Top Ad

Monday, March 28, 2016

Smooth Jazz Chart - Weekly Top 20 - March 28, 2016 #jazz


TW - LW - Artist - Album - (Label)
1 - 1 - 3rd Force - "Glocal Force" - (Baja/TSR)
2 - 2 - Najee - "You Me And Forever" - (Shanachie)
3 - 4 - Boney James - "Futuresoul" - (Concord)
4 - 3 - Nils - "Alley Cat" - (Baja/TSR)
5 - 5 - Jazz Funk Soul - (More Serious Business) - (Shanachie)
6 - 15 - Threestyle feat. Magdalena Chovancova - "A Little Longer" - (WeLoveMusicRecords)
7 - 7 - Jonathan Fritzen - "Fritzenized" - (Nordic Night Records)
8 - 8 - Darren Rahn - "Sonic Boom" - (Woodward Avenue Records)
9 - 11 - Philippe Saisse Trio - "And So But Then" - (www.philippesaisse.com)
10 - 6 - Lawson Rollins - "Infinite Chill" - (Infinita Records/Baja TSR)
11 - 9 - Fourplay - "Silver - (Concord Music Group)
12 - 10 - Dave Koz - "Collaborations" - (Concord)
13 - 24 - The JT Project - "Moments of Change" - (The JT Project Records)
14 - 12 - Mark Etheredge - "Connected" - (Vipaka Records)
15 - 13 - Ken Navarro - "Unbreakable Heart" - (Positive Music Records)
16 - 14 - Chris Standring - "Ten Buy Album" - (Ultimate Vibe Recordings)
17 - 16 - Lee Ritenour - (A Twist Of Rit) - (Concord)
18 - 19 - Bill McGee - "Still Bill" - (804Jazz)
19 - 25 - Groove Limited "First Class Buy Album" - (Skytown Records)
20 - 21 - Byron Miller - "Psycho Bass" - (Byron Lee Miller's Studio's LLC)


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.
Best selling smooth jazz at amazon.com Jazz from Amazon.com
Bookmark and Share

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Super trio BWB is in the mood to party Memphis style #jazz

 The self-titled album from long-time friends Norman Brown, Kirk Whalum and Rick Braun is the first set written by the hit-makers. Their Artistry Music debut arrives April 22.
   
You can almost smell the tangy barbecue sauce dripping from the forthcoming third album “BWB” by chart-topping trio BWB, who throw down like a sweaty garage band at a Memphis backyard house party on their debut for the Artistry Music label arriving April 22. It’s the first time the band made up of GRAMMY® winners Norman Brown (guitar, vocals) and Kirk Whalum (saxophone, flute, vocals) and Rick Braun (trumpet, flugelhorn, valve trombone, vocals) cooked up a festive, sticky-fingered feast of ten new contemporary jazz, R&B, soul and funk joints. Braun produced the session in his suburban Los Angeles-area home studio where the band moved in with their families and lived together for an entire week. The result is a collaborative disc celebrating brotherhood and live music. The tantalizing title track is the first radio cut, which enters Billboard’s Top 10 on next week’s singles chart and appears to be ticketed for the top spot.           

Anytime the three solo stars get together to record, it’s an instant candidate for event album of the year in the contemporary jazz world. BWB has been itching to record original material ever since they first recorded as a high-wattage trio in 2002 when they released a collection of covers entitled “Groovin’.” Over a decade later, they reunited as a combo in 2013 with “Human Nature,” paying tribute to Michael Jackson’s songbook and scoring their first No 1 hit with “Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground).” This time around, they decided to compose the material entirely on their own, creating party jams specifically with their spirited live shows in mind.

As Braun tells it, “A long time ago in a faraway galaxy, three brothers dreamed of recording a CD of all original material as a band. Although the evil forces of time and geography stood in their way for many years, a dream is a powerful idea and ultimately the collective, creative force will prevail. And in that spirit, Norman and Kirk moved into my house for a short week with their loved ones. We played our horns, sang, drank wine, wrote, laughed and lived together. Thus it began!”

Primarily instrumental with a batch of tunes amped up by fun-filled vocal refrains and catchy, sing-a-long choruses, BWB’s members wove DNA from their hometowns into the music mix. With Whalum’s Memphis soul serving as the nucleus, Braun’s Philly funk atoms and Brown’s Kansas City jazz genes add flavor, flair and some old-school stank to the homegrown offering that struts and seduces with swagger and sophistication along with a devilish dash of mischief. An equally important nonmusical component is incorporating the enduring love and joy of treasured friendships that exists between the musicians.      

