The 2010 NAACP Image Awards has nominated Poetically Justified, the latest release by the DC area’s own Marcus Johnson, for Outstanding Jazz Album of the year.  Poetically Justified was released in June on Marcus’ Three Keys label.  This is truly a great honor, and we wish all the best for Marcus.  Tune in to the NAACP Image Awards on Friday 2/26 at 8pm on Fox. 

And, while you’re at it, check out the article on Marcus Johnson in the February issue of  The Washingtonian magazine.

Tickets are now on sale for Jay Rowe’s annual Smooth Jazz for Scholars Concert, and it looks to be a good one.  The line-up this year features Mindi Abair, Chieli Minucci, Ken Navarro, Nick Colionne, Shilts, and Best Kept Secret with Rohn Lawrence, Jay Rowe, Dave Livolsi, Lomon Andrews and Trevor Somerville. 

The show will be held at the Parson’s Complex Auditorium located at 70 West River St., Milford, CT 06460.   Tickets are $40, and may be purchased by sending a check or money order to :

Smooth Jazz for Scholars, Inc.  P.O. Box 3723, Milford, CT. 06460 

Tickets may also be purchased through etix.com

The first 100 tickets sold will be reserved seating, however, this does not apply to etix purchases.

For more information, go tojayrowemusic

Saxman, Jaared, will be releasing a new CD, Manhattan Nights, his second CD on the Trippin ‘N’ Rhythm Records label, and his fourth solo CD.  The CD was produced by Grammy Award Winning Producer Michael Broening, and features some special guests…..Jay Soto, Tim Bowman, Cindy Bradley, Freddie Fox, Mel Brown, (Greg Adams, Lee Thornburg, Bill Churchville….formerly of Tower of Power)….just to name a few.  Manhattan Nights is scheduled for release in the States on March 30, 2010.

Jaared will be promoting the Manhattan Nights release with shows in England from Feb 1-7 and in Dubai on Feb 16, and will be performing with Gregg Karukas on Feb 14 and Attila Molnar on Feb 18.  The US CD release party will be sometime in March.  Details to follow.

The Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards will be presenting the 6th George Benson Lifetime Achievement Award to jazz legend David Sanborn.

Sanbornbegan his solo career in 1975.  He has influenced many saxophone players over the years, including many in the smooth jazz community.  He was an early pioneer in the smooth/contemporary jazz format before the format even had a name.  He is a six time Grammy Award winner.

Mark Kirk of WAVE 94.7 FM in Toronto/Hamilton and co-chair of the Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards says, “We are truly honoured to be able to celebrate David’s outstanding career by presenting him with this year’s Benson Award.  Like those recipients before him, he has been such a tremendous ambassador for jazz, pioneering the pop/jazz crossover and seducing millions of fans over the last few decades with his artistry.”

George Benson was the first Lifetime Achievement Award winner in 2005.  Other winners include Bob James, Spyro Gyra, Lee Ritenour, and Earl Klugh.

Mr. Sanborn will attend the 6th Annual Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards, on Friday, April 23rd, 2010, at the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga, Ontario.

Tickets are available at the Living Arts Centre Box Office: 1-(800)-805-8888, or (905) 306-6000.

Sometimes we tend to overlook categories that we think we would never see our Smooth Jazz favorites, so we owe a big apology to Boney James.  Boney, along with vocalist Quinn, have been nominated in the category of Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance for “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight” from the album Send One Your Love.

Here are the Category nominees:

Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance
(For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances, with vocals. Singles or Tracks only.)

• At Last
  Beyoncé
  Track from: Cadillac Records Music From The Motion Picture
  [Music World Music/Columbia]
• Soul Music
  Anthony Hamilton
  Track from: Soul Men Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
  [Stax/Concord]
• Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight
  Boney James & Quinn
  Track from: Send One Your Love
  [Concord Records]
• Sow Love
  Ann Nesby
  Track from: The Lula Lee Project
  [It's Time Child Records/Tyscot]
• Woman Gotta Have It
  Calvin Richardson
  Track from: Facts Of Life The Soul Of Bobby Womack
  [Shanachie Entertainment Corp.]

Best of luck to Boney James and Quinn!

• Congratulations to all of our jazz artists (in all of it’s forms, including smooth, contemporary, and straight ahead) who have received Grammy nominations for 2010:

Best Pop Instrumental Performance

• Besame Mucho – Herb Alpert (Anything Goes – Live)
• The Fire – Imogen Heap (Ellipse)
• Phoenix Rise – Maxwell (Blacksummers Night)
• Funk Joint – Marcus Miller (Marcus)

Best Pop Instrumental Album

• In Boston – Chris Botti
• Legacy – Hiroshima
• Potato Hole – Booker T. Jones
• Modern Art – The Rippingtons featuring Russ Freeman
• Down The Wire – Spyro Gyra

Best Contemporary Jazz Album

• Urbanus – Stefon Harris & Blackout
• Sounding Point – Julian Lage
• At World’s Edge – Philippe Saisse
• Big Neighborhood – Mike Stern
• 75 – Joe Zawinul & The Zawinul Syndicate

Best Jazz Vocal

• No Regrets – Randy Crawford & Joe Sample
• Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane & Hartman – Kurt Elling
• So In Love – Roberta Gambarini
• Tide – Luciana Souza
• Desi

On Christmas Day, flutist/saxophonist Najee will perform the National Anthem at the Orlando Magic’s home game on ESPN.  Najee’s most recent release, Mind Over Matter, was released on 8/25/09 on the Heads Up label.  Way to go Najee!

For his new album, American Ride, Toby Keith wrote a song for his dear friend the late Wayman Tisdale.  ”Cryin’ For Me (Wayman’s Song)” is a beautiful tribute to a wonderfully talented man.  Dave Koz was invited to play on the song.  Watch the music video on CMT (Country Music Television).

Shanachie, a label that has a growing and thriving roster of  contemporary jazz artists is giving you a chance to sample some of their best for free. They are offering a free smooth jazz sampler album for free download on Amazon.com The album is called Shanachie: Cool Urban Jazz. You can download the whole album or individual mp3s fromMaysa,, Everette Harp, Kim Waters, Phil Perry, The Sax Pack, and more.

Here’s the link to the download -  http://tinyurl.com/ShanachieCompilation

Saxophonist Marion Meadows will be the host of the upcoming Green Jazz Cruise, which sails from April 10-15, 2010.  The Green Jazz Cruise departs from Cape Liberty (Newark), NJ and is a five night Bermuda bound cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas.  Sailing with Marion will be: Althea Rene, Tim Cunningham, Impromp2, Gail Jhonson, and Dominic Amato.  Cruise prices start at $1199 per person, with liberal payment plans available.  For more information, please go to www.greencruise.com