Joe Blessett Jazz Man of Mystery

Who is Joe Blessett? What does he look like? That is the one million dollar question. I know his music is composed, effortlessness, genuine and methodical. Joe Blessett says he’s not a musician and that music is his vice. Well, I must say if he not a musician, then what are these music stars of today called. It is puzzling to me, because his music features acoustic instruments, electronic instruments which blend well with his writing skills. Joe Blessett’s touch of funk and a lot of sax is very pleasing to the smooth jazz and the modern jazz fan. I love his sound. Joe Blessett is a true composer and writer. Joe Blessett’s 2011 album “Chillin Out In Dark Places” is a compilation of him sitting back in dark places and observing life. Like he says in his bio “What I see composed into musical composition. Music is life moving at different speeds heading two different directions moving along separately, but in unison creating a fluid motion and providing peace to those who will listen.” Joe Blessett is a guy of mystery. His music is in my opinion jazzy, funky and mellow. The songs Better Days, East Shore, Rainy Season, Chillin out in Dark Places, Friends, Wine & Good Times Warm Summer Night are my favorites. I like these songs because of the bluesy, jazzy sax playing. I know I’m a Joe Blessett fan now. If you have never heard of Joe Blessett you can listen to some of his music on Streetwise Radio. You can also listen to Streetwise Radio on ITunes, Athena365, MyGen365 and Live365. 

LM

http://www.joeblessett.com/index.html

Incognito "Surreal"

Hey Incognito fans! Their 15 album “Surreal” is just what I expected from this Acid jazz, jazz funk, soul jazz, soul, nu jazz, pop British band. I have been listening to Incognito since their debut album “Jazz Funk”, which was released in 1981. They never stop making wonderful music. The band consists of frontman, composer, record producer, guitarist and singer is Jean-Paul 'Bluey' Maunick. Other notable members that make up this amazing band are singers Jocelyn Brown, Carleen Anderson, Tony Momrelle, Imaani, Maysa Leak, Kelli Sae and Joy Malcom. 

The “Surreal” album has many great songs highlighting these amazing singers. Maysa Leak on the song "The Less You Know" sounds invigorating. Mo Brandis "Goodbye To Yesterday" is an up tempo pop song that makes you want to get up and move. Natalie Williams’s vocals on "Above The Night" is exceptional. Vanessa Haynes is sounding splendidly smooth on "Don't Break Me Down." My favorite songs on this album are “The Less You Know”, “Goodbye To Yesterday”,   “Above The Night”, “Restless As We Are”,  “Rivers On The Sun”, “Don't Break Me Down”, “To Be With You”, “ This Must Be Love”, “The Way You Love” and “Thoughtful Fantasies”. I am an Incognito fan for life. If they keep bringing the music I will continue to enjoying them for years to come. You can listen to songs from Incognito’s “Surreal” album on Streetwise Radio. Also listen to Streetwise Radio on MyGen365, ITunes, Athena365 and Live365.

LM  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incognito_(band)

Tatiana Mayfield A Portrait of LadyMay

Tatiana Mayfield is a twenty something, jazz singer with a unique, amazing and invigorating voice. She grew up in Fort Worth, Texas. In her senior year of high school, she appeared of Showtime at The Apollo in 2004 singing “Good Morning Heart Ache”. This was the beginning of a fantastic jazz singer with incredible talent. Tatiana went on to pursue her musical studies at the University of North Texas and was a member of the Jazz Singers ensemble. While Tatiana was in college she received several awards for “Outstanding Performance” in the “Jazz Vocal Soloist” category in DownBeat magazine’s June 2009. Also she received the award for “Outstanding Undergraduate Student in Jazz Studies” from the University of North Texas jazz department in 2009. Tatiana was chosen on October 2010 as one of the twelve semi-finalists to compete in the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition that was held in Washington, D.C. at the Smithsonian Museum. Tatiana has pure confidence in her ability. She has performed before a panel of legendary jazz vocalists that included Al Jarreau, Dianne Reeves, Patti Austin, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Kurt Elling. Tatiana released her debut album in the fall of 2009 called “From All Directions”. This album was collaboration with pianist Erskine Hawkins III. On this album she has spiritual songs and jazz songs that show her versatility as a singer. Two of my favorite songs off this album are “Speak To My Heart” and “A Little Acapella For Ya For Fun”. Tatiana released her second album in July 2012 “A Portrait Of LadyMay”. My favorite songs off this album are, “Real”, “Softly As In A Morning Sunrise”, “Judgment Day”, “Zone”, “Sequins”, “Love” and “Olha Pro Ceu (Look to the Sky)”. "A Portrait Of LadyMay" is a forceful and original work that covers Tatiana's writing talent and flexibility. If you like jazz artists that sing Tatiana “LadyMay” Mayfield is one to put in your collection. She definitely has the skills. Listen to songs from Tatiana Mayfield’s album “A Portrait of LadyMay” on Streetwise Radio. You can also listen to Streetwise Radio on MyGen365, Athena365, live365 and ITunes.

