Bassist Mark Egan, Shawn Pelton, Shane Theriot "Cross Currents #jazz

Bassist Mark Egan Forms Potent Trio with SNL Drummer Shawn Pelton and Dynamic Six-Stringer Shane Theriot on Rootsy "Cross Currents" Release Date: March 8th, 2024

About the Recording: After five decades of touring and recording as an in-demand sideman and leader in his own right, acclaimed bassist Mark Egan has finally released an album that encapsulates his myriad of musical influences in one all-encompassing package. “In many ways this is a new production sound for me,” said the bassist who studied privately with Jaco Pastorius during the mid ‘70s while attending the University of Florida before becoming a charter member of The Pat Metheny Group. “My early influences are from playing r&b, soul and rock before becoming indoctrinated into jazz in the Miami years. This trio record explores those rootsy R&B funk-rock grooves coupled with my jazz and world sensibilities and utilizes the various fretted and fretless basses that I’ve worked with over the years. It’s a culmination of the many worlds of my experiences and is the reason that it’s titled Cross Currents.” Completing this potent trio with Egan are drummer Shawn Pelton (a 30-year veteran of the Saturday Night Live band and first-call New York City studio player who has recorded with everyone from Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart and Bruce Springsteen to Elton John, Billy Joel, Van Morrison, Sheryl Crow, David Byrne, Pink and Luciano Pavarotti) and Louisiana-born guitarist Shane Theriot (musical director for Hall & Oates who has also recorded and/or performed with The Neville Brothers, Dr. John, Boz Scaggs, Allen Toussaint, Rickie Lee Jones, Willie Nelson and Todd Rundgren). Together they cut a wide stylistic swath on Cross Currents, from funk (‘Homebrew’, ‘Pocket Call’) to ambient (‘Big Sky’) to swamp rock (‘Gulf Stream’), second-line (‘Ponchatrain’) and ballads (the Jimi Hendrix flavored ‘Sand Castles’ and the moody ‘Roll With It’) with allusions to Cajun (‘Nonc Rodell’) and Indian Raga (‘Eastern Blue’). Recorded at Power Station New England in Waterford, CT (a perfect replica of the storied New York City recording studio where Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, David Bowie, Madonna, Sting, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Mayer recorded iconic albums), Cross Currents is Egan’s most versatile and ambitious offering to date. While his past outings as a leader, like 2006’s As We Speak, 2010’s Truth Be Told, 2014’s About Now and Direction Home, 2018’s Dreaming Spirits and 2020’s Electric Blue, have been primarily organic trio and duo affairs, Cross Currents is a power trio with orchestrated layers of rhythms and textures by the participants. “The intent of this recording was to capture the interplay and energy of the trio and orchestrate it by adding additional guitars, bass and percussion to enhance what the songs were calling for. Everyone had so many great ideas for orchestrating and arranging the material. The record has electric and acoustic guitar as well as bass and percussion overdubs. We wanted to make atmospheric pads to create a backdrop for us to improvise over. Once I had decided on recording this trio format I spent nine months of composing and arranging the compositions. Shane and Shawn also spent a lot of time conceptualizing and contributing songs. We had three days to record and orchestrate the eleven compositions so the preproduction allowed us to have the time to be creative in the studio and focus on the group interplay and soloing.” For Egan, interplay and soloing means digging down on his fretted bass groove lines to lock with the rhythm section and using his fretless electric bass for his signature singing sound that has graced his own recordings since 1985’s groundbreaking and decidedly bass-centric Mosaic. That quality comes across throughout Cross Currents and is particularly evident with him carrying the melody on tunes like ‘Gulf Stream’, ‘Big Sky’, ‘Pocket Call’ and the title track or by his uncommonly lyrical improvising on tunes like ‘Ponchatrain’, ‘Homebrew’, ‘Sunflower’ and ‘Eastern Blue’. The bassist had high praise for his comrades Shawn and Shane on Cross Currents. “They both came very prepared for the sessions. I had sent them demos along with arrangements with suggestions for solo sections and overdub possibilities, and we rehearsed one day before going into the studio to work things out. Shane and Shawn both brought so much to the table and did their homework by creating and practicing grooves, melodies and instrument choices as well as coming up with great orchestration ideas. They are both so fundamentally strong in everything they do that it made the recording process creative and a lot of fun.” Egan had previously recorded with Theriot on the bassist’s 2018 album, Dreaming Spirits, an Indian flavored trio project with tabla player/percussionist Arjun Bruggeman. “I loved Shane’s contribution on Dreaming Spirits and thought he would be a perfect fit for the trio on Cross Currents. And though Shawn and I have played together on many sessions in New York over the years, he had never played on any of my records before.” The three players had actually first established some chemistry on a show backing NYC poet Frank Messina back in pre-pandemic times. “This was late 2019, before the COVID shut down,” Egan recalled. “Frank asked me to recommend people for this show that he was performing in New York City and I recommended Shane and Shawn. There was no rehearsal but just a very loose structure to it all with a lot of improvisation. Frank gave us a lot of room to improvise and play off of his poetry. At one point that evening we were playing trio — just Shane, Shawn and myself. That was the ‘light bulb moment’ for me, when I thought, this is very happening. I want to record a project with this trio. In the fall of 2022 I was in touch with Shane and Shawn about recording a trio project and I started writing songs for the group. Shane also sent me a few of his songs that inspired me to write others in a similar style. We co-wrote ‘Big Sky’ as Shane sent me the song as a demo with acoustic guitar chords and a groove and I wrote a melody and added an extended section for his acoustic guitar solo. Shane also contributed ‘Ponchatrain’, ‘Sunflower' and ‘Homebrew’. Shawn contributed ‘Nonc Rodell’ which is a tribute to his uncle. ‘Nonc Rodell’ showcases Shawn as a world class groove drummer as well as the depth of his creative drumming abilities. Shawn pre recorded his tracks at his studio with his drums, squeezebox (accordion), and added tenor guitar parts as well. We brought those tracks into Power Station New England studio and Shane and I added guitars and basses on top of Shawn’s prerecorded tracks. It’s a very creative track that features Shawn’s amazing drumming and I love it.” An in-demand New York City studio musician who has played on multi-gold and platinum-selling recordings by Sting, Arcadia, Marc Cohn, GRP Christmas, Mecano and Joan Osborne, Egan has also recorded with a wide variety of artists from pop stars like Roger Daltry, Sophie B. Hawkins, Marianne Faithfull, Judy Collins, Cyndi Lauper and Art Garfunkel to jazz notables like David Sanborn, John McLaughlin, John Abercrombie, Randy Brecker, Gato Barbieri, Freddy Cole, Pat Martino, Jim Hall, Joe Beck, Mark Murphy and Larry Coryell. A member of the Gil Evans Orchestra for 13 years, he has 14 albums as a leader to his credit and another 10 as a co-leader of Elements, the fusion band he formed in 1982 with his Pat Metheny Group bandmate, drummer Danny Gottlieb. And now Cross Currents, on his own Wavetone label, may be his crowning achievement to date as Egan continues to push the boundaries of his creativity.

