Jazz Cruises has announced that George Benson will be their Cozumel guest for both sailings of The Smooth Jazz Cruise 2013. After many years of resisting their invitation to attend, Benson has finally decided to get onboard. What changed that caused George Benson to join the cruise? There is an old adage that says “success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan.” Well, this success did have many fathers! First, several folks, especially fellow artists, had told George that the cruise was a wonderful event. Second, when he found out that the lineup included such icons as David Sanborn, Marcus Miller, Bob James and Jonathan Butler, genre stars Rick Braun, Richard Elliot, Candy Dulfer, Brian Culbertson and Jeff Golub, internationally acclaimed vocalist Angie Stone and jazz violin sensation Ken Ford, he was drawn in further. Third, during his stay at the Seabreeze Jazz Festival, Jazz Cruises’ staff not only saw his show, but also were able to spend some time with him and pressed him as to our desire to have him finally become part of The Smooth Jazz Cruise family. Put this all together and it spells George Benson on the cruise.
U-Nam's "Give Me The Night" has been released as a digital single. It's from the forthcoming album, Weekend In L.A. (A Tribute To George Benson), by U-Nam and Friends featuring George Duke, Paul Jackson Jr., Phil Perry, Tim TiO Owens, Ronnie Foster, Patrice Rushen, and others.
Chris Standring has just finished mastering Send Me Some Snow, his new Christmas record that he did along with singer songwriter Kathrin Shorr. It's a vintage sounding collection of original songs with sentimental, romantic themes, all complete with lush orchestration and christmassy feelings. The album will be released to the world on November 1st, and no doubt I will be able to release some audio snippets ahead of time. He’s also one song away from finishing writing material for his new solo album which will be released in 2012, hopefully 1st quarter. According to Standring, “…April looks very possible, highly likely actually. Cross fingers. It's coming along nicely. I can tell you it's a little more upbeat and joyful than Blue Bolero. It's pretty funky too in places. Again, there is lots of orchestration on it as I get deeper and deeper into that territory.”
Alexander O'Neal, a pioneer of the Minneapolis Sound, returns with his first ever U.S. live recording on CD and DVD. Fresh off the BET Awards, a feature episode of Unsung, and a thrilling live set at the Essence Festival at the Superdome, the chart topping O'Neal proves he's still got it. Recorded live where it all began--downtown Minneapolis along with his 8-piece band--O'Neal lights up all his biggest hits. Live in Minneapolis includes a number of songs written by famed Minneapolis producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, such as "Criticize," "All True Man," "If You Were Here Tonight," "Sunshine" and more. Bobby Z, drummer for Prince and the Revolution, produced and directed the package, with mixes by Z's Grammy winning brother David Z. The package also includes a bonus DVD concert film edited by Z's son, Joseph Rivkin. This is Bobby Z's first project after suffering a near fatal heart attack last February. "It is Alex in top form," said Z. "I am proud of him on this masterpiece!" Says O'Neal, "Thanks to Bobby Z for believing in me. Who would have thought, with Z being from the Prince camp, and me from the Flyte Tyme camp, we would come together and bring this kind of musical beauty."
Larry Carlton will be performing “The Royal Scam” plus select hits with Steely Dan on September 23, 2011 at the Beacon Theatre in New York, NY (2124 Broadway New York, NY 10023). More upcoming shows: Friday, Sept. 30 - Nashville Symphony; Thursday, Oct. 20 - Quebec, Canada; Friday, Oct. 21 - Gravenhurst, Canada; Saturday, Oct. 22 - Niagara Falls, NY; Sunday, Oct. 23 - Norfolk, CT. See http://www.larrycarlton.com/ for more details.
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