Happy New Year 2012 [Video] #jazz

Our best wishes to you all for a healthy and happy new year, filled with peace and love. Again, our thanks to you for your support of JazzHQ, on Facebook, and Twitter.

A JibJab send off to 2011

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Smooth Jazz Chart - Weekly Top 20 - December 26, 2011 #jazz

LW - TW - Artist - Album - (Label)
1 - 1 - Richard Elliot - "In The Zone" - (Artistry/Mack Ave.)
2 - 2 - Acoustic Alchemy - "Roseland" - (Onside/Heads Up)
3 - 3 - Paul Hardcastle - "Hardcastle VI" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
4 - 4 - Boney James - "Contact" - (Verve)
5 - 5 - Jessy J - "Hot Sauce" - (Heads Up)
6 - 6 - Andy Snitzer - "Traveler" - (Native Language)
7 - 7 - Wayman Tisdale - "The Wayman Tisdale Story" - (Rendezvous Music)
8 - 8 - George Benson - "Guitar Man" - (Concord)
9 - 9 - Tim Bowman - "The Tim Bowman Collection" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
10 - 10 - Chuck Loeb - "Plain 'n' Simple" - (Tweety)
11 - 11 - Euge Groove - "S7ven Large" - (Shanachie)
12 - 12 - Paul Taylor - "Prime Time" - (Peak)
13 - 13 - Larry Carlton - "Plays The Sound of Philadelphia" - (335)
14 - 14 - Kim Waters - "This Heart Of Mine" - (Shanachie)
15 - 15 - Jonathan Fritzen - "Friday Night"[single] - (Woodward Avenue)
16 - 16 - David Wells - "Light" - (Independent)
17 - 17 - Cindy Bradley - "Unscripted" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
18 - 18 - Brian Lenair - "Eye Of The Storm" - (Grits & Gravy)
19 - 19 - Bob Baldwin - "NewUrbanJazz.com 2/Revibe (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
20 - 20 - Nils - "What The Funk?" - (Baja/TSR)

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Happy Holidays 2011 [Video] #jazz

Our very best wishes to all of you who took the time to visit JazzHQ during the year.

A Merry Christmas to you all, my friends and followers at JC, Facebook http://facebook.com/jazzhq and Twitter, http://twitter.com/jazzhq. Thank you for your support.

Darlene Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"
David Letterman appearance 12/23/11

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Smooth Jazz Chart - Weekly Top 20 - December 19, 2011 #jazz

LW - TW - Artist - Album - (Label)
1 - 1 - Richard Elliot - "In The Zone" - (Artistry/Mack Ave.)
2 - 2 - Acoustic Alchemy - "Roseland" - (Onside/Heads Up)
3 - 3 - Paul Hardcastle - "Hardcastle VI" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
4 - 4 - Boney James - "Contact" - (Verve)
5 - 5 - Jessy J - "Hot Sauce" - (Heads Up)
7 - 6 - Andy Snitzer - "Traveler" - (Native Language)
6 - 7 - Wayman Tisdale - "The Wayman Tisdale Story" - (Rendezvous Music)
9 - 8 - George Benson - "Guitar Man" - (Concord)
8 - 9 - Tim Bowman - "The Tim Bowman Collection" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
10 - 10 - Chuck Loeb - "Plain 'n' Simple" - (Tweety)
12 - 11 - Euge Groove - "S7ven Large" - (Shanachie)
13 - 12 - Paul Taylor - "Prime Time" - (Peak)
11 - 13 - Larry Carlton - "Plays The Sound of Philadelphia" - (335)
17 - 14 - Kim Waters - "This Heart Of Mine" - (Shanachie)
14 - 15 - Jonathan Fritzen - "Friday Night"[single] - (Woodward Avenue)
16 - 16 - David Wells - "Light" - (Independent)
18 - 17 - Cindy Bradley - "Unscripted" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
21 - 18 - Brian Lenair - "Eye Of The Storm" - (Grits & Gravy)
15 - 19 - Bob Baldwin - "NewUrbanJazz.com 2/Revibe (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
20 - 20 - Nils - "What The Funk?" - (Baja/TSR)

Our thanks to smoothjazz.com

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Paul McCartney to Release Standards Album with Diana Krall & Band

The former Beatle says he’s long wanted to record this repertoire

By Jeff Tamarkin
http://jazztimes.com/

Paul McCartney has announced that his next solo album, as yet untitled, will be a collection of romantic ballads and standards, with jazz pianist Diana Krall and her band accompanying the ex-Beatle. The album will be released by Concord/Hear Music on February 7. In addition to the cover material, the album will include two new McCartney originals, “My Valentine” and “Only Our Hearts.”