LM

http://www.tatianamayfield.com/Home_Page.php

Ravi Coltrane “Spirit Fiction”

Ravi Coltrane’s destiny was written in the stars. Being that he is the son of the legendary tenor saxophonist John Coltrane and jazz pianist Alice Coltrane. Ravi was born in Long Island, New York but grew up in Los Angeles, California. He was two years old in 1967 when his father John Coltrane died. Ravi didn't make it easy on himself, 21 years after the passing of his father Ravi Coltrane studied music at the California Institute of the Arts. Ravi concentrated on the soprano and tenor saxophone, the same instruments his father played.

Ravi Coltrane has pull from his father's sound and made it his own. He's a musician of his own time. “Spirit Fiction” is Ravi’s newest album which was released on July 19, 2012. It has the tune “Cross Roads” on it. A lot of musicians have recorded this tune. I like the way soprano sax is feature on it, gives it another sound. On the tune "Yellow Cat," the horns play straight through a two-minute piano solo, which is odd but sounds great. Other tunes from this album I like are "Roads Cross", "Klepto", "The Change, My Girl", "Who Wants Ice Cream", "Spring & Hudson" and "Check Out Time".

Ravi Coltrane may look just like his father. You can hear some of John Coltrane in Ravi Coltrane’s playing, but I think Ravi Coltrane has his own sound. He is a great musician who has lived up to his legendary parents. Tune in to Streetwise Radio and listen to some tunes off of Ravi Coltrane’s “Spirit Fiction” album. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. You can also listen to Streetwise Radio on ITunes, Live365, Athena365 and MyGen365.

LM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravi_Coltrane

Kenny Wellington
CD title: In Retrospect
Genre:  Soul Jazz

CD album ‘In Retrospect’

Trumpet player Kenny Wellington was an original founder member of the groups Light Of The World and Beggar & Co. As well as performing and recording with those groups
he has recorded, arranged and played live dates with many artists from the different genres of soul, jazzfunk, rock and pop. These artists include fine artists such as Tina Turner, Spandau Ballet, Gabrielle, Paul Weller, Incognito, Tom Browne, Jean Carn, The Jones Girls, Gwen Mc Rae, Alexander O’Neal and many others.
;Bahia’ is from the CD album ‘In Retrospect’, the follow up to the first solo recording ‘Kind Of Black’ which featured the popular recording ‘The Big Apple’ which received much airplay in the UK and USA on stations favouring the jazz, soul and jazzfunk genres. The influence and style of the music of the early Seventies classic jazzfunk albums is evident throughout.
The CD pays homage to the tradition of the great works of musicians like Donald Byrd and his work with the Mizell Brothers with tracks like ‘Free Your Mind’ and ‘Dream Land’ being set firmly in this direction. There is a great reworking of the track ‘Bahia’ which was originally co produced by Kenny and Richard Bull well known for his fine work with Incognito. ‘Rain Dance’ is more akin to the work of the great Woody Shaw. There is also the influence in the playing of Nat Adderley, with a definite nod in the direction of some of the great work that Marcus Miller produced for the great Miles Davis. ‘In Retro Spect’ sits well with the great work of the modern day trumpet players with some wonderful melodic playing over some very soulful and jazzy grooves.

http://myspace.com/kennywellington
kennywellington@hotmail.com

Jazz Vocalist Gregory Porter “Be Good”

