His collection of chart-topping hits, “Love and Rhythm,” is up for consideration as Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.
Ancient Greeks celebrated the number seven as representing perfection. Contemporary jazz guitarist Blake Aaron hopes that his timing is perfection for his first GRAMMY® nomination. He recently notched his seventh Billboard chart-topping single, a tune that appears on his seventh album, “Love and Rhythm,” which was released on Innervision Records last April. Could lucky number seven come up for Aaron next month when the GRAMMY® nominations are announced?
“Love and Rhythm” is up for GRAMMY® consideration as Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. The project indulges Aaron’s love of a wide array of rhythms celebrated with a ten-song setlist incorporating contemporary jazz, R&B, funk, and pop along with excursions into fusion and Brazilian jazz. Aaron’s passion for composition, performance, and production comes to the fore on the album that he wrote and produced with Billboard hitmakers Adam Hawley and Greg Manning.
Two-time GRAMMY winners Bob Mintzer (saxophone) and Mel Brown (bass), GRAMMY® winners Hussain Jiffry (bass) and Will Kennedy (drums), and GRAMMY® nominated musicians Andrew Neu (saxophone), Tateng Katindig (keyboards), and Tyries Rolfe (strings and string arrangements) are among The Recording Academy recognized musicians who perform on “Love and Rhythm.” Other first-call players on the album include bassist Alex Al (Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Sting), percussionist Ramon Yslas (Chicago, David Sanborn, Jennifer Lopez), drummers Eric Valentine (Gerald Albright, Erykah Badu, Jonathan Butler) and Tony Moore (George Benson, Jeff Lorber, The Isley Brothers), keyboardist Carnell Harrell (Boney James, Andra Day, Rick Braun), and an arsenal of horns powered by David Mann, Trevor Neumann, Donald Hayes, Michael Stever, Jimmy Reid, Andrew Neu and Nick Lane.
To date, three singles from “Love and Rhythm” took command of the top spot on the Billboard chart and by the time the GRAMMY® nominations are announced on November 8, Aaron may have scored his…well…lucky eighth chart topper. The latest single from the album, “The Way You Sway,” a vintage 70s instrumental R&B groove anchored by Aaron’s lyrical and dexterous electric jazz guitar and empowered by a mighty and crisp horn section, is charging up the chart destined for the top spot.
In addition to the seven times Aaron summited the Billboard chart as a solo artist, he has architected four chart toppers as a producer. He has been a featured soloist on two chart-topping singles, including 2022’s Billboard Song of the Year by flutist Kim Scott (“Shine”).
A GRAMMY® nomination would be a first for Aaron in a lengthy and accomplished career that is a model of consistency. As an in-demand guitarist, he’s recorded and/or performed with such diverse R&B, jazz, and rock headliners as Philip Bailey (EWF), Sheila E., The Alan Parson Project, The Gap Band, Lakeside, Najee, Ronnie Laws, Keiko Matsui, Warren Hill, and Bobby Womack and Carlos Santana. In other media, Aaron has film and television music credits for his work on “MAD TV,” “Super Dave Osborne,” and “The Ben Stiller Show.”
"A GRAMMY® nomination would be a huge honor for me. I have been so grateful for the hits that I’ve created and been a part of, but a GRAMMY® nomination would be the first award from my fellow artists and colleagues in the industry. That acknowledgement from my peers would be the icing on the cake of an amazing and blessed career," said Aaron.
Aaron is also a popular performer at festivals, theaters, and nightclubs. He’ll next take the stage on October 11 at the Catalina JazzTrax Festival, teaming up with smooth soul songstress Erin Stevenson. US and European concert tours are being booked now for next year.
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