Saxophonist Richard Elliot invited family and friends to celebrate his wife Camella’s 50th birthday at their Escondido, California, home on Saturday, April 4. In addition to the couple’s five children (Candice, 25; Bub, 21; Mikayla, 16; Eli, 15; and Julian, 10), Camella’s parents (Cam and Dolly Vidal) and her sisters (Kim Kemp and Lani Calgaro), Steve Chapman […]
The April issue of Smooth Jazz News is rolling through the presses now, with George Benson on the cover. The 10-time GRAMMY winner will be “Breezin’” into the Seabreeze Jazz Festival on April 24, in Panama City Beach, Florida. With a guitar case full of hits and his amazing band––comprising David Garfield (music director and […]
Are you planning to attend the Seabreeze Jazz Festival this year? If so, check out this interview I had with Mark Carter, the event’s producer. He talks about his passion for the genre, how he chose the lineup, and what changes are happening for this 17th annual event in Panama City Beach, Florida. SJN: You […]
We have one pair of tickets left to give away for the 25th Annual Berks Jazz Fest in Reading, Pennsylvania, and they are for…Brian Culbertson on April 12! We will be giving them away TODAY, Monday, April 6. To enter for a chance to win, please email smoothjazznews@aol.com with “Brian Culbertson” in the subject line. […]
When Stevie Wonder walked on stage during Brian Culbertson‘s show last night, he thought the crowd had burst into ecstatic applause because they were diggin’ the way he was wailing on the keyboards. It was Valentine’s Day after all. And, Brian was the headliner at Rainbow Promotions’ three-act concert at the Terrace Theater in Long […]
Splashes of art, food and specialty beverages will accompany great music at Desert Lexus Jazz on May 2. Tower of Power is scheduled to headline this 16th annual event in the shaded performance pavilion at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Lisa Fischer, and her Caribbean-inspired band Grand Baton, is also on the lineup. Jazz fans […]
What would a Smooth Jazz News anniversary party be without a few genre stars celebrating with us? Thankfully, we didn’t have to find out. Peter White, Euge Groove and Keiko Matsui joined us on Feb. 8 for the last of two brunch parties commemorating our 15th year of publication. And, DW3 was onstage in the […]
We had such a great time during our 15th Anniversary brunch party at Spaghettini last month that we’re doing it again tomorrow, Feb. 8! It will be the same great food (a buffet AND order-off-the-menu entree!), same soulful band (DW3) and same fabulous location (Spaghettini in Seal Beach, California). But, we’ll have an entirely new […]
By Melanie Maxwell I had to be out of my mind to drive from San Diego to Anaheim on a Friday afternoon. Especially during our month-end crunch; the pressure of writing a barrage of last-minute stories within an impossible deadline; the night before the Ocean Institute Jazz Festival Gala in Dana Point; two days before […]