About Mark Egan: One of the premier electric bassists of contemporary jazz, Mark Egan has distinguished himself over the past five decades with his distinctive fretless bass sound that has graced countless jazz and pop albums as well as award-winning movie and television soundtracks. An in-demand New York City studio musician who has played on multi-gold and platinum-selling recordings by Sting, Arcadia, Marc Cohn,GRP Christmas, Mecano and Joan Osborne, Egan has also recorded with a wide variety of artists from pop stars like Roger Daltrey, Sophie B. Hawkins, Marianne Faithfull, Judy Collins, Cyndi Lauper and Art Garfunkel to jazz notables like David Sanborn, John McLaughlin, John Abercrombie, Randy Brecker, Gato Barbieri, Freddy Cole, Jim Hall, Joe Beck, Pat Martino, Mark Murphy and Larry Coryell. A charter member of the Pat Metheny Group (formed in 1977) and member of the Gil Evans Orchestra for 13 years, Egan has 14 albums as a leader to his credit and another 10 as a co-leader of Elements, the fusion band he formed in 1982 with his Pat Metheny Group bandmate, drummer Danny Gottlieb. Born in1951 in Brockton, MA, Egan’s first instruments were trumpet and guitar, which he picked up at age 10 and continued to play through high school. He began playing bass at age 15 and later went to the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music as a trumpet student. He switched his major to electric and acoustic bass midway through the program and ended up taking private lessons with Don Coffman, Lucas Drew and Jaco Pastorius, also playing in a band with the future Weather Report bassist called Bakers Dozen, led by the jazz multi-instrumentalist Ira Sullivan and pianist Vince Lawrence DiMaggio. As Egan told For Bass Players Only: “I had been hearing about Jaco through the grapevine, since we were both in the south Florida area. Ira Sullivan had spoken of Jaco and the first time we met was at a Bakers Dozen rehearsal. We split the bass book along with a very fine acoustic bassist, Don Mast. Jaco brought a very large Sony reel-to-reel tape machine with headphones and played a recording of Wayne Cochran and the CC Riders. That was it for me. It was revolutionary and I knew that I was standing next to an innovator.” At the time, I was also very inspired by acoustic bassists Dave Holland, Ron Carter, Eddie Gomez, Scott LaFaro, Paul Chambers, Charles Mingus, Jimmie Garrison and Stanley Clarke as well as Electric bassists James Jameson, Chuck Rainey, Joe Osborne, Jerry Jemmott and Michael Henderson. In 1975, after graduating from the University of Miami, Egan toured with Eumir Deodato, the Pointer Sisters and recorded with David Sanborn (on 1977’s Promise Me the Moon). He was part of the Pat Metheny Group until 1980, appearing on 1978’s Pat Metheny Group and 1979’s American Garage. With the group’s drummer, Danny Gottlieb, he formed the jazz fusion band Elements, which also featured saxophonist Bill Evans and Clifford Carter- keyboards, recording and touring through the 1990s. During the 1980s and 1990s, Egan was also part of the Gil Evans Orchestra, appearing on Live at Sweet Basil, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, Farewell and Bud and Bird. During that period he also appeared on such recordings as Stan Getz’s Billy Hightstreet Samba, Jim Hall’s Concerto de Aranjuez, Michael Franks’ Objects of Desire and Skin Dive, Arcadia’s So Red the Rose, Sting’s Nothing Like the Sun, Mike Stern’s Upside Downside, Dave Liebman’s Homage to John Coltrane, Alex DiGrassi’s Altiplano, Tuck & Patti’s Tears of Joy, Special EFX’s Double Feature, Laurie Anderson’s Strange Angels and Toninho Horta’s Moonstone. Egan debuted as a leader with 1985’s Mosaic and followed with a string of successive recordings including 1988’s A Touch of Light, 1991’s Beyond Words, 2001’s Freedom Town and 2006’s As We Speak, his superb trio outing with drummer Gottlieb and guitarist John Abercrombie. On 2010’s Truth Be Told, he reunited with longtime colleagues Mitch Forman on keyboards, Bill Evans on saxophones and Roger Squitero on percussion. “Mitch is one of the first players that I met when I came to New York in 1976,” Egan recalled. “And Bill and I have a longstanding history that goes back to loft sessions with Steve Grossman in 1981 and shortly thereafter to the first Elements recording.” Through the ‘90s, Egan played on recordings by trumpeter Lew Soloff, guitarist Joe Beck, vocalist Mark Murphy, the Who frontman Roger Daltrey, saxophonists Donald Harrison and Gato Barbieri, pop singers Joan Osborne, Marianne Faithfull, Sohie B. Hawkins and Vanessa Williams and Broadway musical star Bernadette Peters. He continued his prolific output as a session man into the new millennium by playing on albums by keyboardist Jason Miles, guitarist Larry Coryell, pop star Cyndi Lauper, Brazilian singer Flora Purim, Broadway musical star Brian Stokes Mitchell, smooth jazz sax star Steve Cole and Hindu devotional singer Krishna Das. He also appeared on several recordings led by his Elements bandmates Bill Evans and Danny Gottlieb. Mark also recorded on the Coen Brothers’ movie “The Big Labowski”. Egan’s passion and visionary approach to contemporary instrumental music led to the formation in 1992 of his Wavetone Records. With 26 releases to date, including all of Egan’s recorded output along with recordings by guitarists Jeff Ciampa and Joe Beck and three releases by Elements, Wavetone has established itself as an innovative independent record label, dedicated to discovering, producing and promoting the finest in contemporary instrumental music. Many of those Wavetone outings were done at Egan’s Electric Fields, a state-of-the-art recording studio in New Canaan, CT, designed by the highly acclaimed acoustical architect Francis Manzella.

