Chicago Smooth

Assembling Quite a Band

Mindi Abair would be a centerpiece of one heck of a fantasy band

In the days of the Big Bands, some of the organizations had virtual revolving doors when it came to the people who played together.  Creative minds and bold personalities often clashed, sometimes mixing into a soup of anger and resentment.  People walked away, sulked and then found other venues for their talents.  Today, we don’t have jazz bands of such size and scale, but if we did, I have a secret weapon to bring such an organization together in harmony, on stage and off. 

I’d start with the vibrant Chick Corea on keyboards, paired up with Lionel Richie and Brian McKnight.  Lionel would write the songs and share the vocalist spot with two incomparable ladies, Patti Labelle and Gladys Knight. Brian could play any of the eight instruments that he has mastered, but I think I would ask him to be the drummer when he wasn’t collaborating with Chick and Lionel.  The sax section would be Kenny G and Mindi Abair.  The guitars would be Marc Antoine and Ken Navarro with Christian McBride on bass.  I’d finish off my band with Walter Beasley on clarinet and Ramsey Lewis on the Steinway grand piano. 

And why would I put all these folks together?  Because they are all Geminis, with birthdays starting on the 23^rd of May and running to the 20^th of June.      

According to the traits ascribed to Geminis, it would work perfectly because they are adaptable and versatile, have a strong sense of self, are lifelong learners, great communicators and team players, up for anything.  They thrive in social situations.  They are big picture folks who don’t get sidetracked, and they are excellent multi-taskers. 

So, as soon as I can get their agents and promoters out of the way (and after I win a few million in a lottery) I’m going to hit the road with my experiment, the Gemini Jazz Band. Tickets anyone?   

~Lydia Barnes ([email protected])

Our Smooth Video of the Week:  May 28 birthday boy Marc Antoine teams up with Paul Brown on one of Marc's standards, "Latin Quarter."

 

Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, Part IV: Daniel Ho

Daniel Ho was smoothing it out on our Smooth Jazz Sunday Brunch playlist as a sololist, his guitar singing about a girl named Lia, so I Googled him. His Grammy is for Best Hawaiian Music Album and his song "Pineapple Mango" is called the ukulele experimental anthem. But his time in the 1990s, when he founded the smooth jazz group Kilauea is when he originally caught our attention.  With Steve Reid, David Patt, Dean Taba, Greg Vail, Tom Walsh, Dean Whitney, they released the album Antigua Blue with the signature track, "The Love Goddess."

He has his own record label, Daniel Ho Creations, and has released six chart-topping albums, two of which made it to Billboard’s Jazz category. Daniel performs worldwide and has done shows at the Old Town School of Folk Music and the Cubby Bear here in Chicago. 

Using the pseudonym "The Coconutz," he recorded several tracks for the film Forgetting Sarah Marshall, translating into Hawaiian and singing Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” and Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made For Walking” and others. 

Mahalo, Daniel Ho!  

~Lydia Barnes ([email protected])

Our Smooth Video of the Day:  The first track by Daniel Ho and Kilauea that we ever played on WNUA back in 1991, "The Love Goddess," which was written by the Rippingtons' Russ Freeman.

 

International Jazz Day - Everyday!

To me every day is Jazz Day, but according to the UNESCO, The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, April 30 is International Jazz Day. Being a few days late and many dollars short, I still think that we can learn about our history and celebrate the day. 

The official celebration was in Paris this year, complete with Herbie Hancock and many other greats, but if like me, you missed it, the article includes a list of places to go to get the groove.  Of the six, one is here in Chicago, and may I say that I am not surprised.  

Check out the article from Smithsonian.com here.

~Lydia Barnes ([email protected])

Our Smooth Video of the Day:  How many faces/voices can you recognize in this International Jazz Day performance?

 

OUR Grace Kelly

She's not the one who went to Monaco and became a Queen, but the one who decided at age seven to become a musician.  Born May 15, 1992, this Grace Kelly is a Korean American singer/songwriter/composer and, last but not least, a jazz saxophonist. 

