FM5280 ~ Smooth Jazz

George Duke Shares "Dukey Treats"

Keyboardist and producer George Duke returns to funk form on his brand-new CD Dukey Treats, out August 26th. The title echoes that of his 1978 funk classic "Dukey Stick," and the album should satisfy fans of that era of Duke's catalog.

"My new CD is a celebration of 'old school' with a new school twist seen through my mind's eye. The central idea was to make the album as funky as it is beautiful," Duke writes on his website, georgeduke.com.

"There are several different major 'old school' R&B styles represented on this album, all spread on a blanket of jazz and performed through my lens," he continued. "Those of you that know me realize that I like my funk and R&B mixed with a heavy dose of jazz."

The title track of the album, "Dukey Treats," was recorded with the band that originally recorded his 1977 hit "Reach For It," which included percussionists Ndugu Chancler and Sheila E.

For more on Duke's Dukey Treats, as well as his touring schedule, go to georgeduke.com.

Aretha Franklin, Erykah Badu, Bobby Caldwell at Liberty Jazz R&B Festival

Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin as well as stars Erykah Badu, Leela James, KEM, Bobby Caldwell, Euge Groove, Brian Culbertson, Roy Ayers, Kool & the Gang, and the O'Jays are on the bill for this year's Liberty State Park Jazz & R&B Festival. The annual fest takes place on September 13th and 14th at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey, just across the river from New York City.

More artists are expected to be named to the lineup for the weekend event.

Jessy J Finishes Summer in South America

Jessy J is closing out her summer season with her first-ever trip to South America. She will be traveling with Michael Bolton’s band to Venezuela, then touring and performing throughout Brazil, Paraguay, Chile, and Argentina.

Jessy is looking forward to “a fun and memorable experience,” she says, “I can’t wait to hear some authentic Brazilian Samba, Bossa Nova, and the Tango in Argentina!”

For all the latest on Jessy J you can visit her online at jessyj.com, which has recently been updated to include new pictures, as well as the most up-to-date reviews and press articles from Jazziz, Jazztimes, Boward Times, Contemporary Jazz, and Riveting Riffs.

Brian Culbertson Pushes The Funk

Gail Mitchell recently posted this article on Billboard.biz.

Currently on the road with his 11-piece band, jazz musician, songwriter, producer and smooth jazz radio personality Brian Culbertson says he also plans to do a Christmas tour again this year. “We’re still working on the lineup,” he tells Billboard.biz during a recent tour break.

The Los Angeles-based keyboardist and trombonist has been busy promoting his latest album, “Bringing Back the Funk.” The album - executive produced by Earth, Wind & Fire founder Maurice White - stands at No. 15 this week on the Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.

“I’d been thinking about doing a funk record for a long time,” says Culbertson. “But the timing was never right. Then 18 months ago I went to Las Vegas and got to sit in on a Prince jam session. It was an inspiring night of music; I also met Larry Graham then. All that started me thinking, it’s time.”

Culbertson notes that a remix of the opening track, “Funkin’ Like My Father” featuring Bootsy Collins, is coming soon. And looking down the road to his next album, Culbertson is mulling the idea of “doing a kind of straight, mid-tempo R&B record with a lot of cool vocal guests.”

Culbertson’s current tour winds up October 2nd in Baltimore, Maryland. Prior to that, he’ll be making stops in Las Vegas on September 5th, Orlando on September 11th, and Atlanta on September 19th.

Before the tour winds down, Culbertson will be playing the Gatsby Jazz Festival on Saturday, August 30th in Santa Barbara, California. The festival is inspired by F. Scott Fitzgerald’s immortal classic, and this inaugural “white linen & lawn” event will feature a dazzling array of contemporary jazz talent that includes Brian Culbertson, Gerald Albright and keyboard player extraordinaire Marcus Johnson.

For more information you can visit Culbertson’s website, brianculbertson.com.

Al Green Taking His Act to the Tonight Show

On Wednesday, September 10th, Al Green will perform live on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. For accurate show time check your local listings.

Al Green’s whirlwind year began in May with the release of his critically acclaimed album, Lay It Down. For Green the album marked the highest debuting release in his accomplished career.

