Talking Smooth Jazz

Chris Godber (God – brrr) has become a highly sought after performer in the smooth jazz realm, playing some of the nation’s largest jazz festivals and his own sold out shows at various jazz clubs thanks to the success of his 2015 acclaimed chart topping album, Starting Over.  For 2018, Godber is keeping things moving with the release of his 5th album, MOMENTUM. The project features special guests, Bob Baldwin and Adam Hawley for a fresh and soulful, up-tempo project sure to offer something for every smooth jazz fan!

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Soweco is a powerful and energetic live band with great music and hooky melodies from Sweden. We write a mix of Soul/westcoast/smooth jazz-kind of music.

You can hear Sowecos music playing worldwide on radiostations, like smoothjazz.com in California, floridasmoothjazz radio, Soulvationradio in UK and many other stations.  Their new release is called, Keep On.

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"The Essential Collection” released August 28 on the Skytown Records label, with eight (yes eight) Top 30 US Billboard hits amongst the fifteen standout tracks this is less a retrospective and more a joyous celebration of the high octane guitar driven smooth jazz that has been U-Nam’s calling card ever since 2007 and the release of his critically acclaimed breakthrough album ”Back from the 80’s.” Not only that, and as if to underscore the fact that this is far more than simply a “best of” collection, U-Nam includes two brand new songs. Both feature input from up and coming keyboard player (and label mate) Mattias Roos and the first of them, “Let the Music Play” finds U-Nam making use of full orchestral backing to tip a hat to the legendary Barry White (with whom U-Nam has worked).

In essence “The Essential Collection” shines an intricate spotlight on U-Nam’s discography to reveal a body of work that has entirely stood the test of time. A case in point is “Back from the 80’s” and how the three numbers selected from it, the opulent “Breezin M.A”, “Keep the Faith” and the #1 hit, a cover of the Crusaders classic “Street Life” all sound as relevant as they did ten years ago. Together they provide “The Essential Collection” with a foundation from which U-Nam sensationally builds, first by plundering four choice tunes from his wonderful 2016 recording “Surface Level”,  and then by taking four more from his 2014 project “C’est Le Funk”.  The tapestry of U-Nam’s musical life is completed by his take on George Benson’s “Love X Love” from the “Weekend in LA” CD and “Shine On” from his 2009 release “Unamimity”.

“Daddy Said So” is Douyé’s debut straight-forward jazz vocal album. It consists of 14 classic jazz standards and features an array of celebrated jazz living musicians including Kenny Barron, Ron Carter, Russell Malone, John Beasley, John Clayton, Roy McCurdy and more.

This album was inspired by Douyé’s father, Landy who passed when she was only 11yrs of age. Douyé’s father introduced her to jazz music when she was a child and he encouraged her to become a jazz artist. Well, with that promise at heart and much love for jazz, Douyé consciously decided to go into jazz artistry and thus “Daddy Said So” is the result…this is only the beginning of Douyé’s promising journey in jazz.

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Most love songs are created and inspired by real love and true emotions.dee Brown attests to that on his new single "Hey Baby" written for and inspired by dee's fiancé Shaunia Edwards who tragically passed away in 2016. "She was the reality of my dreams," Says dee. "A woman that was sent to make me whole. I can still hear the sweet sound of her inspiring words whispering in my ear, "Hey baby have a good day."

dee decided to dedicate his forthcoming full CD project, "Remembering You," his second release on Innervision Records, to their journey together and a celebration of their love.  Each song reflecting special moments. "Hold on to the ones you love, treat them the way you would treat yourself, knowing love covers a multitude of sins and faults."

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True to its title, the Cleveland based performer’s independent debut album Road Trip chronicles his multi-faceted journey – starting with playing the sax in church and, over the past decade, founding and leading The Cavor Project, an 11 piece ensemble renowned as one of the most diverse bands in the city. Andre Cavor found the perfect producer to take his artistry to the next level in Darren Rahn, a saxophonist and artist who has worked his studio magic for Whalum and Butler in addition to genre greats Dave Koz, Wayman Tisdale, Najee, Eric Darius, Jeffrey Osborne and Jeff Lorber.

