Richard Smith (born in Detroit) is an American jazz guitarist. [1] Smith teaches at University of Southern California's Thorton School of Music. [2] He is currently engaged to soap actress Nancy Lee Grahn. [3]
• 'Let's Roll' (Single) 2021 - Sirius XM Watercolors - A Chillharmonic Media release • 'Soul Share' (Single) w/Richard Elliot 2022 - Sirius XM Watercolors - A Chillharmonic Media release • 'Groove Assets' (Single) 2022 - Sirius XM Watercolors - A Chillharmonic Media release
Stanley Clarke is an American bassist, film composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first jazz-fusion bassist to headline tours, sell out shows worldwide and have recordings reach gold status.
Soul jazz or funky jazz is a subgenre of jazz that incorporates strong influences from hard bop, blues, soul, gospel and rhythm and blues. Soul jazz is often characterized by organ trios featuring the Hammond organ and small combos including tenor saxophone, guitar, and organ. Its origins were in the 1950s and early 1960s, with its heyday with popular audiences preceding the rise of jazz fusion in the late 1960s and 1970s. Prominent names in fusion ranged from bop pianists including Bobby Timmons and Junior Mance to a wide range of organists, saxophonists, and guitarists including Jack McDuff, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, and Grant Green.
Patrick Bruce Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.
Yellowjackets is an American jazz fusion band founded in 1977 in Los Angeles, California.
Nancy Lee Grahn is an American actress known primarily for her work in daytime soap operas, portraying Julia Wainwright Capwell on Santa Barbara from 1985–93 and Alexis Davis on General Hospital since 1996.
Richard Dale Kotzen Jr. is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. As a solo artist, Kotzen has back catalogue of more than 20 album releases. He was a member of glam metal band Poison from 1991 to 1993, Mr. Big from 1999 to 2002, and since 2012, has been the frontman of the band The Winery Dogs. Kotzen was signed to California-based Shrapnel Records from 1988 to 1991, and again from 1995 to 1997.
David Stephen Koz is an American smooth jazz saxophonist, composer, record producer, and radio personality based in California.
Rai Thistlethwayte is an Australian rock, pop and jazz musician and songwriter. Thistlethwayte is an accomplished pianist, guitarist, and vocalist. He is the lead singer and primary songwriter in the Australian pop rock band Thirsty Merc. From 2004, Thirsty Merc released a string of hits in the Australian charts including "In the Summertime", "Someday, Someday", "20 Good Reasons", "Emancipate Myself", "My Completeness", "When the Weather Is Fine" and "Mousetrap Heart". He is currently based in Los Angeles. As a solo artist, Thistlethwayte performs under the name 'Sun Rai'.
Candiria are an American crossover band from Brooklyn, New York, mixing progressive metal, metalcore, jazz fusion and hip-hop. They are part of the precursors of the mathcore genre with bands like Deadguy or Lethargy. Formed in 1992, the band was part of the second wave of New York hardcore, but subsequently expanded its performance to also play jazz, hip hop and progressive rock.
Montgomery Bernard "Monty" Alexander is a Jamaican jazz pianist. His playing has a Caribbean influence and bright swinging feeling, with a strong vocabulary of bebop jazz and blues rooted melodies. He was influenced by Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Erroll Garner, Nat King Cole, Oscar Peterson, Ahmad Jamal, Les McCann, and Frank Sinatra. Alexander also sings and plays the melodica. He is known for his surprising musical twists, bright rhythmic sense, and intense dramatic musical climaxes. Monty's recording career has covered many of the well-known American songbook standards, jazz standards, pop hits, and Jamaican songs from his original homeland. Alexander has resided in New York City for many years and performs frequently throughout the world at jazz festivals and clubs.
Tutu is an album by American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, released in 1986 by Warner Bros. Records. It was recorded primarily at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles and Clinton Recording in New York, except the song "Backyard Ritual", which was recorded at Le Gonks in West Hollywood. Davis received the 1986 Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist Grammy Award for his performance on the album.