From there he became the recipient of the 2008 BET Lifetime Achievement Award and gave a well received performance at the BET Awards. He then embarked on a worldwide tour that included his first show ever at New York City’s famous Carnegie Hall.

The Los Angeles Times recently wrote, “Watching Al Green sing live should be on any list of “Things to Do Before You Die.””

Thanks to the power of television, combined with the format of late night talk shows, Al Green’s performances have been as accessible as our living rooms. Earlier in August he appeared on Late Night with Conan O’Brien where he performed “Stay with Me (By the Sea)”.

His appearance on the Tonight Show will give us all an opportunity to hear the voice that the Washington Post called “a miracle, an incomparable, inventive instrument that produces sublime, swooping sounds with apparently minimal effort. He sings with urgency, sensitivity, conviction, control and nuance — not to mention creativity, particularly as regards his idiosyncratic phrasing.”

For more information you can visit him online at algreenmusic.com.

How Music Gave David Sanborn His Life

David Sanborn recently invited CNN to his Manhattan home to talk about his uneasy relationship with the sax, letting Eric Clapton play and sing, and how being a musician is self-involved.

Shanon Cook wrote the follwoing story for CNN.

Ask saxophonist David Sanborn to reel off a list of career achievements, and you’d better get comfortable. It’s a long list. Even he looks surprised when he reaches the end of it, and quips, “I split the atom and cured cancer.”

Sanborn’s career spans jazz, rock, pop and R&B. He’s played with Stevie Wonder, the Rolling Stones, James Taylor, David Bowie and Carly Simon — just to name a few. He’s won six Grammys, hosted the TV show “Night Music” in the early ’80s and has performed with the bands for “Saturday Night Live” and “Late Night with David Letterman.”

OK, so maybe curing cancer is a bit of a stretch — but Sanborn is certainly no stranger to fighting his own health battles. Having suffered polio in his childhood, he says his mantra growing up was “Hey guys, wait up!” as he trailed his peers. At age 11, he took up the saxophone on his doctors’ advice that the wind instrument would help build up his lungs.

Now 63, Sanborn has just released “Here and Gone” (Decca), his 23rd album. It’s a sultry, bluesy nod to early influences Ray Charles and Hank Crawford, and features guest appearances by Eric Clapton, Joss Stone and Sam Moore.

CNN: When you’ve been playing an instrument for many, many years as you have, do you ever get to a point where you …

Sanborn: Hate it?

CNN: Well, that wasn’t going to be my question, but … do you?

Sanborn: Sometimes, yeah. But it’s like hating your arm at a certain point, because [the instrument] is really supposed to be an extension of you.

CNN: I was going to ask … do you ever get to a point where the instrument no longer surprises you?

Sanborn: No. I’m waiting for that time. I think that goes along with discovering things as a musician and discovering new places to go. To me, the object of practicing is to allow you to play what you hear. But you’re always hearing new things, so you never get to the end of it. That’s the great thing and the frustrating thing about music; you never really master it. Music is like an open sky. You know it’s out there … and there you are.

The remainder of this interview can be read by following this link, cnn.com.

David Sanborn’s latest album, his 23rd, is titled “Here and Gone.” For more information on him you can visit him online at davidsanborn.com.

Will Downing To Appear On Labor Day Telethon

Singer Will Downing, known as "the Prince of Sophisticated Soul," will perform on the national broadcast of The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon on September 1st. He will appear live via remote from New York on this year's annual fundraiser for the Muscular dystrophy Association.

Downing's appearance on the telethon will have special significance. In 2006, the singer learned he had polymyositis, a debilitating disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks muscle fibers. For almost a year, Downing was bedridden and nearly unable to move.

Downing's recovery has been due in part to immunosuppressant drugs of the type tested in Muscular Dystrophy Association clinical trials. Since then, the smooth vocalist has been able to return to his performing career.

"My family's support, faith in God and doctors who knew how to fight my illness brought me back from some very tough times," he said. "Performing at the Telethon is the least I can do to show my appreciation."

After being out of the public eye for so long while he recovered, the 45-year-old musician launched a series of meet and greet sessions in five cities this past June to help promote his Number One R&B album After Tonight. He explained that in some cases it was morbid curiosity about his condition that brought out the audience: "It's funny how people are --they wanna see you to see how bad you are, or how good you are. I mean -- and that's just a fact. People come up and say, 'I just want to see what you look like.' You know, I mean, it's pretty bizarre, but you gotta remember people also stop on the highway when there's an accident. They just want to see the accident. So you felt like that was the case."