The collection includes three original tracks penned by Darren Rahn (“Road Trip,” “Say Something” and “Without A Doubt”), powerhouse covers of Adele’s “Hello” and After 7’s late 80’s smash “Ready or Not,” and five of Andre’s favorite all time gospel tunes – “More Than Anything,” “For Your Glory” (featuring background vocals), “Total Praise,” The Clark Sisters classic “You Brought the Sunshine” and “Heaven,” originally recorded by BeBe and CeCe Winans.  

“Mixing contemporary jazz and gospel songs on Road Trip felt like a natural extension of my many live performances over the years,” says Andre, who first began playing the sax at 16 but let it go during his eight year stint in the army before rediscovering it in the early 2000s.

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Demetrice Everett is mostly known by the nickname “Meat” and stage name  “Meatdadrummer.” He is currently the drummer for Billboard Jazz Artist Marcus Anderson. Demetrice Everett is a versatile drummer and is multi-talented individual who can play several styles of music. Demetrice is influenced by dynamic drummers such as Buddy Rich, Dennis Chambers, Dave Weckl, Calvin Rodgers, Will Kennedy, John Robert, Vinnie Colaiuta, Calvin “Coon” Napper, George “Spanky” McCurdy, Chris Coleman and his mentor Jeremy Haynes.

His debut release "Life" features Marcus Anderson, Ashley "Aluv" Doe, Bertron Curtis,  Marcus Cole, Dan Jost, Tyra Scott, Jonathan DuBose, Bernard Harris, Nile Hargrove, Kevin Wilson, Rob Barcarrosa, and Aniya Williams.

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Faced with the obstacles of sexism, racism, social norms and the mere physicality of the instrument, very few African American women in history have been recorded playing jazz trumpet. Undaunted by such obstacles, in 2010, as a newly divorced mom of two, Charmaine Michelle set out to pursue her dream of becoming a jazz trumpeter. Even though she hadn’t played trumpet in 10 years, since she was already suffering from the loss of her family, she felt she had nothing to lose by auditioning for the jazz program at the prestigious Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Maryland.  On her 39th birthday, July 4, 2017, with many of her friends who have supported her audacious musical journey, Charmaine Michelle makes her courageous recording debut as a band leader featuring some of her favorite jazz ballads. She hopes that her first CD, Love Takes Time, inspires the kind of eternal romance that great families are built upon.

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Nobody knows trumpet quite like Harold Little. That's because the DC area musician doesn't see it as just an instrument – it's literally part of who he is, an extension of his personality. Anyone who's seen him play will tell you that he's got a fingertip feel for embouchure and valves. So it's no surprise that he's played with legends like Chuck Brown, Butch Warren, Buck Hill, Eddie Gladden and Calvin Jones. Now with his new band and album, Akoben, scheduled for release on Aug. 11th, that fuses jazz, funk and R&B, Harold is here to show that a Little goes a long way.

Ronald Jackson of The Smooth Jazz Ride said about Akoben: "This exotic and eclectic blend of material is vibrant, colorful, and smoothly melodic. It breathes and moves to its own vibe and brings the listener along for an experience-filled ride that should be quite difficult to forget. There is a solid uniqueness to its groove and texture. In a word, it has personality."

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Michon C. Young is a gifted psalmist and song writer. Michon has been singing and writing since the age of 12.  Michon started her professional musical career by being hand selected by Pastor Marvin L.Winans to sing background on his debut concert in Detroit, Michigan for the release of his 1st solo CD, “Alone but Not Alone”.  She has traveled extensively singing background for Pastor Winans and was honored to sing a duet with him at the Grand Opening of Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Georgia.   Michon has opened for Grammy Award Winner CeCe Winans, renowned Jazz trumpeter TL Williams and a host of others.   Michon has also appeared on several local televised programs including the Dorinda Clark-Cole nationally syndicated television show.  Michon released her debut album “Possessing the Promise” in 2011. Several songs from this project climbed charts in the U.K. and were featured on U.K. radio personality Brian Hurst’s Best of Soul and Jazz 2012 compilation.

Her debut R&B album “Love, Life, Experiences” has twelve original songs Michon wrote from the heart expressing the pleasure and pain of LOVE, the joys and struggles of LIFE and the many good, yet sometimes difficult EXPERIENCES in dealing with them all. 

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