The album was produced by Tommy LiPuma and, in addition to Krall and band, features an orchestra on some tracks, as well as guest appearances by Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder. Bassist John Clayton also reportedly plays on the album.

According to a press release from McCartney’s publicist, “This is the album Paul has been thinking about making for more than 20 years, and probably the last thing his fans are expecting. ‘In the end it was “Look, if I don’t do it now, I’ll never do it,’” the release quotes McCartney as saying.
“When I kind of got into songwriting, I realized how well structured these songs were and I think I took a lot of my lessons from them,” McCartney further says in the press release. “I always thought artists like Fred Astaire were very cool. Writers like Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, all of those guys—I just thought the songs were magical. And then, as I got to be a songwriter I thought it’s beautiful, the way they made those songs.’”

McCartney also says that he and John Lennon based several early Beatles compositions on standards from the early part of the 20th century.

The press release says that during the recording McCartney, for the first time in his career, “performed exclusively in the vocal booth without no instrument—no guitar, no bass, no piano.”

He added, “It was important for me to keep away from the more obvious song choices, so many of the classic standards will be unfamiliar to some people.”

The album was recorded at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, New York and London throughout 2011.
Last spring, McCartney told Rolling Stone, “I've wanted to do that kind of thing forever, since the Beatle days. But then Rod [Stewart] went mad on it. I thought, ‘I have to wait so it doesn't look like I’m trying to do a Rod.’”

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Upcoming New Jazz Releases - December 13, 2011 #jazz

Adam Rudolph: Can You Imagine... The Sound Of A Dream
Alexey Kruglov: Identification
Anita O'Day: Trav'Lin Light
Anthony Braxton: Tillium E
Archie Shepp: First Take
Archie Shepp: Gemini
Arrigo Cappelletti: Mysterious
Arrigo Cappelletti / Giulio Martino: Mysterious
Benjamin Sanz Quintet: Mutation Majeure
Benny Carter: Further Definitions
Bill Dixon: Complete Remastered Recordings On Black Saint And Soul Note
Bill Evans (Trio): Sunday At The Village Vanguard
Bill Evans (Trio): Waltz For Debby
Cal Tjader: Agua Dulce
Carl Perkins: Dance Album
Coleman Hawkins: Hawk Relaxes
Dave Brubeck: Countdown: Time In Outer Space
Complete Remastered Recordings On Black Saint & Soul Note
David Murray: Complete Remastered Recordings On Black Saint & Soul Note
Don Ellis: New Ideas: Don Ellis
Eric Dolphy / Booker Little: At The Five Spot Complete Edition
Fats Waller: Live At The Yacht Club
Fourth Page: Blind Horizons
Freddie Hubbard: Splash
Fredrik Kronkvist: Altitude
Helen Forrest: Them There Eyes
Ibrahim Maalouf: Diagnostic
Influences Behind The Beatles: Influences Behind The Beatles
John Coltrane: Africa / Brass
Jonathan Kreisberg: Trioing
Joseph Patrick Moore: XYZ Factor - Download
Julie London: London By Night
Katja Cruz: Light And Shade
Katja Cruz / Carolyn Hume: Light & Shade
Lisa Mezzacappa & Nightshade: Cosmic Rift
Louis Armstrong / Duke Ellington: Great Summit
Luis Gasca: Collage
Miles Davis: At Carnegie Hall
Miles Davis: Dark Magus
Oscar Peterson Trio: Trio: Live From Chicago
Oscar Peterson Trio: Sound Of The Trio
Oscar Peterson Trio: Put On A Happy Face / Something Warm
Paul Motian: Complete Remastered Recordings On Black Saint And Soul Note
Phineas Newborn Jr.: World Of Piano
Pleasure: Accept No Substitutes
Ray Barretto: Selecciones Fania
Romane Quintet: Integrale, Vol. 2
Integrale Quintet: Complete Romane, Vol. 2
Romane Quintet: Integrale Quintet: Complete Romane, Vol. 2
Ron Thompson: Just Pickin'
Roy Orbison: Lonely & Blue
Second Approach: Pandora's Pitcher
Second Approach Trio: Pandora's Pitcher
Shelly Manne: Complete Live At The Manne-Hole
Spontaneous River: Symphony Of Souls
Stan Getz: Stan Getz & Oscar Peterson Trio
Time Exposure/Find Out!/Hideaway
Stanley Clarke: Time Exposure/Find Out!/Hideaway
Steve Lacy: Evidence With Don Cherry
Taylor Ho Bynum: Apparent Distance
Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet: Apparent Distance
Teddy Edwards / Howard McGhee: Together Again
Theo Jorgensmann: Melencolia
Tim Trevor-Briscoe: Underflow
Wes Montgomery: Groove Yard
Woody Allen: Swing In The Films Of Woody Allen

