Meet Our Artist of the Month

Marcus Johnson

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Meet Our Artist of the Month

Phillip “Doc” Martin

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Eighteen of Mariah Carey’s best-known songs have been collected for release on an album called, The Ballads. While the album has already seen some international release, it is scheduled to be released in the U.S. & Canada on January 20th, 2009.

Mariah Carey rocketed to stardom with her debut album in 1990. Achieving eight top 10 albums through the course of the decade she became the Nineties’ most successful female singer/songwriter.

Her incredible success has continued throughout the 21st century and her stunning five-octave voice and songwriting talent have now delivered multiple hit singles. This collection of her most renowned songs features such hits as “Hero,” “One Sweet Day,” “Vision of Love,” “Always Be My Baby” and “Dreamlover.”

Also included are duets with Luther Vandross (”Endless Love”) and Whitney Houston (”When You Believe”).

The album will mark her sixteenth release to date. For more information on Mariah Carey you can visit her website, mariahcarey.com.

Lionel Richie is a man who can’t slow down. In addition to his upcoming appearance on Dick Clark’s ABC special, “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” the singer/songwriter is shifting into promotion mode for his next studio album, “Just Go.”

Set for release February 17th, the album is currently represented by the single “Good Morning.” The mid-tempo song stands at No. 35 on Billboard’s Adult R&B chart after three weeks.

“Lionel Richie 2009 … What does he sound like? That’s the question I asked everyone,” says Richie of working with several of the hottest names in contemporary R&B/hip-hop. “Some of these guys don’t always necessarily deal with true melody. But we were committed to melody from beginning to end. They knew I wasn’t going to break into a rap,” he adds with a laugh.

The resulting album picks up where 2006’s “Coming Home” left off, with Richie describing “Just Go” as a “little more pop with a fabulous R&B foundation.”

Richie’s musical handiwork also appears on the current compilation “Yes We Can: Voices of a Grassroots Movement.” Inspired by president-elect Barack Obama’s campaign, the set includes songs by Sheryl Crow, John Mayer and Kanye West. Richie contributed the original song “Eternity,” which also includes Obama speech excerpts.

“There are very few chances to write a song that marks a moment in history,” says Richie who, with Michael Jackson, co-wrote the 1985 benefit anthem, “We Are the World.”

“Being able to use Obama’s voice gave me the weight I needed to say everything I wanted to.”

This is an edited version of an article written by Gail Mitchell for Billboard. For more information on Lionel Richie you can visit his website, lionelrichie.com.

Smooth jazz guitarist and vocalist Nick Colionne will headline the Grand Opening of the Burnsville, Minnesota Performing Arts Center on January 24th, 2009. The event will be hosted in the state-of-the-art one-thousand seat theater of the new $20 million dollar multi-function facility.

According to Dan Gustafson, Executive Producer of Art and All That Jazz, “Nick was the obvious choice to be our Inaugural Act at the new Burnsville Performing Arts Center after his two hugely successful appearances at our Art and All That Jazz Festivals in 2005 and 2006. Everyone is very excited that he’s coming back for this gala event.”

In addition to the Inaugural show at the PAC, Colionne will be coming in a day early to give a clinic at The Garage, the nationally acclaimed youth center in Burnsville.

“I am thrilled to be opening this fantastic new Performing Arts Center,” said Colionne, “and even happier to return to Burnsville where I have made so many friends over the last few years performing at their summer events. Now that the new PAC will be bringing live entertainment to the area all year long I hope to return soon.

“I am really looking forward to meeting the kids and speaking with them. Youth clinics are a privilege for me to do and I’m delighted to be doing one in Burnsville in association with the opening of this beautiful facility.”

Colionne joined the ranks of today’s premier jazz artists with his Top Ten 2003 Album “Just Come On In” that included the hits “High Flyin” and “It’s Been Too Long”. His 2006 release “Keepin’ It Cool” propelled him to the top of the charts once again with the Top Ten hit singles “Always Thinking of You” (which stayed on the R&R charts for an incredible 45 weeks), “Keepin’ It Cool” and “If You Ask Me”. “Keepin’ It Cool” was also named Top Ten CD of the Year for 2006.

His newest album “No Limits” was released in July 2008, with the first single, the title track “No Limits”, still rising on the charts.

As a guitarist and vocalist, Colionne’s live performances defy categorization. His shows incorporate all the music he loves best and the influences he’s had throughout his career. You are as likely to hear Nick sing the blues or some heartfelt R&B as you are to hear his blazing jazz licks, or even the hint of metal, recalling the beginning of his career as a heavy metal guitarist.

From that diverse musicality comes an incredible live performance that showcases the talent, vocal ability and yes, comedic timing, of this charismatic entertainer. For more information you can visit Nick’s website, nickcolionne.com.

Eartha Kitt, a sultry singer, dancer and actress who rose from South Carolina cotton fields to become an international symbol of elegance and sensuality, has died, a family spokesman said. She was 81.

Andrew Freedman said Kitt, who was recently treated at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, died Thursday in Connecticut of colon cancer.

Kitt, a self-proclaimed “sex kitten” famous for her catlike purr, was one of America’s most versatile performers, winning two Emmys and nabbing a third nomination. She also was nominated for several Tonys and two Grammys.

Her career spanned six decades, from her start as a dancer with the famed Katherine Dunham troupe to cabarets and acting and singing on stage, in movies and on television. She persevered through an unhappy childhood as a mixed-race daughter of the South and made headlines in the 1960s for denouncing the Vietnam War during a visit to the White House.