About Shane Theriot: Shane Theriot stays curious. As a Grammy Award-winning producer, guitarist, composer, bandleader and all-around multi-hyphenate who has been playing music his entire life, this Louisiana native has long proven his versatility in the studio, on the stage, and on the road. With a genre-fluid skill set that has led him to work with everyone from the Neville Brothers to Beyoncé, Theriot is the kind of multi-talented artist you always want in the room. With four acclaimed solo records under his belt, Theriot isn’t showing signs of slowing down any time soon. His most recent project was leading production on Things Happen That Way, the final album from fellow New Orleans legend Dr. John. A journey that began in 2017 at Shane’s own home in New Orleans, he worked side by side with the late icon to produce the album, a process that included co-writing three songs with Dr. John.  “Mac had the ability to just sing almost anything and have it become ‘him,’” Theriot recalls of their time working on the record. “His presence and persona just engulfed the tracks.” Though the album was completed prior to the passing of Dr. John, its release was delayed for over three years due to changes made by the estate to several of the finished tracks. After serving as the lead guitarist for the Neville Brothers for the band’s last eight years, Shane became the guitarist and Music Director for Hall & Oates and serves in that role to this day. Theriot also continues his role as the Music Director for Live from Daryl’s House, a web series starring Daryl Hall that has been running since 2007. Theriot loves that it’s a job where he always gets to meet new people, and in that capacity, he has worked with artists like Cheap Trick, The O'Jays and Kenny Loggins. If additional credits with the likes of Willie Nelson, Branford Marsalis, Ben Folds, LeAnn Rimes, Amos Lee, and guitar legends such as Billy Gibbons, Robben Ford and Larry Carlton weren’t enough, Theriot also has bylines of his own in Guitar Player Magazine and has been featured in Guitar Player, Guitar World, DownBeat, Rolling Stone, Vintage Guitar, and Guitar for the Practicing Musician magazines. Plus, his compositions have been featured on ESPN, MTV, VH1, Food Network, NCIS, HBO and in various feature films. Like many other artists, the breakout of Covid-19 was the first time that Theriot had a moment to slow down — he began to split time between his home in New Orleans and Los Angeles and embraced his next chapter wholeheartedly. He’ll be hitting the road in the fall of 2022 in a super trio dubbed Le Combo, where he’ll be joining forces with bassist Jorgen Carlsson (of Gov’t Mule) and drummer Toss Panos (Sting, Steve Vai). Shane will also continue hosting his podcast, The Riff Raff with Shane Theriot, which is available on Spotify and Apple Music. It has featured a rotating cast of fellow musicians as guests, ranging from Sammy Hagar to John Scofield to George Porter. While the release of Dr. John’s posthumous Things Happen That Way and a tour with Le Combo! will be keeping him busy through 2022, Theriot always has his eye on the next great project — no matter which of his many skill sets he’ll dip into next, the work is guaranteed to come from the heart.