Downing recalls the informal set-up of those meet & greet sessions: "Being that we had them there, we had a captive audience, we play a little bit of music, we socialize, hey -- you know what? I'm taking questions. What do you want to talk about? You want to talk about a little music? OK great. Then we get on the health issue, we talk about that. So it wasn't a lecture, per se, it was certainly more like a meet'n'greet. Come on out, the donations that you make go for a good cause, and learn a little something at the same time."

The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon will originate from the South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa in Las Vegas beginning at 9 p.m. ET Sunday, August 31st, and run for 21-and-a-half hours into Monday, September 1st. The show is typically seen by nearly 40 million viewers on 180 stations in the U.S. and Canada.

Michael Lington Celebrates 'Heat" In Beverly Hills

Saxophone star Michael Lington is celebrating the release of his first NuGroove Records CD, Heat, with a special showcase August 28th in Beverly Hills. The event will take place at the Gibson Musical Instruments Showroom, the perfect setting for a musical celebration.

The first single from the new set is "You And I," which was co-written by Lington with keyboardist Greg Phillinganes.

Heat, due September 2nd, is Lington's first release since his 2006 Rendezvous Entertainment CD A Song For You.

Dave Koz Sells Rendezvous Record Label

Smooth jazz saxophonist Dave Koz and his partners at Rendezvous Entertainment, a record label founded six years ago, have sold their business to Mack Avenue Records.

The following is an article written by Brian Soergel for smoothvibes.com.

According to Koz, Rendezvous will continue to release music under the Rendezvous brand, although there is no official announcement yet as to which Rendezvous recording artists, including Wayman Tisdale and Jonathan Butler, would be kept. The deal is similar to one earlier this year, in which bassist Brian Bromberg sold his Artistry Music Group, also to Mack Avenue.

During its tenure with Koz, who co-founded Rendezvous with industry veterans Hyman Katz and Frank Cody, the label released CDs by Tisdale, Butler, Kirk Whalum, Marc Antoine, Praful, Patti Austin, Brian Simpson, Kyle Eastwood, Philippe Saisse and Michael Lington, among others. Rendezvous also offered compilations CDs, including two volumes of Rendezvous Lounge and the tribute CD For Ever, For Always, For Luther, Volume 2.

Koz says it was vital that Rendezvous be sold to a label he trusted. “That’s one of the things that was very, very important to my partners and I, seeing as how we were very dedicated to our artists and our brand. Here was a place that would be a great new home for our artists. We felt very confident with that. And also that the Rendezvous brand, which does stand for something, will continue in the future as well. So those are two parameters that were met, making this feel good for all of us. I don’t think it’s a surprise to anyone to know that the music business over the last couple of years has changed so dramatically, making it virtually impossible for a young, completely independent company to thrive.”

John Legend Gives Green Light to Day of Peace

Peace One Day has announced that five-time Grammy Award winning musical phenomenon John Legend will join the Peace One Day Celebration at The Royal Albert Hall in London on September 21st, Peace Day; which is an annual day of global cease-fire and non-violence.

The event will also include performances by Annie Lennox and Bryan Adams. Jude Law will also make a special guest appearance to introduce Jeremy Gilley’s acclaimed documentary film, The Day After Peace.

The film is available now for purchase on DVD and there is currently an effort in effect to have the film screened in every country in the world.

In 1999 filmmaker Jeremy Gilley decided to try and establish the first ever Day of Peace with a fixed calendar date. In September 2001 the Member States of the United Nations unanimously adopted the first-ever annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence—Peace Day, September 21st.

Peace One Day now works to create global awareness of the day and manifest life-saving activity and individual action throughout the world on September 21st each year.

Last year’s Peace One Day celebration, on September 21st, featured Corinne Bailey Rae, Kate Nash, and Yusuf (formerly Cat Stevens).

For more information on Peace One Day and Jeremy Gilley’s documentary you can visit peaceoneday.org.

John Legend is also preparing for the October 28th release of his new album, Evolver, which features the single Green Light. For more information on Legend you can visit him online at johnlegend.com.