Jazz is Dead is an instrumental Grateful Dead cover band that interprets classic Dead songs with jazz influences. The group is notable in featuring veterans of jazz and jazz fusion ensembles. The group's composition has changed over time, and T Lavitz was the band's only constant member until they reformed in 2015.
Tribute Records is an American gospel music record label established in 1990. The label was co-founded by jazz musician and former pro basketball player Ben Tankard and George King. King owned Nashville based Diadem Music Group which produced Contemporary Christian music. Diadem's signature artist Bob Carlisle is best known for his hit song "Butterfly Kisses". Tribute became the urban contemporary gospel division of Diadem and home to several gospel music stars, most notably Tankard, Yolanda Adams, Twinkie Clark of The Clark Sisters and others. Tankard was executive producer and music producer on most of the early Tribute releases and his vision was to develop artists and pioneer a new smooth genre of music he coined as "gospeljazz". He featured Yolanda Adam's jazzy vocals on the album and concept video single " You Bring Out The Best In Me " on his 1994 release "Play Me In Your Key". The jazzy collaborations of Tankard and Adams produced major crossover success and brought the name of Tribute Records to the forefront. Office Depot produced a gospel style " Taking Care Of Business " commercial national ad campaign that was centered on Tribute Records, Tankard, and Adams and ran from 1994-1996.
Lonnie Smith, styled Dr. Lonnie Smith, was an American jazz Hammond B3 organist who was a member of the George Benson quartet in the 1960s. He recorded albums with saxophonist Lou Donaldson for Blue Note before being signed as a solo act. He owned the label Pilgrimage, and was named the year's best organist by the Jazz Journalists Association nine times.
Watercolor painting is a painting method in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water-based solution.
In the 1970s in jazz, jazz became increasingly influenced by Latin jazz, combining rhythms from African and Latin American countries, often played on instruments such as conga, timbale, güiro, and claves, with jazz and classical harmonies played on typical jazz instruments. Artists such as Chick Corea, John McLaughlin and Al Di Meola increasingly influenced the genre with jazz fusion, a hybrid form of jazz-rock fusion which was developed by combining jazz improvisation with rock rhythms, electric instruments, and the highly amplified stage sound of rock musicians such as Jimi Hendrix. All Music Guide states that "..until around 1967, the worlds of jazz and rock were nearly completely separate." However, "...as rock became more creative and its musicianship improved, and as some in the jazz world became bored with hard bop and did not want to play strictly avant-garde music, the two different idioms began to trade ideas and occasionally combine forces." On June 16, 1972 the New York Jazz Museum opened in New York City at 125 West 55th Street in a one and one-half story building. It became the most important institution for jazz in the world with a 25,000 item archive, free concerts, exhibits, film programs, etc.
Kisses on the Bottom is the fifteenth solo studio album by Paul McCartney, consisting primarily of covers of traditional pop music and jazz. Released in February 2012 on Starbucks' Hear Music label, it was McCartney's first studio album since Memory Almost Full in 2007. The album was produced by Tommy LiPuma and includes just two original compositions by McCartney: "My Valentine" and "Only Our Hearts". The former features jazz drummer Karriem Riggins. Kisses on the Bottom peaked at number 3 on the UK Albums Chart and number 5 on the US Billboard 200, while also topping Billboard magazine's Jazz Albums chart.
Judy Carmichael is a Grammy-nominated jazz pianist and vocalist who has been honored as a Steinway Artist.
Kenny Wesley is a singer, songwriter and classically trained multi-instrumentalist based in Berlin, Germany.
Last Kiss Goodbye is the second studio solo album by guitarist Brian Tarquin, released in October 1997 with a new label Instinct records. Going in a more modern direction, Tarquin moved towards the more funky street grooves. Instinct sent him to London to record with Ernie McKone, bass player from the UK Acid Jazz band Galliano. This was the break through album for Tarquin, featuring the R&R/Gavin radio hit One Arabian Knight that charted #4 on the NAC/Smooth Jazz radio charts and the Jeff Beck remake Freeway Jam. The album has become a favorite at Smooth Jazz and still receives a generous amount of airplay today on Pandora Radio and Sirius radio.