About Shawn Pelton: Shawn Pelton must be doing something right. Having recorded with a wide range of top artists, and establishing himself as a first call player since moving to New York in the late 80’s. Known for his great feel, deep soulful pocket and a high level of musicianship across a broad range of styles. Shawn has recorded with artists such as: (Sheryl Crow, Rod Stewart, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, Billy Joel, Van Morrison, Pink, Kelly Clarkson, Five For Fighting, Natalie Merchant, Ingrid Michaelson, Michelle Branch, Regina, Spektor, Tears for Fears, Citizen Cope, Matisyahu, Jonatha Brooke, David Byrne, Goo Goo Dolls, Gavin Degraw, Peter Wolf, Edie Brickell, Marc Cohn, Richie Havens, Joan Osborne, Hall and Oates, Odetta, Pavarotti, Phillip Phillips, George Michael, Carole King, Sugarland, Carly Simon, Dixie Chicks, Chris Botti, Loudon Wainwright, and Buddy Guy, and has played on several Grammy winning albums for artists including Ray Charles, The Brecker Brothers, Rosanne Cash, Shakira, Shawn Colvin, William Bell, Sarah Jarosz, Les Paul and the Hank Williams tribute album with Bob Dylan. Such a broad discography shows a rare ability to be at home playing on a top ten track by Pink, recording with Jazz legend Abbey Lincoln or an icon like Bob Dylan. Shawn is also the longtime drummer in the house band for Saturday Night Live since 1992

For more information visit: www.markegan.com

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Smooth Jazz Chart - Weekly Top 100 - January 15, 2024 #jazz

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Remembering Martin Luther King Jr's Famed 'I Have a Dream' - NPR Video #MLKDAY

Martin Luther King Jr.

On Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, we remember the civil rights leader's most famous speech, and King's remarkable legacy. He was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta. He gave the "I Have a Dream" speech on Aug. 28, 1963 to 250,000 people who marched to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill that created a federal holiday to honor King, celebrated on the third Monday in January.

Video link: Remembering Martin Luther King Jr's Famed 'I Have a Dream

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Smooth Jazz Chart - Weekly Top 100 - January 8, 2024 #jazz

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Bernie Williams to make New York Philharmonic debut on April 24 with Gustavo Dudamel #jazz

Former New York Yankees center fielder Bernie Williams will make his New York Philharmonic debut on April 24 when future music director Gustavo Dudamel leads the orchestra’s spring gala at Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall

Former New York Yankees center fielder Bernie Williams will make his New York Philharmonic debut on April 24 when future music director Gustavo Dudamel leads the orchestra's spring gala at Lincoln Center's David Geffen Hall.

Common, a rapper whose actual name is Lonnie Rashid Lynn, will also make his philharmonic debut in a program with soprano Hera Hyesang Park, the orchestra said Wednesday. The philharmonic will perform alongside high school musicians chosen in auditions.

Williams, 55, was a five-time All-Star while playing for the Yankees from 1991 to 2006 and won the 1998 American League batting title. He released a pair of guitar recordings, in 2003 and 2009.

Dudamel, 42, has been music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since 2009, a tenure that will end after 17 seasons when he starts in New York for the 2026-27 season. He will have a rehearsal with the students on April 22 and will lead the youth orchestra in a concert on April 26 at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. There also will be a rehearsal on the morning of April 24 open to music teachers, families of the youth orchestra and the orchestra's community partners.

The program is still being planned.

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Innervision Records celebrates another successful Billboard chart year #jazz

 

Innervision Records celebrates another successful Billboard chart year

 

The No. 3 Smooth Jazz Label of the Year for the fifth consecutive time will showcase its roster at the After NAMM JAMM at Spaghettini on January 28.

 

Innervision Records’s depth and consistency won the boutique label the honor of being Billboard’s No. 3 Smooth Jazz Label of the Year for the fifth consecutive year, which was made possible by having four different artists land five Billboard top ten singles in 2023.

After scoring Billboard’s Smooth Jazz Song of the Year in 2022 with “SHINE!,” flutist Kim Scott continued her winning ways in 2023 by issuing two Billboard top ten singles: “Magic City Streets” and “Off The Top.” Innervision Records opened the year at No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart courtesy of saxophonist Will Donato’s “Good On You.” A pair of the Southern California-based label’s guitarists went top ten last year with Blake Aaron crushing it with “Crush” and JJ Sansaverino cruising up the chart with “Ride With Me.”

 

“We are so proud of Innervision Records earning the No. 3 Smooth Jazz Label of the Year at Billboard for five consecutive years. Innervision is truly the most artist-friendly record label around with a business model that has stood the test of time. Our artists are like family and our team is dedicated to ensuring the success of each and every one of our artists,” said Innervision Records’ A&R and radio promotions executive Adam Leibovitz.

Aaron, one of the first artists inked to Innervision Records when the label launched 26 years ago, will kick off the 2024 release slate on Friday (January 5) with “She’s the One.” The tune produced by Billboard hitmaker Adam Hawley and written by Aaron, Hawley and Carnell Harrell is the latest single culled from Aaron’s “Love and Rhythm” album, which drops on April 19. It’s a romantic groove buoyed by lush melodies and bodes to become the third Billboard No. 1 single from Aaron’s forthcoming collection.  

“As soon as I heard this beautiful track from Adam Hawley and Carnell Harrell, it immediately inspired me to write a captivating and infectious guitar melody, which I sang into my iPhone and later became the single, ‘She’s the One.’ It’s the second single to come from an old-school recording session that I did with Adam (Hawley) when we locked ourselves in the studio and vowed not to emerge until we finished two new songs,” said Aaron. 

 

For the eleventh year, Innervision Records will proudly highlight their roster at their After NAMM JAMM held at Spaghettini south of Los Angeles on January 28, the closing night of the NAMM Convention. Among the label’s artists scheduled to take the stage to perform are Aaron, Sansaverino, Donato, Erin Stevenson, Tom Braxton, Dean James, Keith Andrew, Rick Habana, Charles A. Kelly, Aysha and Dean Grech.

 

2024 promises to be another dominant year for Innervision Records with new albums coming from Aaron, Scott (“Livin’ It Up”), Stevenson (“UnderCover Girl”) and Cal Harris Jr. (“Bridges”). 

