.

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Monday, November 16, 2009

The Downbeat 75th Anniversary Anthology

Downbeat: The Great Jazz Interviews: A 75th Anniversary Anthology. Edited and Compiled By Frank Alkyer. In July of 1934 the first issue of DownBeat magazine hit newsstands in Chicago. For the next seven-plus decades and counting the publication has been synonymous with jazz. DownBeat has chronicled every facet of jazz; every trend; every new and emerging sound. They have charted the birth and rise of hot jazz, cool jazz, be bop, hard bop, post bop, free jazz, and sounds that go even further out. Along the way the magazine has featured interviews with virtually every jazz great. DownBeat magazine, much of it written by the artists themselves, has dictated the tone and tenor of all serious conversation about jazz music.

In celebration of the magazine's 75th anniversary, publisher Frank Alkyer, with the assistance of the magazines editors past and present, has combed through the DownBeat archives and assembled a compendium of the magazines most celebrated, historical, and groundbreaking features and interviews. In addition to these interviews, many of them tucked away and never printed again since their first publication, the book includes a myriad of classic photos and covers including many shots that have remained unseen since their original publication. Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, Lester Young, and Billie Holiday appear alongside conversations with Jimi Hendrix, Van Morrison, Muddy Waters, Carlos Santana, Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, Brian Eno, Captain Beefheart, and dozens more.

At times this collection reads less like a book and more like a conversation about jazz among the artists themselves. Features penned by Cannonball Adderley, Louis Armstrong, Chet Baker, Benny Goodman, Wayne Shorter, and, of course, the notorious article by Jelly Roll Morton in which he confronts W.C. Handy head-on about who actually invented jazz sit side by side with pieces by noted scribes such as Studs Terkel, Nat Hentoff, Ira Gitler, Leonard Feather, and more.

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Thursday, November 12, 2009

"Live From The Inside" - It's Brian Culbertson

Contemporary jazz star lets fans into his musical world on new DVD/CD release

On Tuesday, November 10, 2009, contemporary jazz star Brian Culbertson released Live From The Inside (GRP Records), a dynamic – and yet intimate – DVD/CD capturing the multi-instrumentalist with his longtime band and special guests recording his songs live in the studio. Live From The Inside is a DVD (with over 90 minutes of special features) and a 12-song CD that offers Culbertson fans newly-rendered versions of some of his most popular numbers, as well as a brand new song entitled "Go."

Culbertson, who is known for his high-energy concerts and expert musicality, wanted to document live performances with his band, but desired to also give his fans something special…an entry into his world behind-the-scenes. Instead of shooting the performance segments of the DVD on stage, he decided to film his band both rehearsing and performing live in the studio - playing at the same high energy level as if they were in concert, but with the advantage of optimal sound and visual lines.

"I was flying home from the Berks Jazz Festival back in March (2009) when the whole idea for this project hit me, " Brian states. "I wanted to show people a true inside look at not only my music, but my life as a musician. I guess you could call the concept a high-energy blast of 'best of' and biography."

Live From The Inside features Culbertson on keyboard, trombone, and bass along with his long-standing band: drummer Chris Miskel, bassist Lamar Jones, singer/keyboardist Eddie Miller, guitarist Wayne Bruce, saxophonist/singer Marqueal Jordan, trumpeter Michael Stever, and singer/guitarist Sheldon Reynolds. All-star guests such as Ray Parker Jr., Dave Koz, Eric Marienthal, Michael Lington, Eric Darius, and Brian’s father, Jim Culbertson, joined in on the sessions, which were recorded in the famed Capitol Records (Studio A) in Hollywood, CA.

The result is an electrifying “live in the studio” performance filled with vigor, verve, and ferocious vitality. Hit songs such as “Always Remember,” “Get It On,” and “On My Mind” are given a new lease on life with fresh tempos and thrilling accents as Brian and his crew re-imagined the music to keep it exciting for both themselves and their audience. And of course, the recordings wouldn’t be complete without covers of some classic funk tunes – “Hollywood Swinging" (Kool & The Gang) and "Serpentine Fire" (Earth Wind and Fire) – get an updated treatment from Culbertson and his band.

But this is much more than a mere music video: Live from the Inside gives fans a guided tour of all things Culbertson: his childhood home, the high school and college he attended, the recording studio from whence countless projects sprung, the apartment where he recorded his first album. Fans will also get a sense of what life on the road is like for the Brian Culbertson Band as the camera documents their journey – from the monotony of airports and buses to the venue for soundcheck, and finally, the moment that makes all of it worthwhile: showtime!

Following the release of Live From The Inside, Culbertson will hit the road once again, taking Brian Culbertson’s A Soulful Christmas tour to venues across the country. This year, Brian is proud to share the stage with good friend and chart-topping sax-man, Michael Lington. AirTran Airways is returning as the tour’s sponsor. In typical Culbertson fashion, the show will feature uplifting and soulful performances of holiday favorites as well as songs featured on Live From The Inside.

