The Festival will take place in Dallas on Labor Day weekend, September 1-3, 2017 at the TEXAS HORSE PARK in Dallas, Texas. Already set to perform; Jonathan Butler, Oleta Adams, Rachelle Ferrell, Euge Groove, Jeff Lorber, Chuck Loeb, Pault Taylor, Keiko Matsui, Phil Perry, Najee, Will Downing, Alex Bugnon, Erykah Badu, Maysa, John Secada, Ruben Studdard, Kim Waters, Joseph Vincelli and many more! Curtis King, founder and president of The Black Academy of Arts and Letters, Inc.

The world famous Blue Note has opened in Beijing and it is hopping! Patrick Lamb, fresh off shows there last week with Jeff Lorber Fusion shares some thoughts on the gig and the venue exclusively with SJN. Lamb shares: "I have played Blue Note’s from Indonesia to Japan to New York with different artists, and this was right up there as one of the largest and most sophisticated of their new clubs. I must say it is always an honor to share the stage with producer/artist Jeff Lo

Back in November we were fortunate enough to see a screening of "LA LA LAND" and were incredibly moved by this film about JAZZ, HOLLYWOOD and two star crossed lovers trying to make it in the competitive worlds of music and acting. On our SMOOTH JAZZ TOP 20 FEEDBACK TRACK feature, we introduced you to the now Oscar nominated song "CITY OF STARS" performed by actor Ryan Gosling (also up for best actor) and written by Damien Chazelle (also up for best director). LA LA LAND is no

Keyboardist and veteran musician Kirk Fischer is set to release his first solo album and has brought in world class musicians to join him on his debut CD "Friends". Kirk's A-List group of musicians performing on the project include trumpeters Greg Adams and Lee Thornburg, drummer Herman Matthews, saxophonist Greg Vail, guitarist Kay-Ta Matsuno, bassist Dwayne "Smitty" Smith and percussionist Johnny Sandoval. Fischer will debut his new release performing with Greg Adams and E

It's being billed as THE CARIBBEAN'S NEWEST & HOTTEST JAZZ WEEKEND and from the looks of the lineup they're right. ELAN TROTMAN'S 4th Annual BARBADOS JAZZ EXCURSION & GOLF TOURNAMENT will take place OCT 6-9, 2017 - Columbus Day Weekend. The all-star line-up has been announced including: WILL DOWNING, NORMAN BROWN, MARION MEADOWS, BRIAN SIMPSON, JEANETTE HARRIS, JULIAN VAUGHN with a special appearance by Barbados' own ALISON HINDS. Full information and tickets are at http://ba

John Klemmer is a true pioneer of contemporary jazz. In June of 1975 this song was one of those that revolutionized the 'jazz' music genre. Along with Grover Washington Jr's "Mr Magic", released the same year, this album and song has stood the test of time as a classic that sounds as amazing today as it did back then. Enjoy our Song of the Day! #JohnKlemmer #Touch #contemporaryjazz #jazz #smoothjazz #smoothjazznetwork #songoftheday

Last November we had the privilege to see a screening of "LA LA LAND", which featured the tune "City Of Stars" that won a GOLDEN GLOBE this evening. We featured in on the SMOOTH JAZZ TOP 20 FEEDBACK TRACK feature on November 12th as a 'mystery song' and you guys loved it! Apparently so did the Hollywood Foreign Press, as the just song picked up a GOLDEN GLOBE for BEST ORIGINAL SONG. #GoldenGlobes #HollywoodForeignPress #RyanGosling #winner #jazz #smoothjazztop20 #smoothjazzne

Guitarist / Producer Paul Brown posted a link to Soenke Meinen's YouTube videos and we can't stop watching! Check him out! He is truly amazing. The following is an exerpt from Sönke Meinen's website: He was born in 1991 in Aurich/East Frisia. Studying at the College of Music in Dresden where he receives lessons from the renowned musicians Thomas Fellow, Stephan Bormann and Reentko Dirks since 2011, Soenke Meinen can already look back on over 300 concerts in various projects.