“As I grow wiser, grayer and more awesomer (!), I realize just how important relationships are to me –– much more important even than music. But how awesome it is to make great music with great friends! This is a glorious bonus and a wonderful journey. I am grateful for “the Chord of three strands” that is BWB,” Whalum testified.

Brown concurred enthusiastically. “I believe in the Master Mind! Two or more minds joined in harmony with a common goal will surely connect to higher source energy. BWB is a brilliant vibration channeling a spirit of joyful elevation. I love my brothers!”

BWB are touring throughout the year in support of the new album playing festival dates including Boscov’s Berks Jazz Festival (April 8), Las Vegas City of Lights Jazz and R&B Festival (April 16), St. Lucia Jazz Festival (May 7), Steel City Jazz Festival (June 4), Tri-C Jazz Festival (June 25), QC Summerfest (July 31), Wolf Creek Jazz Festival (September 4) and the Capital Jazz SuperCruise (October 23) as well as a pair of Texas dates in Austin at the One World Theatre (May 27) and Houston at Dosey Doe (May 28).  

The songs contained on “BWB” are:

“Triple Dare”
“Bust A Move”
“BWB”
“Bolly Bop”
“I Want You Girl”
“Lemonade”
“Memphis Steppin’”
“Hey Baby”
“North Star”
“Turn Up”

Best selling smooth jazz at amazon.com
Jazz from Amazon.com
Bookmark and Share

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Smooth Jazz Chart - Weekly Top 20 - March 21, 2016 #jazz


TW - LW - Artist - Album - (Label)
1 - 1 - 3rd Force - "Glocal Force" - (Baja/TSR)
2 - 7 - Najee - "You Me And Forever" - (Shanachie)
3 - 3 - Nils - "Alley Cat" - (Baja/TSR)
4 - 2 - Boney James - "Futuresoul" - (Concord)
5 - 6 - Jazz Funk Soul - (More Serious Business) - (Shanachie)
6 - 4 - Lawson Rollins - "Infinite Chill" - (Infinita Records/Baja TSR)
7 - 5 - Jonathan Fritzen - "Fritzenized" - (Nordic Night Records)
8 - 9 - Darren Rahn - "Sonic Boom" - (Woodward Avenue Records)
9 - 10 - Fourplay - "Silver - (Concord Music Group)
10 - 8 - Dave Koz - "Collaborations" - (Concord)
11 - 12 - Philippe Saisse Trio - "And So But Then" - (www.philippesaisse.com)
12 - 11 - Mark Etheredge - "Connected" - (Vipaka Records)
13 - 14 - Ken Navarro - "Unbreakable Heart" - (Positive Music Records)
14 - 16 - Chris Standring - "Ten Buy Album" - (Ultimate Vibe Recordings)
15 - 17 - Threestyle feat. Magdalena Chovancova - "A Little Longer" - (WeLoveMusicRecords)
16 - 13 - Lee Ritenour - (A Twist Of Rit) - (Concord)
17 - 15 - Pieces Of A Dream - "All In" - (Shanachie)
18 - 20 - Mikael - "Grooveology" - (MikaelMusix)
19 - 22 - Bill McGee - "Still Bill" - (804Jazz)
20 - 19 - Vincent Ingala - "Coast To Coast" - (Independent)


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.
Best selling smooth jazz at amazon.com Jazz from Amazon.com
Bookmark and Share

Monday, March 14, 2016

Smooth Jazz Chart - Weekly Top 20 - March 14, 2016 #jazz


TW - LW - Artist - Album - (Label)
1 - 1 - 3rd Force - "Glocal Force" - (Baja/TSR)
2 - 2 - Boney James - "Futuresoul" - (Concord)
3 - 3 - Nils - "Alley Cat" - (Baja/TSR)
4 - 7 - Lawson Rollins - "Infinite Chill" - (Infinita Records/Baja TSR)
5 - 5 - Jonathan Fritzen - "Fritzenized" - (Nordic Night Records)
6 - 8 - Jazz Funk Soul - (More Serious Business) - (Shanachie)
7 - 14 - Najee - "You Me And Forever" - (Shanachie)
8 - 6 - Dave Koz - "Collaborations" - (Concord)
9 - 10 - Darren Rahn - "Sonic Boom" - (Woodward Avenue Records)
10 - 4 - Fourplay - "Silver - (Concord Music Group)
11 - 15 - Mark Etheredge - "Connected" - (Vipaka Records)
12 - 12 - Philippe Saisse Trio - "And So But Then" - (www.philippesaisse.com)
13 - 11 - Lee Ritenour - (A Twist Of Rit) - (Concord)
14 - 17 - Ken Navarro - "Unbreakable Heart" - (Positive Music Records)
15 - 9 - Pieces Of A Dream - "All In" - (Shanachie)
16 - 21 - Chris Standring - "Ten Buy Album" - (Ultimate Vibe Recordings)
17 - 16 - Threestyle feat. Magdalena Chovancova - "A Little Longer" - (WeLoveMusicRecords)
18 - 20 - Byron Miller - "Psycho Bass" - (Byron Lee Miller's Studio's LLC)
19 - 13 - Vincent Ingala - "Coast To Coast" - (Independent)
20 - 23 - Mikael - "Grooveology" - (MikaelMusix)