WOW, just discovered Mr. Porter, DJ Michael Ealey told me we have to write about Gregory Porter he’s an underrated talent. Thanks Mike for the introduction to Gregory Porter. The way I can describe Gregory Porter is beautiful, excellent, brilliant and superb. Gregory Porter was born in Los Angeles, California and raised in Bakersfield, California. He is a jazz vocalist, songwriter, and actor. Gregory Porter attended San Diego State University on a football scholarship until a shoulder injury sidelined him permanently. I guess everything happens for a reason. If not then we would not have this wonderful jazz vocalist. Gregory’s career path and professional development started when he met saxophonist, pianist, and composer Kamau Kenyatta. Who introduced Gregory to flautist Hubert Laws? Hubert Laws heard Gregory singing along to Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile” song. Hubert added in a bonus track with Gregory on vocals singing “Smile”, on his “Remembers the Unforgettable Nat King Cole” album in 1998. While visiting the studio Eloise Laws, Hubert's sister helped get Porter cast in one of the leading roles in a new musical, “It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues.” This stage play was performed at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Then it moved to Off-Broadway and then on to the big time Broadway. That is how his acting career came about. Gregory currently lives in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. Smoke Jazz is where he performs regularly. Gregory Porter has performed frequently at the Jazz at Lincoln Center, the North Sea Jazz Festival in Holland and the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta. Gregory has recorded with Nicola Conte. He also appeared on Later... with Jools Holland on BBC2 (notably on Jools' 2011 New Year show, Hootenanny). In 2011, Gregory appeared on the TV show Carole King and Friends at Christmas. Gregory Porter is a jazz singer, who got his roots from Soul, Jazz, R&B and Gospel music. His mother was a minister, she told him to sing with an understanding and Gregory does just that. Gregory Porters first album “Water” is outstanding. The songs I really like from that album are, “Skylark”, “1960 What?”, “Illusion”, “Water”, and “Pretty”. Gregory’s second album came out on February 14, 2012. All I can say is, WOW! This whole album is fantastic. This man can sing the way he delivers a song is truly amazing. I like every songs off of the “Be Good” album it is hard to choose my favorite. If I were asked it probably would be, "Be Good (Lion's Song), "Real Good Hands", "When Did You Learn”, “Painted On Canvas” and "On My Way To Harlem". Gregory Porter wears this brown hat that covers his head, neck, ears and throat. All you see is his face and beard, which is not a bad looking face to look at. If you enjoy jazz singers like I do. Then check out Gregory Porter on Streetwise radio. Trust me you will enjoy his sound. It reminds me two of my favorite singers the late great Nat King Cole and Lou Rawls. You can also listen to Streetwise Radio on MyGen365, live365, Athena365 and I-Tunes.