Reissues
Chet Baker: Sings
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
Miles Davis: Milestones
Miles Davis: Porgy & Bess
Miles Davis: Someday My Prince Will Come - SACD
Miles Davis: Workin With The Miles Davis Quintet

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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Smooth Jazz Chart - Weekly Top 20 - December 12, 2011 #jazz

LW - TW - Artist - Album - (Label)
2 - 1 - Richard Elliot - "In The Zone" - (Artistry/Mack Ave.)
1 - 2 - Acoustic Alchemy - "Roseland" - (Onside/Heads Up)
3 - 3 - Paul Hardcastle - "Hardcastle VI" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
4 - 4 - Boney James - "Contact" - (Verve)
5 - 5 - Jessy J - "Hot Sauce" - (Heads Up)
6 - 6 - Wayman Tisdale - "The Wayman Tisdale Story" - (Rendezvous Music)
8 - 7 - Andy Snitzer - "Traveler" - (Native Language)
9 - 8 - Tim Bowman - "The Tim Bowman Collection" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
7 - 9 - George Benson - "Guitar Man" - (Concord)
15 - 10 - Chuck Loeb - "Plain 'n' Simple" - (Tweety)
12 - 11 - Larry Carlton - "Plays The Sound of Philadelphia" - (335)
10 - 12 - Euge Groove - "S7ven Large" - (Shanachie)
18 - 13 - Paul Taylor - "Prime Time" - (Peak)
13 - 14 - Jonathan Fritzen - "Friday Night"[single] - (Woodward Avenue)
11 - 15 - Bob Baldwin - "NewUrbanJazz.com 2/Revibe (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
16 - 16 - David Wells - "Light" - (Independent)
14 - 17 - Kim Waters - "This Heart Of Mine" - (Shanachie)
20 - 18 - Cindy Bradley - "Unscripted" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
23 - 19 - Jonathan Butlet - "So Strong" - (Rendezvous/Mack Avenue)
17 - 20 - Nils - "What The Funk?" - (Baja/TSR)

Our thanks to smoothjazz.com

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“Boom Town” takes soul-jazz saxophonist Richard Elliot to #1 #jazz

 The first single from In The Zone explodes at radio as the album garners acclaim

 

Soul-jazz saxman Richard Elliot has been blowing up radio with the funky single “Boom Town,” which has taken command of Billboard’s BDSradio.com smooth jazz national airplay chart for the past four weeks.  The track, produced by Elliot and fusion pioneer Jeff Lorber, is the debut single from Elliot’s October release, In The Zone, and the latest of more than a dozen #1 singles registered by the genre-defining Artistry Music recording artist. 

 

Elliot’s 16^th solo collection, In The Zone salutes the seminal instrumentalists that most influenced the saxophonist in his formative years of the 1970s and ‘80s including Grover Washington Jr., Bob James and David Sanborn.  Elliot and Lorber penned the nine original songs that comprise the disc as well as dishing up a sweltering version of the gritty Marvin Gaye classic, “Inner City Blues (Makes Me Wanna Holler).” 

 

Concert dates are presently being booked for next spring and summer for Elliot to reteam with trumpeter Rick Braun to tour as RnR, a dynamic duo that held the #1 spot captive on the radio airplay charts for an astonishing 15 weeks with the self-titled, title track from their 2007 album collaboration. 

 

In addition to sweeping the nation’s radio waves, In The Zone has been receiving critical praise.  Smooth Jazz Magazine selected it as the #1 album of 2011.  Below are highlights from some reviews.