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.
Best selling smooth jazz at amazon.com Jazz from Amazon.com
Bookmark and Share

Wednesday, March 09, 2016

Journeying beyond jazz: Matt Von Roderick's "Hero's Journey"

Listening to trumpeter-rapper-visionary Matt Von Roderick’s “Hero’s Journey” (https://mattvonroderick.bandcamp.com) is like entering into an entirely different world, a colorful sonic adventure unlike any other. Bopping through experimental jazz grooves, traversing imaginatively-textured EDM tracks and bouncing to vivid lyrical wordplay via deftly delivered raps and vibrant vocal harmonies, Von Roderick guides you to the precipice of pop music before brazenly pushing you over the edge, Cheshire grin upon his countenance, knowing full well that if you surrender to the sensual beats and electronic rhythms, and believe that the possibilities of musical alchemy are limitless, you will land safely after encountering soaring tales of love, hope, heartache, empowerment, spiritual thirst, revolution, raw ambition, desire and longing.

To take the genre-bursting journey, one previously taken by artists labeled “jazz” decades ago for their bravura, improvisational and independent spirit, is a heroic undertaking – one without the benefit of commercial airplay and Billboard charts let alone a corporate-presented concert tour. Von Roderick took the leap anyway. Making the twelve-song album that he wrote (except for an ambient take on Louis Armstrong’s classic “What A Wonderful World”) and helped produce available to all on the Bandcamp site, the award-winning artist used a series of videos to pave the way for the record release, clips that have generated over 4.5 million YouTube views. With the dream of mounting a national tour in the offing, Von Roderick has one big show planned for Thursday, March 17 in Hollywood at The Sayers Club where he will bring “Hero’s Journey” to life with an elaborate staging of music, dancers, costumes, choreography and visual effects in creative collaboration with Creating Arts Studios.       
                                                                                                               


Best selling smooth jazz at amazon.com
Jazz from Amazon.com
Bookmark and Share

Monday, March 07, 2016

Smooth Jazz Chart - Weekly Top 20 - March 7, 2016 #jazz


TW - LW - Artist - Album - (Label)
1 - 1 - 3rd Force - "Glocal Force" - (Baja/TSR)
2 - 2 - Boney James - "Futuresoul" - (Concord)
3 - 11 - Nils - "Alley Cat" - (Baja/TSR)
4 - 4 - Fourplay - "Silver - (Concord Music Group)
5 - 6 - Jonathan Fritzen - "Fritzenized" - (Nordic Night Records)
6 - 3 - Dave Koz - "Collaborations" - (Concord)
7 - 5 - Lawson Rollins - "Infinite Chill" - (Infinita Records/Baja TSR)
8 - 8 - Jazz Funk Soul - (More Serious Business) - (Shanachie)
9 - 7 - Pieces Of A Dream - "All In" - (Shanachie)
10 - 13 - Darren Rahn - "Sonic Boom" - (Woodward Avenue Records)
11 - 10 - Lee Ritenour - (A Twist Of Rit) - (Concord)
12 - 12 - Philippe Saisse Trio - "And So But Then" - (www.philippesaisse.com)
13 - 9 - Vincent Ingala - "Coast To Coast" - (Independent)
14 - 35 - Najee - "You Me And Forever" - (Shanachie)
15 - 18 - Mark Etheredge - "Connected" - (Vipaka Records)
16 - 16 - Threestyle feat. Magdalena Chovancova - "A Little Longer" - (WeLoveMusicRecords)
17 - 14 - Ken Navarro - "Unbreakable Heart" - (Positive Music Records)
18 - 17 - Bill McGee - "Still Bill" - (804Jazz)
19 - 15 - U-Nam - "C'est Le Funk" - (Skytown)
20 - 29 - Byron Miller - "Psycho Bass" - (Byron Lee Miller's Studio's LLC)


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.
Best selling smooth jazz at amazon.com Jazz from Amazon.com
Bookmark and Share