Brian’s first, DVD/CD, Live From The Inside, is available now in both retail and online stores

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Herb Alpert & Lani Hall - Concord Jazz Debut "Anything Goes" Out Now [EPK]

Concord Jazz have released Anything Goes, legendary trumpet player Herb Alpert and renowned singer Lani Hall’s debut Concord recording as a duo. The album is not only a live collection of beautifully reinterpreted standards, but also an endearing tribute to their personal and professional relationship.

Produced by Herb and Lani and Recorded live at various venues in Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, Boston, Seattle, Washington D.C., San Francisco and the Napa Valley Opera House, Anything Goes is a spirited and heartfelt compilation of beloved American Standards.

[WMP Streams]
Dinorah Morning
It's Only A Paper Moon

The 14 tracks include, Cole Porter’s original song and title track “Anything Goes” as well as a few instrumental songs including “Laura” and Consuelo Velazquez’s “Besame Mucho.” Lani also sings in Portuguese on the tracks “Pararaio” and “Dinorah/Morning.” The recording features Herb Alpert on trumpet and vocals, Lani Hall on vocals, Michael Shapiro on drums and percussion, Bill Cantos on keyboards / background vocals, and Hussain Jiffry on electric bass.

Herb Alpert and Lani Hall are on tour now in support of Anything Goes



Tracklist:

1. Fascinating Rhythm
2. Pararaio
3. The Trolley Song
4. That Old Black Magic
5. Dinorah/Morning
6. It’s Only a Paper Moon
7. Let’s Face the Music and Dance
8. Morning Coffee
9. I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face
10. Who Are You? – with Bill Cantos
11. Besame Much
12. Anything Goes
13. I’ve Got You Under My Skin
14. Laura

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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Veterans Day [Video]




A montage honoring U.S. war veterans from World War 1 to present day. Pictures and clips together with "America the Beautiful," performed by Lee Greenwood.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

This Teenager Has Got It

By NAT HENTOFF
For more than 60 years, I've seen recurring obituaries of jazz. The threnodies are being prepared again—in the National Endowment for the Arts' latest survey on public participation in the arts and with such questions as "Can Jazz Be Saved?" in which widely respected music critic Terry Teachout wrote regretfully in this paper last summer, "I don't know how to get young people to listen to jazz again."

Both the survey and Mr. Teachout's column attracted rebuttals in print and on the Internet, of course. But the most exhilarating one I've heard is musical— "Confeddie," the debut CD of 19-year-old alto saxophonist Hailey Niswanger, and a work with the joyous feeling of the first day of spring. More remarkable, Ms. Niswanger is still a student, at Boston's Berklee College of Music. It's an institution that continues to have many active jazz professionals among its alumni. She wrote all the arrangements for "Confeddie" in collaboration with three impressive Berklee students: Michael Palmer, Greg Chaplin and Mark Whitfield Jr.

This self-produced, self-released quartet session, which is available on Amazon.com, has such a vibrantly building thrust of swinging surprises that listening to it I was suddenly a Boston teenager again fantasizing, as I played my clarinet, that one day Duke Ellington would call and say, "We need a sub for Barney Bigard tonight. Can you make it?"

Ms. Niswanger has already played at festivals, concerts and other gigs with such masters as Phil Woods, James Moody, Benny Golson, Wynton Marsalis, McCoy Tyner and with the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra at the Netherlands' North Sea Jazz Festival. In May, she was a featured artist at the Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington (where, the year before, she won the saxophone competition).

She plays with remarkable authority and drive considering her relative youth, and with the élan and dynamics of an unmistakable pro. But I asked her how it felt, at 19, to be on stage with such renowned, longtime headliners.

"It's a remarkable experience to be that close to all those years of experience in one person," she said. "I have only a fraction of that, with a whole lifetime ahead."

A growing realization she especially enjoys is "the feeling of connectedness with the people listening. I don't know them, never met them, but with my horn, we connect!"

Also, having been close to Mr, Golson during a master class the tenor saxophonist and composer taught at Berklee, and having been in his band at a concert, Ms. Niswanger feels she learned about being in the jazz life by watching how "he so wanted to give—to give what he was feeling—and tell his stories, not to be famous but to invite people to be part of who he is."

I asked her reactions, however, to the prospect of spending a lifetime in this music that, according to the doomsayers, fewer and fewer young people are interested in hearing.

Her instant answer: "I go to a music school surrounded by young musicians passionate to learn about this music. There will always be people who love jazz and want to give their lives to it. So how can this music ever die?"

Such thriving jazz elders as Mr. Woods and Clark Terry have told me the same thing.

