Happy New Year to the JazzHQ subscribers #jazz

A very Happy New Year year to all the visitors of the JazzHQ blog, Facebook and Twitter. We're pleased that you found your way here and grateful if you've done it more than once.

Best wishes to you all. Good health and peace in the new year.

The Late Show's very own Jon Batiste & Stay Human fittingly wrap up 2019 with a performance of 'Auld Lang Syne.'

A Very Merry Christmas from JazzHQ #jazz

Our very best wishes to all of you who took the time to visit JazzHQ during the year, whether at jazzhq/blogspot.com, twitter.com/jazzhq, or facebook.com/jazzhq. White Christmas - The Drifters (Video/cartoon) Sung by The Drifters. Cartoon by Joshua Held. Featuring Bill Pinkney on lead bass and Clyde McPhatter on tenor.

Sing along:

Ooh
Doop doop, doop doo doop
Ooh
Doop doop, doop doo doop

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas,
Just like the ones I used to know,
Where those treetops glisten, and children listen,
To hear sleigh bells in the snow, the snow.

Then, I-I-I am dreaming of a white Christmas,
With every Christmas card I write,
May your days, may your days, may your days be merry and bright,
And may all your Christmases be white.

I-I-I am dreaming of a white Christmas,
Just like the ones I used to know,
Where the treetops glisten, and children listen,
To hear sleigh bells in the snow.

I-I-I am dreaming of a white Christmas,
With every Christmas card I write,
May your days, may your days, may your days be merry and bright,
And may all your Christmases be white.

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle bells all the way.
Ooooh.

Smooth Jazz Chart - Weekly Top 100 - December 20, 2021 #jazz

Smooth Jazz Chart 

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When it updates, this post will be repeated with the most recent chart. 

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Smooth Jazz Chart - Weekly Top 100 - December 13, 2021 #jazz

Smooth Jazz Chart 

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When it updates, this post will be repeated with the most recent chart. 

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Kurt Elling Confirms New Tour Dates Following GRAMMY Nomination for Latest Album SuperBlue #jazz

Celebrated vocalist Kurt Elling has confirmed additional U.S. and European tour dates following the announcement of the Best Jazz Vocal Album GRAMMY nomination for his highly praised new album SuperBlue (Edition Records). Criss-crossing the country from Minneapolis to Seattle to Brooklyn, NY Elling will bring a variety of styles, backing bands and shows to audiences including special Christmas shows in December and SuperBlue focused shows in January and beyond. Additionally, Elling has confirmed a special SuperBlue show to take place during New York’s Winter Jazzfest in January.

See below for what critics are saying about the album and a full list of tour dates. 

 
SuperBlue is an ebullient and creative production that further underlines Elling's dynamic and endlessly adaptable vocal skills, regardless of genre. **** Four stars
- ALL MUSIC 
 
Thrilling
- THE FINANCIAL TIMES
 
Kurt Elling brings the groove on his funky, backbeat-driven collaboration with guitarist Charlie Hunter… a mirror-image companion piece to Elling’s [GRAMMY-winning] Secrets Are the Best Stories.
 - JAZZIZ
 
A jazz singer who can't be contained in any frame.
- WBGO
 
Elling sounds inspired throughout both by the material and by the opportunity to defy expectations. 
- NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

 

  
Kurt Elling U.S. Tour:
2021
12/10- Minneapolis, MN - Dakota
12/11- Costa Mesa, CA - Segerstrom Center for the Arts
12/12- Phoenix, AZ - Musical Instrument Museum
12/13- Santa Cruz, CA - Kuumbwa
12/14- Berkeley, CA - Freight & Salvage
12/17-18- Ann Arbor, MI - Blue Llama Jazz Club
12/19- Chicago, IL - City Winery
2022
1/13-22 – Winter Jazzfest – New York, NY*
2/1-3- Seattle, WA - The Triple Door *
2/4 - Eugene, OR - The Shedd *
2/5 - Portland, OR - Newmark Theater (PDX Jazz) *
2/6 - Menlo Park, CA - Guild Theatre *
2/12 - Brooklyn, NY - Kings Theatre on bill with Gregory Porter and Samara Joy *