From the bio on her web page, I pulled a few facts:

Grace wrote her first song when she was 7 years old, recorded her first CD at age 12, and orchestrated and performed an original composition with the Boston Pops Orchestra at 14. 

She’s done over 600 concerts worldwide in great venues, concert halls and historic jazz clubs.

Grace has also performed and/or recorded with artists such as Huey Lewis, Harry Connick Jr, Dave Brubeck, Gloria Estefan, David Sanborn, Marcus Miller, Questlove, Esperanza Spalding, Phil Woods, James Cotton, Wynton Marsalis, and Gerald Albright, to name a few.   

Grace has been featured on CNN.com (Making of a Prodigy), Glamour Magazine’s Top Ten College Women 2011, and multiple appearances on NPR. Grace has also earned much industry hardware:  ASCAP Composer Awards, Downbeat Magazine Awards, Boston Music Awards and FNX/Phoenix Best Music Poll.  And Downbeat Critics' Poll added to her list naming her one of the "Alto Saxophone Rising Stars”, the youngest ever to be named so. 

Lincoln Center Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis was so impressed with Kelly’s three-night stand as guest of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra that he invited her to join the ensemble at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater in Washington, D.C., for Barack Obama's Inauguration Celebration.

Harry Connick Jr. heard Kelly in a master class on a December afternoon and brought her on stage to sit in with his band that night.

Grace graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston at age 19. "I auditioned for Berklee and received a full scholarship, I got my GED and started college at 16. It’s been great, playing all the time and just living music all day. I’m learning so much and I’m playing all kinds of music. It was a challenge to balance college with all the touring I do with my band but I was able to do both."

I want to thank the writer of that posted Bio for all those juicy details.  I couldn’t have said it better, so I didn’t even try.  But I will be trying to catch Grace’s music whenever I can. 

And Grace, Happy Birthday! (May 15^th) 

~Lydia Barnes ([email protected])

Our Smooth Video of the Day:  A Grace Kelly favorite heard often on SmoothJazzChicago.net.

 

The Thrill is Gone

B.B. King made a lot of money singing about a love affair gone bad with the tag line of "The Thrill is GONE."

On stage in his trademark brocade jacket, white shirt and black bow tie, cradling a shiny black guitar named Lucille that he strums like a lover with diamond rocks and gold rings on his fingers, B.B. moans about lost love from better times and rocks slowly nodding his head in time with the feeling of the music.  The lights make him sweat, drying his throat until the notes crack with pain. 

He tells her that she will be sorry someday.  He’s right, but it’s not just her, it’s all of us who are sorry today. 

He tells her that he’ll live on – and he will in his music and our minds.  And we will be lonely without him.  He said so and it is true. 

At the bridge of the song, he goes back to playing Lucille, fingers fluttering like a heart that can’t find the rhythm or the beat.  Then he finishes the song, saying that he’ll have open arms because he’s free and that he wishes us well. 

Who knew he was a prophet? 

Riley B. King was born on September 16, 1925 on a cotton plantation near Indianola Mississippi.  The son of sharecroppers, he loved music and became a disc jockey for station WDIA in Memphis where he got the nickname “Beale Street Blues Boy” which was shortened to “Blues Boy” and finally to the B.B. that we now know.

Ranked both number 3 and number 6 on the Rolling Stone Magazine list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, he was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.  Gibson Guitars listed him as number 17 in their list of the Greatest of All Time. 

Presidents Bush, father and son, gave B.B. medals, first a National Medal of Arts and then a Presidential Medal of Freedom.  In 2012 President Barack Obama sang a portion of Sweet Home Chicago with him at a White House concert in 2012.

With other accolades to numerous to mention, B.B. was the consummate blues man.  Anyone who has loved and lost appreciates him.  And he was right, now that he is gone all we can do is wish him well. 

~Lydia Barnes ([email protected])

Our Smooth Video of the Day:  Remembering his finest.