This summer, Ms. Niswanger performed in combos in and around Portland, Ore., where she grew up and taught piano to children ages 5 to 7, and woodwinds to the 12 to 18 age group at a nearby camp. It was there, when Ms. Niswanger was 8, that she played her first note on a clarinet. During her school years she also began learning the alto saxophone as teacher-mentors helped convince her, the only musician in her family, that she had found her calling.

"In high school, when I was 14," she told me, "I first learned how to transcribe solos, starting with trombonist J.J. Johnson and then John Coltrane!" And, performing both with local bands and around the country, "finding how to do jazz, I discovered how much fun this is. It's always changing. I play a song on one gig and on the next, it comes out so different!"

Why "Confeddie?" I asked of her title. She explained that it comes, in part, from "confetti" to mark the festive flavor of the music, and she added the first name, Eddie, of saxophonist Eddie Harris, whose spirit pervades the session. Included are her personalizations of the jazz canon by Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Kenny Dorham and Mr. Golson—starting bravely with Thelonious Monk's "Four in One."

Understandably, in view of that challenge, she says she felt "a great sense of accomplishment once I had it under my fingers. I wanted my version to be different from the other versions of this song, so I decided to play the melody as a duo with piano and saxophone to add some flavor to the arrangement."

Having immersed myself in Monk's music, starting in the 1950s, and having gotten to know the composer, I believe he would tell Ms. Niswanger, "You got it."

After two more years at Berklee, Ms. Niswanger expects—while still performing—to do graduate work at the Manhattan School of Music, the Thelonious Monk Institute in Washington, or Juilliard. The last possibility reminded me, I told her, of sitting in Monk's living room one afternoon when Gigi Gryce—a passionately personal alto saxophonist and composer whom I'd known in Boston—burst into the room.

"Monk," he shouted, "I got into Juilliard!"

After a characteristically judicious silence, Monk said, "I hope you don't lose it there."

Ms. Niswanger, having already deeply "got it," won't lose it anywhere.

At Berklee, her principal teacher and mentor is alto saxophonist Jim Odgren, who is assistant to the dean of the performance division. Among his own previous performance gigs were three years with vibraphonist Gary Burton.

"What sets Hailey apart, even from some players already in the business," Mr. Odgren told me, "is that she is a musician—not an apprentice. She's really playing—really focusing on—what she is feeling. Telling her own stories. And she does it with such authority that if you played her recording for an established jazz musician during a blindfold test, he'd never guess her age."

As for the current sorrowful portents of the last rites of jazz, there will be, as is already evident, new generations of musicians for whom this music will be as important as life itself—as John Coltrane once described it to me.

There will also be future listeners of all ages—as I can attest from phone calls I occasionally get from readers who need this music to lift their spirits when nothing else will break through lengthening shadows. I am one of them with this need, and so I'll always know where to find Hailey Niswanger's "Confeddie" when I need it.

—Mr. Hentoff writes about jazz for the Journal.


- Posted with BlogPress via iPhone

Brian Culbertson's A Soulful Christmas With Special Guest, Michael Lington, Set To Kick Off National Tour

For the fourth consecutive year, contemporary jazz favorite, Brian Culbertson, is taking BRIAN CULBERTSON’S A SOULFUL CHRISTMAS to venues across the country. This year, Brian is proud to share the stage with good friend and chart-topping sax-man, Michael Lington. AirTran Airways is returning as the tour sponsor.

In typical “BC fashion,” the show will feature uplifting and soulful performances of holiday favorites and tunes from Brian’s holiday album, A SOULFUL CHRISTMAS (in stores now)! In addition, Brian will play songs from his new DVD/CD combo, LIVE FROM THE INSIDE. This special package will be in stores on November 10 and was recorded in Studio A at Capitol Records in Hollywood, CA.

“I had an idea to do a variety of small jazz clubs this year because I love being up close to the audience,” states Culbertson. “Over the past couple years, we've been only doing the large venues so I wanted to change it up and do a totally different 'intimate' show. I'm also very excited to be reunited with Michael Lington who spent two years with my band a few years ago. We have great chemistry together on stage and I just love the way he plays. The Christmas season is one of my favorite times of year and I can't wait to get back on the road and spread some holiday cheer!"

Current tour dates are as follows (more to come):

November 28 – Anthology – San Diego, CA
December 1 – Rams Heads On Stage – Annapolis, MD
December 3 – Infinity Music Hall and Bistro – Norfolk, CT
December 9 – The Fine Line – Minneapolis, MN
December 10 – Music Mill – Indianapolis, IN
December 12 – House of Blues – Cleveland, OH
December 14 – Catalina Bar & Grill – Los Angeles, CA
December 15 – Catalina Bar & Grill – Los Angeles, CA
December 16 – Catalina Bar & Grill – Los Angeles, CA
December 18 – Yoshi’s San Francisco – San Francisco, CA
December 19 – Yoshi’s San Francisco – San Francisco, CA
December 20 – Yoshi’s San Francisco – San Francisco, CA

For the latest news and information, please visit www.brianculbertson.com

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