SMOOTH JAZZ & CHILL MUSIC NEWS: DIANA ROSS' BLUE, BONNIE RAITT, CLEAR CHANNEL HIGH-DEF CHANNELS, LIZZ WRIGHT, CLARKE/DUKE PROJECT & MORE...

Diana Ross’ latest CD, Blue, an album of standards recorded in 1971 and 1972 that was never released, will be marketed exclusively for 5 weeks by Starbucks coffee houses before being available on June 20 at traditional retail outlets. Blue was intended to be a companion to the hit 1972 soundtrack to Lady Sings The Blues, however it was shelved, and the master tapes were only recently discovered in Motown’s vault.

The annual Vancouver International Jazz Festival is scheduled for June 23 to July 2. Artists penned to appear include Tony Bennett, Elvis Costello & The Imposters, Allen Toussaint and his New Orleans Horn Section, and Bobby Hutcherson. The festival will include over 400 shows, including 130 free concerts. For more information click to www.coastaljazz.ca.

The Montreal Jazz Festival will run from June 29 to July 9 and will include performances from: Paul Simon (July 5), B.B. King (June 28), Dave Brubeck (July 8), Emmylou Harris with Daniel Lanois (July 6), Elvis Costello with Allen Toussaint (July 3), Bonnie Raitt with Keb’ Mo (July 7), Salif Keita (July 5), Martha Wainwright (July 2), McCoy Tyner (July 2), Brad Mehldau (June 28), Gonzalo Rubalcaba (July 5), Wayne Shorter Quartet (July 1), Ravi Coltrane Quartet (June 29), Chris Potter’s Underground (June 30), Joe Lovano Quartet (July 5), and the Pharoah Sanders Quartet (June 29).

Clear Channel Radio is about to offer 75 new radio channels as programming for its rival broadcasters. The channels (much like those available on both Sirius and XM) will be available to broadcasters who will be able to use the Clear Channel content however they see fit, from just running it as-is to adding it in to their own customized, local content. According to Clear Channel Radio President/CEO, John Hogan, "we’ve created this programming to give broadcasters the most flexible and the best return on investment," said Hogan. "The massive amounts of programming needed to feed rapidly growing numbers of HD2 multicast channels, Internet streams and other near-term opportunities dwarfs the real estate that our industry had to fill with the advent of FM. By making extraordinary programming available even more broadly, the radio industry will be able to fully capitalize on the opportunities we are creating ourselves daily."

The U.S. Bank Saint Louis Jazz Festrival will be held on Friday, June 23 & Saturday, June 24 at Clayton Shaw’s Park, St. Louis County, Missouri. Performers this year include: Dr. John, David Sanborn, Preservation Hall Band, Readus Miller Project, The Clarke/Duke Project, Denise Thimes, LaMar Harris, The Craig Russo Latin Jazz Project, Rick Haydon & The SIUE Jazz Ensemble, Anita Rosamond, New Work, Harmonica Jazz, and Lizz Wright. George Duke and Stanley Clarke will be reuniting for this concert.