This is going to be a year of discovery for Smooth Jazz fans in the US and only a few days into the new year, we have come across another amazing performer, saxophonist Daniel Chia. Daniel, who is one of Singapore's fastest rising performers will soon be releasing his sultry single "Cali Style". His musical influences include everything from classical music to hip-hop, morphing into what he calls his special brand of 'disco jazz'. Chia is Singapore's youngest saxophonist eve

Pianist Lisa Hilton will debut her 2017 release "Day & Night", inspired by the music of Cole Porter, Horace Silver and Count Basie next Tuesday January 10 at New York City's famed Carnegie Hall. The CD is Hilton's 19th release and is available for pre-order via her website at https://lisahiltonmusic.com/product/day-and-night/ and all digital outlets. The new album is already getting solid reviews and Hilton says she is excited to have both a new CD and a show at Carnegie Hall

Singer Rebecca Ferguson took to Twitter earlier today to announce that she has been asked to perform at President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20th. She also stated that she would 'accept' the invitation provided she could perform Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit", a song protesting racism. Via Twitter, Ferguson states: "I've been asked and this is my answer. If you allow me to sing "strange fruit" a song that has huge historical importance, a song that was bl

Guitarist George Benson has announced a 2017 tour. According to his website, Benson will begin January 19th in Tucson, Arizona. Benson also has dates in Coachella, Beverly Hills, Irvine and Colorado Springs before he heads to the UK for a show at Scarborough's Open Air Theatre in July before taking this tour international. To see if he's coming to a city near you, check out the full schedule here. Check right here for SMOOTH JAZZ NETWORK'S NEWS FEED daily for up to the minute

The Smooth Jazz Network is thrilled to release our SMOOTH JAZZ TOP 50 of 2016. While the Smooth Jazz Top 20 has been out for a couple of weeks, we felt it appropriate to honor those who landed among the TOP 50 for the year. This chart was calculated by awarding points for weeks on the chart, chart position and weeks at #1. Data was compiled from radio station airplay and national charts. Congratulations to all who made the chart and here's to a SMOOTH 2017. See the full Top

Fourplay opened their 5 night stint at the famed Blue Note in Tokyo Thursday. The supergroup includes special guest Kirk Whalum who has played solo gigs, as well as accompanying Dave Koz several times at the Tokyo club. From the looks of their social media posts the guys are having a great time so far. They're scheduled to play with special guest Kirk Whalum through January 3rd. Check out this video Blue Note Tokyo posted to Facebook of their performance, including a special

Could Darren Rahn be next? Woodward Avenue Records President and CEO Mark Nordman is toying with the idea of releasing some special autographed LP's from his top artists including the man with the #1 song of 2016, Darren Rahn. Check out Mark's Facebook page and let him know what you think of the idea. #smoothjazz #woodwardavenuerecords #darrenrahn #sax #jazz #1 #2016 #vinyl

Grace Kelly has released a very smooth and thoughtful rendition of the classic New Year's Eve staple "Auld Lang Syne". It caught our ear and Grace puts her inspiration behind the recording perfectly. Message from Grace: "I have always loved New Years Eve and New Years Day. I write down all of my aspirations, personal goals, career goals... throw out clutter, get organized and centered. I'm so grateful for all the incredibly exciting musical experiences that happened in 2016

Eric Darius is set to perform at a very classy New Year's Eve event in Houston, Texas. Tickets to the show include an amazing four course dinner, party favors and a champagne toast at midnight. Er says it'll be the biggest party in Houston and is thrilled to be performing. Eric's latest release is called "Retro Forward" and is available at iTunes and http://www.EricDarius.com #EricDarius #sax #jazz #smoothjazz #smoothjazznetwork #NewYearsEve #2017 #concert #livemusic

Woodward Avenue Records and guitarist Paul Brown are thinking of releasing his latest album on a limited edition via vinyl. The idea came when label President and CEO Mark Nordman was listening to how remarkable Paul's music sounded on his vinyl copy of the project (currently the only one in the world.) They are bantering about it now on Facebook, so fans can check in with their opinion via Paul's or Mark's Facebook page. #PaulBrown #smoothjazz #guitar #marknordman #woodwar

The Smooth Jazz Network programming team was fortunate to get a sneak preview of Nathan's new CD a few month's back and it is already one of our 'best of' picks for 2017. Get behind the scenes with Nathan East on his forthcoming release "REVERENCE" from the Yamaha Entertainment Group via the YouTube link below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7YNKP_TBts Amazon: http://amzn.to/2gKDc3Q iTunes: http://apple.co/2i0MoDs Yamaha Entertainment Group Official Store: http://bit.ly/2i