 

All Music Guide: “Elliot's sense of time when soloing is deadly.  The melody is as infectious and celebratory as it is sexy…”

 

Digital Jazz News: “Richard Elliot lives his passion.  A uniquely personal release and a natural progression and follow up to Rock Steady (Artistry, 2009), Richard Elliot shares his own soulful musical statement with In The Zone…Elliot is an incredibly lyrical instrumentalist with improvisational chops to work on the fly while having that nice fat tenor sound of a Hank Mobley throw-back player…Contemporary jazz has taken some hits over the past year for lacking originality, spontaneity and passion.  A perfect ebb and flow on this release provides all three from an artist with a sincere desire to be known as someone that can play from the heart not just the head.  Musical honesty and integrity is rare commodity these days but it is clear that it is Richard Elliot's passion that has him ‘In The Zone’ and with one of the finest contemporary releases of the year!”

 

The Smooth Jazz Ride: “…the iconic saxophonist with the distinctly soulful touch turns it on with jazzy runs, soulful rhythms, memorable melodies, and tight, catchy hooks…Full of sweet grooves, spunk, and

slick but not frenzied drive.”

 

Sounds of Timeless Jazz: “Elliot brings his informed knowledge of such great musicians as Grover Washington, Jr., David Sanborn and Bob James and his own great saxophonics to this inspired project…innovative music that will just blow you away.”

 

The Urban Music Scene: “It’s a Winner!!...In The Zone is a 10 song horn oriented delight… In The Zone again proves why Richard Elliot is such a joy to listen and see in concert...”

 

Smooth Jazz Daily: “With In The Zone Richard Elliot garners anew the Triple A of smooth jazz.  Eclectic music with a well-crafted musicianship on every track that attracts all music lovers.”

 

Additional information is available at www.richardelliot.com. 

Facebook:  www.facebook.com/RichardElliotSax

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/RichElliotSax

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Kirk & Kevin Whalum - "Romance Language" Rendezvous Music release on Valentines Day #jazz

Kirk Whalum duets with his brother, Kevin, to remake a classic album in a Romance Language of their own

 

Grammy winning saxophonist’s reimaged take on the Coltrane/Hartman collaboration will be released on Valentine’s Day

 

Most artists would be daunted at the thought of remaking a classic work of art made by legends, but not Grammy winner Kirk Whalum.  The multidimensional saxophonist adeptly steps into the role of John Coltrane and tapped his brother, vocalist Kevin Whalum, to fill the shoes of Johnny Hartman on an unabashedly romantic collection of duets originally recorded in 1963 by the seminal artists.  Romance Language, due to be released on Valentine’s Day by Rendezvous Music, consists of all six songs that comprise the Coltrane/Hartman recording along with a handful of modern ballads to complete the disc produced by Kirk Whalum and John Stoddart.  

 

In addition to the traditional CD and digital version, an extended and enhanced digital version of Romance Language will be released as the world’s first complete LiveAudio optimized album for JAMBOX by JAWBONE, a leader in personal mobile technology devices.  LiveAudio allows music to be enjoyed in a 3D-like, surround sound experience from a single, small Bluetooth wireless speaker.  This one-of-a-kind version of Romance Language will be available exclusively at www.kirkwhalum.com/JAMBOX.          

 

In conjunction with the album release, Kirk & Kevin Whalum will perform a Valentine’s Day concert at the Hilton Portland Downtown in Oregon that will stream live to a global audience through Kirk Whalum’s website, www.kirkwhalum.com. 

 

The Whalum brothers approached the half-dozen standards from the original recording with admiration and veneration.  Kirk Whalum and Stoddart crafted fresh arrangements that place the time-tested songs such as Irving Berlin’s “They Say It’s Wonderful,” Sammy Cahn’s “Dedicated To You,” Billy Strayhorn’s “Lush Life” and Richard Rodgers’ “You Are Too Beautiful” in present day R&B-adult pop and jazz settings.  The newer songs – including renderings of contemporary hits written by Terry Lewis & James “Jimmy Jam” Harris, Eric Benet, and Joe (Thomas) - maintain the mood, feel and ambience of the storied set.  Throughout Romance Language, Kevin Whalum’s suave, velvety voice is cool and in command while Kirk Whalum’s sax solos and fills are inspired, warm and nuanced etchings.  The amorous album unfolds with the grace of an intimate hand-penned love letter - seductively sweet, genuinely heartfelt, and poetically passionate.  Recorded “live” at Dark Horse recording studios in Nashville with very little overdubbing, the musicians accompanying the Whalum’s were Stoddart (piano, keyboards, organ, backing vocals), Marcus Finnie (drums), Braylon Lacy (bass), Kevin Turner (electric guitar), Michael “Nomad” Ripoll (acoustic guitar), Ralph Lofton (organ), George Tidwell (flugelhorn, trumpet), and percussionists Bashiri Johnson and Javier Solis.  Kirk & Kevin Whalum’s 83 years-young uncle, Hugh “Peanuts” Whalum, poured his distinctive, emotion-charged voice into the broken-hearted “Almost Doesn’t Count” and the poignant bonus track, “You Are So Beautiful.”         