 

Innervision Records’ general manager Steve Belkin said, “At Innervision Records, we are very grateful for the continued growth and success this 'artist family label’ has experienced over the last two-and-a-half decades and look forward to reaching new heights in 2024 with a record number of exciting, new releases and lots of great music from our outstanding and talented roster."

 

For more information, please visit www.innervisionrecords.com. 

 

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Les McCann, innovative jazz musician best known for ‘Compared to What,’ dies at 88 #jazz

                                

Les McCann, a prolific and influential musician and recording artist who helped found the soul-jazz genre and became a favorite source for sampling by Dr. Dre, A Tribe Called Quest and hundreds of other hip-hop performers, has died. He was 88.

McCann died Friday in Los Angeles a week after being hospitalized with pneumonia, according to his longtime manager and producer, Alan Abrahams.

A Lexington, Kentucky, native, McCann was a vocalist and self-taught pianist whose career dated back to the 1950s, when he won a singing contest while serving in the U.S. Navy and appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” the top variety program of its time. With admirers including Quincy Jones and Miles Davis, he went on tour worldwide and released dozens of albums, starting in 1960 with “Les McCann Ltd. Plays the Truth.”

He was best known for “Compared to What,” a funky protest song on which he first teamed up with his future musical partner, saxophonist Eddie Harris. Written by Eugene McDaniels and recorded live at the 1968 Monteaux Jazz Festival, “Compared to What” blended jazzy riffs and McCann’s gospel-style vocals. The song condemned war, greed and injustice with such couplets as “Nobody gives us rhyme or reason/Have one doubt, they call it treason.”

Among those covering “Compared to What” was Roberta Flack, a McCann protégé whose career he helped launch by setting up an audition with Atlantic Records. McCann was a pioneer in merging jazz with soul and funk. He would record with Flack and tour with such popular musicians as Wilson Pickett, Santana and the Staples Singers.

His other albums included “Talk to the People” (1972), “Layers” (1973) and “Another Beginning” (1974). Last month, Resonance Records issued “Never A Dull Moment! - Live from Coast to Coast (1966-1967).”

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Smooth Jazz Chart - Weekly Top 100 - November 27, 2023 #jazz

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Dedicated: R&B/jazz keyboardist Vassal Benford issues an offering of love and thanksgiving ahead of the holidaysv #jazz

                                         

 

The most added new single two weeks in a row, “Dedication Song,” offers a sneak peek into the forthcoming “Melody Man” album.

 

As Thanksgiving approaches, music and entertainment industry mogul Vassal Benford is feeling grateful. The R&B/jazz keyboardist wrote and produced a new single, “Dedication Song,” that captures his feelings of appreciation. The Benford Jazz Label release mixed by Billboard hitmaker Greg Manning is the most added new single on Billboard’s Mediabase chart two weeks running.

 

Benford has played a role in the creation of more than 58 platinum-selling records as a Grammy nominated producer, songwriter, musician and record executive in pop, R&B, hip hop, rock and dance music. He’s worked with a veritable who’s who list of superstars, yet jazz remains his humble muse and he’s determined to put his distinctive imprint on the genre. Playing piano to foster feelings of intimacy and emotional connection, “Dedication Song” plays like a danceable and sensual R&B groove. Steamy undertones provide contrast to the poetic notes emoted eloquently from Benford’s melodic and agile piano. At its essence, the single is an offering of love reflecting thankfulness.

 

In the accompanying “Dedication Song” video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxrBmkdkdWM) that already has nearly 700,000 views in four days, Benford dedicates the song in loving memory to one of his mentors, the “Godfather of Black Music” Clarence Avant, along with an extended list of family members, friends and several of his longtime clients.

 

“‘Dedication Song’ is a heartfelt song for all occasions, but this year we’re bringing it out for the holiday season. While composing and tracking it in the studio, it filled me with immense feelings of gratitude, especially for my family and my loved ones. We are in strange times and every moment of love counts. Every act of love counts. I now find myself noticing every smile and recognize that each moment of peace is a blessing. The world needs love, so I dedicate this song to everyone with love,” said Benford about the second single from his forthcoming album, “Melody Man,” which is due to arrive in April.