 

Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, Part III: Jeff Kashiwa

The WNUA CD Sampler is numbered 14 and "Hyde Park" is the headline Track #1.  His sax is crisp and clear with an upbeat tempo that’s delightful. A choir flows in and out so beautifully that the alternate title to the song is the "Ahh Ooh Song."  The style is so familiar, comfortable, I decide to trace it back to its origin.  Plus, I wanted to know if it was about our Hyde Park or some other place. 

First, I found that Jeff Kashiwa was and still is part of the Rippingtons, hence the very familiar sound. Then I saw that he is a Seattle native, so the connection to the Chicago neighborhood is tenuous at best. 

Second, I found out that when he ventured out on his own solo career in 1995, many were surprised.  He has since produced ten albums under his own name, the latest being “Let it Ride” in 2012.

Third, I found that in 2004 he hit upon an idea for a band after seeing a movie about the legendary Sinatra Rat Pack.  He got together with fellow sax players Steve Cole and Kim Waters and they co-founded The Sax Pack.  They tour regularly and are poised to release their third album this spring.

Last, he has another band which came to be called Coastal Access because they were playing so much in Florida and California that they were considering themselves bi-coastal.  When Jeff’s wife saw signs on the California highways saying Coastal Access, she suggested it as the name and Jeff agreed.  Talking about the group, Jeff says:

“. . .there is always a strong connection and camaraderie through humor and music which enrich all of our lives. I look forward to many more journeys, both musical and geographical, with these friends that have all become part of my family.”   

Sounds like a great philosophy to me Jeff.  I look forward to many more Ahhs and Oohs while listening to you, in all of your musical facets.  And, someday you'll have to tell me about the exact origin of the title "Hyde Park."

~Lydia Barnes ([email protected])

Our Smooth Video of the Day:  Jeff Kashiwa and his biggest Smooth Jazz hit, "Hyde Park"

 

Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, Part II: Hiroshima

If I said the jazz I was listening to was made on gitaa, shakuhachi, taiko, piano and koto, what would you say?

Hopefully, you would recognize the Japanese words for guitar, flute and drum, and piano is piano.  You might not picture the last one as the antique stringed instrument that resembles a harp laying on its side being played with not one but three picks, but if you heard it, you would know it for a national treasure that it is.   But even more important, I hope that you would recognize the combo of instruments as the band called Hiroshima. 

Formed in the late 1970s and Grammy nominated in 2010, the band consists of six California artists.  They took their name from the city that endured the atomic blast in World War II and rose from the ashes like a phoenix. Although only one of them, June Kuramoto, was born in Japan, they define their mission as an “. . . East meets West approach . . . a distinctive One World philosophy which seamlessly blends Asian and North American culture to reflect both cultural and spiritual connections.”

Looking at the bio pages of each of the musicians, I found that June, the only woman in the band, was half of the spark that set off the jazz bomb, Hiroshima.  From their website:

“June [Kuramoto] met an eccentric artist-musician named Dan, and they began merging June's koto music with the diverse musical environment of Los Angeles. This was the beginning of Hiroshima. June has since been the driving artistic force of Hiroshima, creating a multi-cultural music statement, while growing into one of the world's greatest kotoists.”

Dan Kuramoto was playing the shakuhachi, the Japanese end-blown flute, when he met June, who was looking to expand her koto playing into the more eclectic world of Los Angeles music. He decided to follow the inspiration of Earth Wind and Fire, Santana and Jimi Hendrix by merging their Western viewpoints with their Eastern heritage.  He composes and plays the sax.   

The bass player, Dean Cortez, was originally from Florida.  He formed the Latin fusion group Caldarea and played with Boz Scaggs before joining Hiroshima for their first album.  He has played on virtually every album since and joined the group as a regular in 1988.  

Kimo Cornwell was born in Hawaii and played keyboards for Cheryl Lynn, Frankie Beverly and Maze and Al Jarreau before joining the group. 

Danny Yamamoto started on the accordion and ended on the drums.  A master of the taiko drum, he can be heard soloinh in movies and TV whenever a Japanese drum is called for.  

~Lydia Barnes ([email protected])

Our Smooth Video of the Day:  The official video of Hiroshima's most famous tune.

