Talking Smooth Jazz

(January 1, 2022) / Written by: Chris Rizik of soultracks.com He has been an artist’s artist, and one of the most revered musician of the past two decades. Tonight we say a sad goodbye to guitarist and vocalist Nick Colionne, who reportedly died in his sleep early this morning. The Chicago native began playing guitar as a pre-teen, and by his mid-teens was known as a rising star around town. As a high schooler, he was already recording with such luminaries as Curtis Mayfield and The Staple...

Aneessa kicked off her stateside debut with a winning cover of Soul II Soul’s 1989 anthem, “Back to Life,” which has cracked the Top 10 of Billboard Magazine’s “Smooth Jazz” chart. In a similar thematic vein is Aneessa’s cover of Madonna’s “Miles Away” which she relates to so deeply for its message of a long-distance relationship. Aneessa and Michael wrote “Just to Be with You” about their relationship when love was blooming yet they were so far away from each other, leading to her coming to...

Review by Eliana Fermi on September 12, 2020: Saxophonist, flutist Paula Atherton has enjoyed a long and varied career in contemporary and mainstream jazz. Her acumen on her instruments are poised and adept. Her full-length album Can You Feel It has already begun to garner real accolade with her single also titled “Can You Feel It,” landing a #1 hit, three weeks in a row on Billboard. What is even more cementing about this accolade is she also landed #1 slots on Mediabase and #1 on the...

Canadian-born, Toronto-native Rob Tardik is a multi-award winning guitarist and contemporary pop/jazz/world/fusion instrumental music artist. He has performed at venues all across North America including the prestigious Seabreeze Jazz Festival, Rochester Jazz Festival, Beaches International Jazz Festival, Jazz on the Vine in Wisconsin, The Catalina Island Jazz Festival, Flato Markham Theatre, Markham Jazz Festival, The Rose Theatre in Brampton, The Burlington Centre for the Arts, The Living...

Sheldon Ferguson is a Grammy-nominated guitarist who is originally from Columbia, SC and currently resides in Atlanta, GA. He earned his Bachelors in Professional Music with an emphasis in Performance and Production at Berklee College of Music. In 2011 Sheldon released his first smooth jazz album titled The Brighter Side, at the age of seventeen. Sheldon’s music has sold in over forty different countries and can be heard on jazz stations all over the world. The international radio broadcast,...

In the October Issue of Grimes Magazine they wrote about Zach Sanders, "Zach Sanders, a native of Columbia, South Carolina, has been wowing crowds with his dynamic and energetic saxophone playing, since the age 14. While his star has shown brightly throughout the Carolinas, he has begun to branch out nationally and has shocked the world with his new release Pretty Girl. Zach's exciting young band An Experience, is now building their exciting 2021 performance schedule. Get ready for a new,...

National Smooth Jazz Recording Artist Judah Sealy is a Billboard Charting Saxophonist, Keyboardist, and Producer from Rochester N.Y. Judah Sealy’s unique sound comes from a blend of vintage R&B, gospel, neo-soul and funk with some contemporary R&B influences as well. Judah's smooth saxophone style is heavily influenced by Kirk Whalum, George Furlow, Gerald Albright, and Boney James to name a few. His is also an accomplished pianist in his own right. He has shared the stage with many known...

Christian “Big New York” de Mesones has been playing bass guitar for over 40 years. He was only 18 years old when he graduated from the world-famous Bass Institute of Technology (now the Musician’s Institute) in Hollywood, California where he had the opportunity to study and workshop with greats such as Abe Laboriel, Louis Johnson, Tim Bogart, Howard Alden, Steve Morse, Pat Metheny, and the late Tommy Tedesco and Ray Brown. By personal request from visiting guitar faculty member and...

A thrilling performer and one on the rise, vocalist and multi-instrumental soul/jazz artist Marcus Adams is a sign that the new crop of smooth jazz artists can certainly carry the torch. Working on his sophomore studio album, he combines R&B, Soul, and Jazz to create songs that takes the listeners on a musical ride of the highs of love and depths of pain in life. His friendship with Grammy-nominated producer Demonte Posey led to the release of his heralded freshman release entitled...

A native of San Diego, California, Ms. Antoinette’s diverse repertoire consists of classical, smooth jazz, and R&B music. She has performed for The President and First Lady Of The United States, Barack and Michelle Obama, and at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles with the Southeast Symphony Orchestra. Her solo performances have taken her across the US and abroad. Attending UC San Diego for undergraduate work and continuing on to the University of Arizona for Masterclasses in harp...