 

Benford is a prolific producer of music, film, television, concert events, revolutionary technology and sporting projects that have generated billions of dollars and billions of spins, streams, downloads and views. He got his start as a teenager in Detroit writing songs for jazz legends Ramsey Lewis, Stanley Clarke and Nancy Wilson. His discography now boasts collaborations with DJ Diplo, Toni Braxton, NAS, Flo Rida, Queen Latifah, Mariah Carey, Rick Ross, Deborah Cox, Sheryl Crow, U2, Jade, Bobby Brown, New Edition, Lil’ Kim, Patti LaBelle, Faith Evans, Chanté Moore, Oleta Adams, Lisa Stansfield, Tramaine Hawkins, and The Fine Young Cannibals among others.

 

The Benford Company manages boxing champ Manny Pacquiao and Benford serves as the chairman of The B.B. King Estate. He is executive producing a documentary film about King and is assembling the accompanying soundtrack that features rapper Quavo of Migos. In movies, Benford is partnered with former studio head and blockbuster producer Mark Canton (“300”) on the “After” film trilogy (“After,” “After We Collided” and “After We Fell”), which has generated over $300 million at the box office, and created the television series “Power.” They currently have two Marvel films in the pipeline.

 

While making Hollywood megadeals is an everyday occurrence for Benford, at his core, his passion remains jazz and instrumental R&B music. Last year, he tested the waters by releasing the title track to “Melody Man,” which sounds totally unique and unlike anything in the contemporary jazz space. “Dedication Song” provides a second glimpse into what’s to come from what bodes to be an innovative collection that features Benford collaborating with Grammy-winning guitarist Norman Brown, eight-time Grammy nominated saxophonist Gerald Albright, and singer-songwriters Aloe Blacc and Moore.

 

For more information, please visit https://benfordjazz.com.

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Jazz/R&B singer-songwriter Ashleigh Smith can’t help being herself #jazz

The new single, “I Can’t Help It,” previews her second album, “In The Rain.”

 

 

The title of singer-songwriter Ashleigh Smith’s new single, “I Can’t Help It,” aligns with her identity as an artist. Her recordings are unapologetic and unabashed amalgams of straight-ahead jazz cadences and soulful R&B grooves with sophisticated pop appeal that when knitted together, result in genre-defying tracks best labeled modern vocal jazz. Her newly released TopCat Records single is an act of defiance in itself because there’s no question that it’s a straight-ahead jazz cut yet that radio format doesn’t release singles. That little detail wasn’t going to prevent Smith from issuing her version of the tune penned by Stevie Wonder and Susaye Greene, which she produced and arranged with bassist Nigel Rivers.

 

Clearly Smith is comfortable in her own skin. She studied classical music on a full scholarship in college, won the 2014 Sarah Vaughan International Vocal Competition, which demonstrates her remarkable skills as a jazz singer, and grew up in a musical household where she fell in love with classic R&B and pop as performed on “real instruments.” Each element adds to the distinctive alchemy that converges organically to form her own unique brand.

 

While “I Can’t Help It” is a song about romantic love, for Smith, the lyrics serve as affirmations, declarations empowering her individuality. Floating her emotive croon atop the brisk straight-ahead jazz rhythms constructed by Rivers’ elastic basslines and Mauricio Barroso’s staccato percussion beats, Smith’s single is illumined by the astute piano and Rhodes keyboards from Daniel Marandure and Pete Clagett’s probing trumpet. Adding melodic touches to the track are Max Townsley (guitar), Chelsea Danielle (vibes) and Jordache Grant (keyboards). Smith has been performing “I Can’t Help It” in her live set for years with many of the musicians on the recording.

 

“After years of performing it with my band, different sections and parts of the arrangements started to form organically. Honestly, it was only decided that it would be a single because of audience demand. After every show, fans ask where they could purchase that arrangement. So, I decided we would give the people what they wanted. One of the qualities that I’m most proud of when it comes to my music is that everything I do is always organic and natural. Even down to the musicians I choose to record with. The musicians on this record, and on all of my recordings, are musicians I play with regularly. They are people who have been a part of my musical journey from the beginning, so the synergy is a given. I love that everything I put out is made with love with people I genuinely love,” said the Dallas-based Smith who grew up in Augusta, Georgia.

 

“I Can’t Help It” previews Smith’s sophomore album, “In The Rain,” which is due to arrive next spring. Although this single is a reimagination, all the other songs on the collection are originals that Smith had a hand in writing. She debuted in 2016 with the “Sunkissed” album that was released by Concord Records, which offered a mix of originals and covers.

 

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

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