Talking Smooth Jazz

Celebrating 10 years in the music industry, composer, keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist Nate Harasim, earned a Grammy nomination for his work on Dave Koz’s Billboard #1 Jazz Album Hello Tomorrow and a 2014 Soul Train nod for Vandell Andrew’s #1 hit “Let’s Ride.” He scored a #1 for Steve Oliver (“Fun in the Sun”) as one of 14 Top 20 tunes and has also helmed sessions for Darren Rahn, Steve Oliver, Lin Rountree, Julian Vaughn and Vandell Andrew, among others. A tireless entertainer Harasim’s hundreds of stage appearances include performing at President Obama’s Inaugural Ball with best pal Rahn and playing twice at the Dubai International Jazz Festival.  

His new album “Shades of Nate” on Woodward Avenue Records, afforded him the creative license to produce an eclectic and out of the box record.  On this release he worked with two rappers, K-Squeez and Dyl. Track # 7 is a “wild twist” as Jonathan Widran puts it, to a Beethoven song called Moonlight Sonata and he covers Phil Collins’ mega hit, In The Air Tonight featuring Melina and Nils. Other guest artists include, trumpeter Lin Rountree, saxophonist Elan Trotman, vocalist Anna Stevenson, drummer Ricky Lawson, and so many more!

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Saxophonist Greg Chambers joins us to talk about his latest CD, "Can't Help Myself, entirely produced by Nate Harasim & Matt Godina, and features 2x Grammy winner Paul Brown, Julian Vaughn, and Nils.  

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Named one of the 27 greatest keyboard players of all time by Music Radar, Frank McComb is a divine soul man who speaks with the native tongue of soul, jazz, blues and pop.  His virtuoso vocal and piano work has made him not only an indispensable and highly sought after session musician, but a favorite on the soul, jazz and R&B scenes.  He’s worked with Prince, Branford Marsalis, George Duke, Patrice Rushen, Gerald Levert, The Rude Boys, and so many more!   Frank will talk to us about his new EP SoulMate featuring guitarist David P. Stevens and Avery Sunshine.

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National recording artist for Innervision Records and guitarist for Maxi Priest, Guitarist JJ Sansaverino returns with his latest release Waiting For You, dedicated to his friend, drummer Ricky Lawson,and featuring Ze Luis, Gary Stanionis and Vivian Sessoms.

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One of the most stylish and creative lead bassists of this wonderful time in C-jazz is the rising star Julian Vaughn whose fluid bass runs and compositions always seem to hit that special nerve in you that’s reserved for the smooth groove. Here on his latest released,Limitless, he continues to serve it up in abundance.

Bringing in a few luminaries from his Trippin N Rhythm/Cutmore Records family (saxmen Lebron and Darren Rahn, keyboardist Nicholas Cole, and flutist Althea Rene) along with saxmen Marcus Anderson and Elan Trotman, the bassist loads up with heavy grooves and romantic seductions.

The up-tempo but easy ridin’ lead track “Ride Along” firmly complements tracks like the energetic “Initiate” and calls a cool timeout for the fluid entrance of the more laid back romance-laden offering “All to Myself” and the mid-tempo R&Bish “Ecstacy.”

Vaughn’s wonderful tribute to the late great Wayman Tisdale shows how much of an impact the jovial and greatly talented Tisdale had on Vaughan.

We all love a great up-tempo jam, and Vaughn certainly offers his share here, but his skill with crafting slow- to mid-tempo tracks with tons of melody like the previously mentioned “All to Myself,” “I Will,” and “Say Yes” is equally as powerful and full of charm.

Here is a bassist who is doing it the right way…feeling the genre and the groove and how it moves him and his music to always strive for excellence. As the album title could imply, his potential is truly Limitless. – Ronald Jackson, The Smooth Jazz Ride.

Trumpeter Lin Rountree is back with a new cd “SOULFUNKY”, a collection of some of the most soulful, funk filled groves to hit the contemporary jazz scene in quite some time. Arguably Rountree's greatest work to date, this project features collaborations with some of the industries hottest musicians.  Guest appearances include: Kenny "Mac" Martin, Julian Vaughn, Lebron, Nicholas Cole, Michael "Big Mike" Hart, NIls, Kim Scott, Nate Harasim, Al Turner, Beth Griffith and HIdden Beach Recording artist Mike Phillips.

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Trumpeter Farnell Newton is one of the most versatile musicians & music educators in the Northwest, playing straight ahead jazz, smooth jazz, Latinmusic, soul, hip hop, funk, and more.  From Portland, Oregon,  Farnell has been touring with three-time Grammy winning singer/songwriter Jill Scott, legendary rhinestone rockstar bassist Bootsy Collins and critically acclaimed soul newcomer Jarrod Lawson.  Farnell returns to Talking Smooth Jazz to talk abut his brand new release, Ready To Roll.

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Vahagn Stepanyan is a gifted Armenian-born keyboardist, songwriter, composer, arranger and producer.  His debut cd, "Moonlight" infuses the musical styles of Smooth Jazz, R&B and Funk with the talents of artists from the USA, Brazil, Armenia, Thailand, Israel, Turkey, Slovenia and Germany.  Moonlight features saxophonist Eric Marienthal, guitarist Adam Hawley, bassists Melvin Lee Davis and Anthony Crawford, drummer Cleverson Silva, and trumpeter Tony Guerrero.  Moonlight is available May 5, 2015.  Pre-order your copy today on Amazon.

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Simpson’s latest masterwork is the perfect amalgamation of music that is close to his heart – Jazz, R&B, Funk and Soul. Out Of A Dream (Released February 17, 2015) is Simpson’s sixth album as a leader and third recording for Shanachie Entertainment. “When I first embarked on making this album, I was at a point where I felt I had to take my music to a different place,” explains Simpson who enlists nine different co-composers on the album that keep the sound ever-evolving and fresh. “By collaborating with other composers I was able to explore different styles of writing while still maintaining my own vibe.” Out Of A Dream unites Brian Simpson with an all-star cast including saxophonists Najee, Dave Koz and Grace Kelly, guitarists Marc Antoine and Norman Brown, singer Maysa and trumpeter Maurice Brown, Jonathan Fritzen, among others.

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GRAMMY®-nominated vocalists DW3 are brothers Billy & Eric Mondragon and Damon Reel.  With the release of their highly-anticipated Woodward Avenue Records debut, Southern California’s premiere R&B, funk and contemporary urban jazz powerhouse DW3 lets the world in on a cool “Vintage Truth” paying tribute to their late drummer Ricky Lawson.

 “Vintage Truth” features contributions from a handful of the genre’s superstar performers. Brian Culbertson plays piano on the opening track, the rousing, vocal harmony laden R&B tune “Let The Music.” Paul Brown produced, mixed and contributes his inimitable guitar to “I Can’t Tell You Why,” while Greg Adams lends trumpet and horns to Eric’s original tune “Hold Me,” and Dave Koz infuses his lush sax emotion on “When You Cry.”  Before he passed away, legendary GRAMMY®-winning drummer Ricky Lawson, who performed with DW3 in the final two years of his life, co-produced four of the core tracks on “Vintage Truth” with keyboardist Sean Dancy – including “Dance With Me,” “Overjoyed,” “California Dreamin’” and “When You Cry.”

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