 

“Romance Language, now so elegantly completed, absolutely qualifies for my bucket list.  Having been a fan of Kevin's luscious voice for over 30 years and a fan of the Coltrane/Hartman recording for at least that long, this project is more of a consummation than just serendipity.   Every time I listened to the Coltrane/Hartman recording, I thought of Kevin and mused at the idea of redoing the whole album with my little brother.  Kevin caressed each and every note.  My other ‘brother,’ John Stoddart ‘dined’ with me on these arrangements.  My touring band embraced each performance as we recorded ‘live’ in the studio––virtually no overdubs, over-takes or over-production.  Just sheer joy and love, respect and reverence for the original recording as well as these amazing compositions,” said Memphis native Kirk Whalum, who will tour with Kevin in the spring to support Romance Language.  “Oh... and boy is this album romantic.  I invite you to take it on a test drive.  Drive slow.”

 

Romance Language is Kirk Whalum’s 19^th album as a front man since his 1985 solo debut, Floppy Disk.  He topped the Billboard contemporary jazz album charts twice (And You Know That! and Cache) and amassed 11 Grammy nominations.  Whalum took home a coveted Grammy earlier this year for a duet with Lalah Hathaway that appeared on his The Gospel According to Jazz: Chapter III.  An ordained minister who earned a Master’s degree in the Art of Religion, Kirk Whalum has forged an unparalleled career path in both the secular and the non-secular music words, garnering hits, awards and accolades for his jazz, R&B and gospel recordings.  His soulfully expressive tenor sax voice is unique and has appeared on literally hundreds of recordings by Barbara Streisand, Quincy Jones, Whitney Houston, Luther Vandross, George Benson, Al Jarreau, Michael McDonald, Stanley Clarke, George Duke, and Larry Carlton as well as on collaborative albums with Bob James, Rick Braun and Norman Brown.  When not recording or performing, he educates and mentors the next generation of musicians in his role as president/CEO of the STAX Music Academy and the STAX Museum of American Soul Music.  Additional information is available at www.kirkwhalum.com. 

 

The songs contained on Kirk Whalum’s Romance Language are:

 

“They Say It’s Wonderful”

“Dedicated To You”

“My One and Only Love”

“Lush Life”

“You Are Too Beautiful”

“Autumn Serenade”

“Almost Doesn’t Count”

“I Wish I Wasn’t”

“I Wanna Know”

“Spend My Life With You”

“You Are So Beautiful” (bonus track)

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Smooth Jazz Chart - Weekly Top 20 - December 5, 2011 #jazz

LW - TW - Artist - Album - (Label)
1 - 1 - Acoustic Alchemy - "Roseland" - (Onside/Heads Up)
2 - 2 - Richard Elliot - "In The Zone" - (Artistry/Mack Ave.)
3 - 3 - Paul Hardcastle - "Hardcastle VI" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
5 - 4 - Boney James - "Contact" - (Verve)
4 - 5 - Jessy J - "Hot Sauce" - (Heads Up)
8 - 6 - Wayman Tisdale - "The Wayman Tisdale Story" - (Rendezvous Music)
7 - 7 - George Benson - "Guitar Man" - (Concord)
6 - 8 - Andy Snitzer - "Traveler" - (Native Language)
10 - 9 - Tim Bowman - "The Tim Bowman Collection" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
9 - 10 - Euge Groove - "S7ven Large" - (Shanachie)
11 - 11 - Bob Baldwin - "NewUrbanJazz.com 2/Revibe (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
12 - 12 - Larry Carlton - "Plays The Sound of Philadelphia" - (335)
14 - 13 - Jonathan Fritzen - "Friday Night"[single] - (Woodward Avenue)
15 - 14 - Kim Waters - "This Heart Of Mine" - (Shanachie)
15 - 15 - Chuck Loeb - "Plain 'n' Simple" - (Tweety)
13 - 16 - David Wells - "Light" - (Independent)
21 - 17 - Nils - "What The Funk?" - (Baja/TSR)
38 - 18 - Paul Taylor - "Prime Time" - (Peak)
20 - 19 - Randy Scott - "90 Degrees At Midnight" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
18 - 20 - Cindy Bradley - "Unscripted" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)

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