Alex Parchment is a dedicated musician, producer, and artist. He has been honing his trumpet and piano skills for years with his acceptance into the Rosa Parks High School of the Fine and Performing arts in Paterson, New Jersey, Jazz House Kids' inaugural class, and through Howard University's rigorous music education major. Alex has had the opportunity to perform on stages throughout the East Coast, including the Kennedy Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center and Blues Alley with jazz luminaries...

Join us for a conversation with guitarist Nils about his new release, Caught In The Groove featuring, Oliver C. Brown (percussion), Johnny Britt (organ, vocals, and horns), Mitch Forman (piano), Derrick Dmar Martin, Tony Moore, Gorden Cambell (drums), Darryl Williams, Reggie McBride, Darryl Jones, Carsten Schmelzer (bass), Clydene Jackson (Rhodes), and Dov and the LoveStar Strings (live string section). Guitar virtuoso Nils has been one of the most successful forces in the Contemporary Jazz...

Marcus Anderson’s thirteenth album “HERO” features thirteen original compositions, which is the quintessential soundtrack of our lives with a common thread of inspiration, perseverance, passion, and resilience. A new-age fusion jazz artist, Anderson’s music – as well as his message- is even more powerful and poignant in the current political, environmental and social climate of this nation and world. HERO takes the listener on a musical journey through themes of light and darkness and the...

There are only a few established artists who are capable of reinventing themselves and jazz guitarist and Billboard chart-topper U-Nam is certainly one of them. As if to prove it he will release the genre-busting “U-Nam Goes Big Band”, 03/27/2020, on the Skytown Records label. “U-Nam Goes Big Band”, a sumptuous eleven-track rendering of sophisticated mood jazz, is made even more enticing by the amazing back-story that first put it on U-Nam’s radar. A phone call to his Los Angeles studio from...

Through his three prior Mack Avenue Music Group releases and his attention-grabbing work with the likes of Christian McBride, Bobby Watson, Karriem Riggins, Jeremy Pelt, and the SFJAZZ Collective, Warren Wolf has established himself as the foremost straight-ahead vibraphonist of his generation, a bop torchbearer well equipped to carry the mantle of forebears like Bobby Hutcherson and Milt Jackson. On his latest album, Warren Wolf reveals an entirely different side to his multi-faceted...

Guitarist David P. Stevens is back with a KILLER new five-track EP called Vibrations. Not only is playing the guitar but singing his ass off on the tracks "Natural" w/Latoya London and soloing on "I Just Can't Wait." Keivu Knox of Soultracks.com wrote: "David P Stevens has crafted a successful six-album run in his career to date, and as number seven is set for a release later this month, the artist known as “Mr. Guitar” may find himself with a new nickname, “Mr.Voice.” The new single,...

Drummer Kenne Thomas believes that "art reflects life" and focuses on developing social skills and cooperative interaction through drumming. Contemporary jazz, mixing driving swing numbers and smooth jazz tracks for the modern jazz fan. The group's seasoned musician's blistering solos will have you listening over and over again. Follow Kenne on Facebook, Twitter @kenne, Instagram @kennethomas

Marcus Adams is an artist and producer that has shared the stage with and for some notable household names. Honing his craft in church, he established himself as an intricate member of the Christian Faith Fellowship Church’s band under the direction of the late maestro Cornell Thigpen. While there, he produced a project for his sisters, ‘A Touch of Faith’, that eventually earned him and the group a Stellar Award nomination. Adams would go on to establish himself as a force in the gospel...

By and large ‘Raise The Roof’ is the ‘Ronny Smith Show’ front back and center. Not only does he play guitar, keys, and bass throughout he also arranges, produces and programs all ten tunes. Eight of these are original compositions cleverly complemented by the addition of two immaculately crafted covers. The first is an edgy interpretation of the Bill Withers classic ‘Use Me’ with the second being a classy re-imagining of the Carpenters blockbuster ‘Superstar’. Truth to tell he makes both...

Lisa Addeo is a Pianist/Vocalist/Composer whose single 'Listen To This' is #1 in Billboard, #1 on the Smooth Jazz Network and #1 on Mediabase chart. Her music is currently heard in homes across America on Music Choice’s Smooth Jazz channel, and Sirius XM's Watercolors, Siriusly Sinatra and Holiday Traditions channels, Lisa Addeo is comfortable playing and singing many different styles, from Contemporary/Smooth Jazz to Pop and the Great American Songbook. She delivers a colorful mosaic of...