 

Adele - The Cinco de Mayo Gift from England

Born in 1988 on May 5th, Adele Laurie Blue Adkins got a recording contract after a friend posted her demo on Britain’s version of MySpace.  Since that event in 2006, things have been really “Rolling in the Deep” for the grey-eyed blonde who looks more like an opera diva than a pop star.

Her album entitled 21, which premiered four year ago, is historic because it stayed at number one on the charts longer than any other female solo artist in the US and the UK.  She is also the first female to have three simultaneous Top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100. 

In 2011, Adele received an Academy Award, a Grammy and a Golden Globe for her James Bond movie theme “Skyfall."

Singer/songwriter Adele stated: "I taught myself how to sing by listening to Ella Fitzgerald for acrobatics and scales, Etta James for passion and Roberta Flack for control." 

On her next album, which is scheduled to be released in September, she has been collaborating with Phil Collins and Paul Epworth, the co-writer of "Skyfall."

Happy Birthday Adele, have a margarita in honor of Cinco de Mayo!

~Lydia Barnes ([email protected])

Our Smooth Video of the Day:  Adele's smash from the 007 movie.

 

Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, Part I: Keiko Matsui

Keiko Matsui is a dream wrapped in an enigma laced up with smooth jazz mystery.  With her flitting butterfly hands, high heel shoes and her trusty Yamaha equipment, including the Motif ES6, her baby grand, and her keytar synthesizer, she has been smoothing it out on stage since the 1980s.  You could say her career has spanned four decades if you include the work she did as a teenage pianist growing up in Tokyo, Japan. 

She is a prolific writer, producer and performer, with over 20 albums, several mini-CD projects done for charity, and a tour schedule of 40+ dates on the books for 2015. She has been balancing motherhood, musicianship and the road for quite a while. 

She is a humanitarian, lending her music and presence to many notable causes:  Y-Me National Breast Cancer Organization, Susan G. Komen Foundation, National Marrow Donor Program, Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches and the United Nations World Food Program.  

She is credited with discovering saxophonist Paul Taylor.  He is heard on her albums Sapphire, Dream Walk and Full Moon and the Shrine.  In his early year, he toured as part of her band.  After that, he went onto solo in smooth jazz.  Currently, her favorite sax man is Dave Koz with whom she travels regularly.  

If you want to learn more about Keiko, your best bet might be to sign up for one of Dave Koz’s jazz cruises.  She is scheduled to be on two of them at the end of this year and the beginning of 2016.   

~Lydia Barnes ([email protected])

Our Smooth Video of the Day:  Keiko live.

 

Sweet Dreams, Ben E. King

From doo-wop to love songs to movie themes, Benjamin Earl Nelson, better known as Ben E. King, sang it all.  Over the course of his career, which started in 1958 with the group called the Five Crowns and ended in 2014 when he toured Europe as a solo artist, he used his talent to write and sing in the genres of soul, pop, R&B and doo-wop.   

As lead singer of the Drifters, he hit number one with “There Goes My Baby” and “Save The Last Dance For Me,” number two with "Dance With Me," number four with “This Magic Moment," number nine with "Lonely Winds" and number seventeen with "I Count the Tears," all between 1959 and 1960. 

In 1961, he went solo and hit number one with “Stand by Me."  When it was re-released in 1986 as the theme song for the movie of the same name, it was so good that it hit again at number nine in the US and number one in the UK. It has been covered time and again, most recently by Sam Smith.   He charted six more times in 1961 with “Spanish Harlem” being another one of his most memorable songs. Ben E. put out a remarkable range of songs almost every year from 1961 to 1980, often hitting the charts multiple times in each year.

He was even featured as an end song in the HBO television series “The Sopranos” singing “I Who Have Nothing,” which was released on the compilation CD “The Sopranos – Peppers and Eggs.”  His is not as bombastic as Tom Jones or as dramatic as Shirley Bassey, but it’s a more restrained and painful sounding rendition.

Peace be with you Ben E. King, we will miss you.

~Lydia Barnes ([email protected])

Our Smooth Video of the Day:  Ben E. King's most famous song.