Through the years, Kitt remained a picture of vitality and attracted fans less than half her age even as she neared 80.

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Producers of the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival have announced the lineup for the 2009 festival. The festival will be held over two weekends; April 24th through the 26th and April 30th through May 3rd.

This time of year it is especially encouraging to see the triumph in stories like that of The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. A festival which was nearly knocked out by Hurricane Katrina set goals to reclaim itself with its 2008 re-birth, it would appear now to be just as strong, if not stronger than the heights the festival had seen prior to Katrina’s destruction.

The revival of the festival was owed in part to an investment in a broad range of national talent as well as the steady return of the region’s own highly talented and supremely gifted musicians and performers.

The coming 2009 version of the festival showcases two weekends jam-packed with huge names, most notably Aretha Franklin, Wynton Marsalis, Tony Bennett, The Neville Brothers, Hugh Masekela, Earth Wind & Fire, Etta James with the Roots Band, Esperanza Spalding, Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band, The O’Jays and many more.

The event also includes a large number of huge mainstream acts including the Dave Matthews Band, James Taylor, Erykah Badu, Wilco, Sugarland and Bonnie Raitt.

However, the flashiness of the mainstream roster barely resonates in the minds and must-see-lists of those who frequent the Jazz Fest’s renowned trinity of jazz, blues and gospel.

These three entities are without a doubt the definitive backbone of the Jazz Fest and they are the core attraction for people who will travel hundreds of thousands of miles to attend. The big stars with household names will not outshine the home-grown, grass-roots talent that is signature to this one-of-a-kind festival.

In 1970, George Wein, jazz impresario behind the Newport Jazz Festival and the Newport Folk Festival (begun respectively in 1954 and 1959) was hired to design and produce a unique festival for New Orleans. The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, a nonprofit organization, was established to oversee the Festival.

From the very beginning, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was envisioned as an important event that would have great cultural significance and popular appeal. The Festival was the culmination of years of discussions and efforts by city leaders who wanted to create an event worthy of the city’s legacy as the birthplace of jazz.

For more information, history, and complete daily schedules of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival visit nojazzfest.com.

On February 3rd, 2009 Boney James will release Send One Your Love, a 10-track album of intimate love songs from. Just in time for Valentine’s Day, the sax icon has put together the ultimate collection of love songs which includes new material as well as covers from Stevie Wonder, Barry White, James Taylor and more.

Send One Your Love is the third album James has recorded since signing with Concord Records. The album follows his debut for the label – Shine – which received rave reviews and landed him at #1 on the Contemporary Jazz charts.

The first single is Boney’s sultry interpretation of the Stylistics classic, “Stop, Look, Listen”.

Send One Your Love is a collection of instrumental tracks with one incredible surprise on the James Taylor cover of “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight”. On this track, Boney introduces the world to the incredible sound of Atlanta based R&B singer Quinn. Having previously done background vocals, Quinn has now set off on his own and gladly lends his smooth vocals to the album.

“When I heard a demo of Quinn, I knew I had to have him sing on the album,” Boney says. “His voice brings the track to life and adds such flavor to the record. The world needs to hear Quinn and I am happy they can on my album!”

Boney James was raised in New Rochelle, NY, and currently resides in Los Angeles, CA. James has sold millions of albums, headlined sold-out tours, been awarded four Gold Album certifications and a Soul Train Award, and received two Grammy Award nominations and one NAACP Image Award nomination. James is married to actress and filmmaker Lily Mariye who portrays nurse Lily Jarvik on the NBC drama ER.

“This is my 12th record, but for the first time, I did have a loose concept,” James said back in August. “I started to think about what it is about my playing or my sound that people have been digging. And it does have a little bit of that seductive quality; it does have that low, fat-tone thing.

“So I wanted to make almost like a Marvin Gaye record where you can put it on and it can set this almost incredible mood. It’s like make-out music.”

For more information on Boney James you can visit him online at boneyjames.com.

The Soulful Christmas Tour began at the end of November and singer Will Downing, dubbed “Prince of Sophisticated Soul,” joined the tour that also features Lalah Hathaway and saxophonist Gerald Albright. The vocalist is looking forward to performing holiday material as well as tunes from his hit 2007 CD release After Tonight.

This year has seen Downing concentrating on getting back to performing live after learning in 2006 that he has the debilitating disease polymyositis, in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks muscle fibers. For almost a year the singer was bedridden and nearly unable to move.

In April Downing announced that with the aid of immunosuppressant drugs of the type tested in Muscular Dystrophy Association clinical trials, he was recovering and returning to his performing career.

Downing has 13 albums to his credit and won the International Association of African-American Music’s Diamond Award in 2002.

Downing acknowledges that breakthroughs in medical research helped him beat a disease that initially dealt him almost unbearable pain. “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.

Asked about balancing his health with his career, Downing has said, “You know what? I take it day by day. You know the phone is ringing consistently for folks to book me to come out and do whatever I do. That’s good, but I’m trying to do a good balancing act now. I take a little work, do a little play. I do what I can do. I don’t over-extend myself.”

For more information on Will Downing you can visit willdowning.com. For more information on the Soulful Christmas Tour you can visit soulfulchristmastour.com.

Meet Our Artist of the Month

Grover Washington, Jr.

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