LM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_Porter

HULON
CD title: After Hours
Genre:  Smooth Jazz

HULON After Hours Truly living up to its provocative title, Hulon’s 2010 independently released debut First Impressions spent 15 weeks on the Billboard Jazz Chart (peaking at #25). Its debut single “Sax on the Beach” reached #16 on the SmoothJazz.com Top 50 Indie Chart and was featured on the noted jazz website AllAboutJazz.com, in addition to receiving national and international airplay at terrestrial and online radio.
Collaborating once again with mentor, composer, producer and fellow saxophonist Jeff Kashiwa, the Panama City, Florida based tenor saxman gets even more personal and intimate with his growing audience on his highly anticipated, musically eclectic follow-up After Hours. World renowned for his years with The Rippingtons, The Sax Pack and numerous hit solo albums over the past 20 years, Kashiwa again brought in some of contemporary jazz’s most powerful and dynamic players to take Hulon’s musical game on the new collection to the next level; Dave Hooper (drums), Allen Hinds (guitar), Melvin Davis (bass) and Bill Heller (keyboards) all played key roles as well on First Impressions. The new 11 track set includes a vocal and instrumental version of the Heatwave classic “Always and Forever” and eight originals penned by Kashiwa that play to Hulon’s strengths as a soulful balladeer and a grooving R&B/funk player, with a few dashes of cool and swinging traditional jazz in the mix. Highlights include the sensual late night romance “You’re Beautiful,” the whimsical mid tempo light funk tune “Takin’ My Time,” the tropical chill of “Sticky Trickuation,” the sly, “Pink Panther”-esque “Speak Easy” (featuring shuffling drum, bass and finger snap rhythm) and the high octane horn-driven jam and first single from the new release,“Do You Feel Me.” Yet there’s lot more to Hulon’s dynamic emergence onto the urban jazz scene than simple chart stats and the support of some of the genre’s best players. At its heart, it’s the story of a musical dream long deferred and unique connections between the spiritual and emotional healing power of music and the physical healing that Dr. Hulon E. Crayton does as a rheumatologist and founder of The Arthritis and Infusion Center, which specializes in the treatment of Rheumatological diseases as well as sports related injuries. The title of one of the tracks on After Hours, the tropical flavored groove tune, “Second Opinion” is a playful ode to his longtime profession. Over the past few years, Hulon has experienced the unique double blessing of performing for some of his patients, feeling joy and fulfillment as those who once could not even walk actually got up and danced and sang along—all thanks to him! Hulon has been practicing since 1986 and is a diplomat of the American Board of Internal Medicine and of the American Board of Rheumatology. He has a Master’s in Hospital Administration and has served in the U.S. Army and the Army Reserve, obtaining the rank of Captain. In an effort to give back to the community, Hulon and his wife Dinah created the Crayton Foundation to assist in providing minorities with a feasible way to attain the funding needed to attend college; they have given numerous scholarships to students interested in pursuing a career in healthcare related fields. The foundation gave the first ever scholarship at Florida State University for African American students. The Milwaukee born and raised Hulon was originally inspired to play the alto sax by his college roommate when he was an undergrad at Lincoln University in Missouri. He taught himself the instrument and it became a favorite hobby for a time, used as recreation and stress relief as Hulon played along to his favorite recordings. He put the horn aside for years as he went to medical school at the University of Wisconsin, started his first practice, got married and began raising a family. Hulon’s interest was rekindled when all three of his children showed an interest in music and served as first chair on their respective instruments in middle school. He had loaned his daughter his old sax and she wouldn’t give it back, so he bought a tenor at a local pawn shop (after moving to Florida) and that became his main voice as he began to pursue music professionally. He started playing informally with some local musicians (enjoying cigars and martinis along the way) and then was hired to play at a festival by a promoter who heard him performing one Sunday at church; this prompted Hulon to start a band with a fellow doctor friend. Cleverly dubbing themselves On Call, the band began performing at numerous private functions, local Panama City jazz hotspots like the Boatyard, Firefly, Bonefish and large scale affairs at the Grand Panama Hotel. His incredible friendship and musical association with Jeff Kashiwa began when Hulon was in the audience at the Seabreeze Jazz Festival one year when the famed saxman was onstage playing the EWI, or Electronic Woodwind Instrument. “He started introducing this cool looking instrument and I shouted out from the crowd that I’ve gotta get me one of those,” says Hulon. “Jeff responded from the stage, ‘Not only will I sell this to you, I will also teach you how to play it!’ After the show I met him and asked if he was serious. He gave me his address, I sent him a check and he sold me his EWI. He was down in Orlando with the Rippingtons two months later and I went to see him. He took me up to his hotel room and taught me how to play EWI. At a later gig in Atlanta, he invited me backstage to meet the Rippingtons. We started doing lessons on Skype, and about a year later, Jeff was playing at a fundraiser for the Anchorage Children’s Home, which takes care of disadvantaged youth, and my band opened for him. I was nervous at first but later in the show, when he invited me to play onstage with him and we traded solos while walking parallel up the aisle in the audience, I felt like this was a musical high I could get used to!” Hulon’s later idea to hire the veteran saxman to compose a jingle for his practice inspired Kashiwa to write an extended version called “Dr. Goodfoot,” which ultimately became the first track they recorded on First Impressions. The title is a nod to James Brown’s classic “Get on the Good Foot.” Once Hulon received the blessing of his wife Dinah and the encouragement of his children, he enlisted Kashiwa to help him develop a full length album project—beginning with four demos that Kashiwa had sent him after “Dr. Goodfoot.” “The experience was surreal,” Hulon says, “as if I were suddenly on this fast track. A few years earlier, I wasn’t even playing the horn, and here I was in a studio recording with a world renowned saxophonist who believed in my potential as an artist. He saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself. “Even as he was producing me,” he adds, “he was my teacher and mentor, telling me what I needed to do, helping make me a better player. The cool thing about Jeff is that he always has a goal for me inside his mind. He won’t always tell me what it is, but when I hit it, he tells me and then raising the bar. With constructive criticism, he knows how to get the best out of me. The experience became even more intense as we worked on After Hours. I am feeling more confident about myself as a player and artist than ever and am able to nail a song much faster. The first time we ever recorded, it took me eight hours to do the first song and four days to do three songs. This time we got almost the whole album done in three days—all thanks to Jeff’s encouragement and gentle push at the right times.” Believing that “versatility is survivability,” Hulon (with Kashiwa’s guidance) breaks the mold of the typical urban jazz output these days by offering a wide variety of styles and grooves behind his rich emotional tenor melodies. That’s not surprising considering the wide variety of genres he listens to on his iPod—from hip hop and country to orchestral and classical music. Yet beyond simply providing musical pleasure to the genre’s adult audiences, he says, “I want to be inspiring to children and a good role model to them the way I have strived to be with my own kids. I’m really enjoying this journey every step of the way. As with medicine, I get great personal joy and satisfaction having people appreciate what I do. My time in the office is devoted to physical healing. But when I’m recording or playing live onstage, that’s when the spiritual healing begins.”

Web: www.mileshighproductions.com

Chip chip@mileshighproductions.com