*with Charlie Hunter and Corey Fonville
 
European Tour
2/15 - Courbevoie, FR- Espace Carpeaux
2/17 - Paris, FR- New Morning
2/18 - Paris, FR- New Morning
2/19 - Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, France- Palais des Congrès
2/20 - Châteauroux, FR -L'Equinoxe Scene Nationale 
2/22 - Utrecht, NL- Tivoli Vredenburg
2/23 - London, EN- Jazz Café 

Kurt Elling Online:
Website
Facebook
Instagram
YouTube

Edition Records:
Website

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Smooth Jazz Chart - Weekly Top 100 - December 6, 2021 #jazz

Smooth Jazz Chart 

This chart from smoothjazz.com generally updates every Monday. 

When it updates, this post will be repeated with the most recent chart. 

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R&B-jazz guitarist Blake Aaron’s second Billboard No. 1 hit of the year “Feels So Right” #jazz

The single previews the “Love and Rhythm” album

 

It sounds like a bright ray of sunshine. Brimful of hope, optimism and positivity, R&B-jazz guitarist Blake Aaron’s “Feels So Right” vaulted into the No. 1 spot on the Billboard singles chart before Thanksgiving, notching the Innervision Records artist’s second No. 1 single of the year. Illumined by a vibrant horn section and swatches of soulful vocal improvs, Aaron’s ebullient electric guitar melodies and rhythmic riffs set an exuberant tone for the smile-inducing tune that he wrote with hitmaking producer and keyboardist Greg Manning.

 

Aaron last topped the Billboard chart in June when “Sunday Strut” became the third single from his “Color and Passion” album to go No. 1 on the industry bible’s chart. The fretman went right back to work, entering the studio to begin writing and recording his seventh album that will be titled “Love and Rhythm.” “Color and Passion” was completed during last year’s coronavirus quarantine thus the material was purposely injected with upbeat vibes to provide promise and escape. Aaron knows that the struggle continues for so many people and he wanted to wrap the year by writing a melody exuding joyous anticipation for what’s to come.

 

“The initial inspiration for ‘Feels So Right’ came from the great track sent to me from amazing collaborator and producer Greg Manning, which inspired me to write the melody,” said Aaron, who will include his latest chart-topper on his forthcoming album.

 

“In this day and age of remote internet collaboration, especially during COVID-19 restrictions, it was rewarding to create ‘Feels So Right’ old school. Greg and I actually sat together in person and collaborated in his studio. I wanted to match the feel-good vibe he already had on the track and with the vocals, composing a melody that would capture the innocence of a woman dancing outside in the sun ‘like nobody is watching,’” said Aaron, explaining the image that adorns the single cover.

 

The “Feels So Right” rhythm track is anchored by bassist Alex Al and drummer Eric Valentine. David Mann constructed the horn arrangements, playing saxophone alongside trumpeter Trevor Neumann and saxman Jimmy Reid. It’s Ken Turner’s vocal embellishments that provide a soul-powered touch.

 

Typically, Aaron records and releases a handful of singles before making them the foundation of an album, a practice that he anticipates will continue with “Love and Rhythm.” Expect the collection to be another amalgam of R&B, jazz, pop, Latin, funk, fusion and rock.

 

This year marked Aaron’s return to the concert stage where he played clubs, theaters and festival dates, including such marquee events as the Berks Jazz Festival and the Mallorca Smooth Jazz Festival. Aaron will end the year by performing a Christmas-themed concert on December 17 at Vibrato in Los Angeles where singers Erin Stevenson and Derek Bordeaux will join him.

        

For more information, please visit https://www.blakeaaron.com.

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