Located on the emerald coast of Florida, the Seabreeze Jazz Festival celebrated its twelfth year of providing good weather and great jazz. The three day event was held at the Pier Park Outdoor Amphitheater with several thousand patrons in attendance. While providing both VIP as well as festival seating, most of the fans were able to sit and enjoy the music with good views of the stage, and access to the artists after each act. Multiple tents of artist and craftsmen along with some of the best food around, gave everyone something to enjoy. The festival is run by some really great people who make you feel welcomed, and want you to come every year.

I arrived in time to catch the Sax Pack warming up the stage on Friday night.   Cole, Kashiwa and Waters were in top gear and playing material from the new disc. They’re always fun to see together as they interact so well. They all had time to play some of their solo work and Jeff brought down the house with “Hyde Park.” Nick Colionne was up next with his Seabreeze All Star Jam. This group let into “Get Down On It” comprising of Marc Antoine, Shilts, Steve Cole, Matt Marshak, Brian Simpson, Joey Summerville, Alex Bugnon, Ken Ford, Gerald Veasley, Jackiem Joyner, Jeff Kashiwa, Oli Silk, Kim Waters, and BK Jackson. It was really hard to believe just what I was seeing or hearing. The line up was phenomenal! The most touching part of the evening came during the tribute to Wayman Tisdale. He had played at Seabreeze the past two years and was really missed. Toby Keith’s video “Crying For Me” played on the big screen overhead as we remembered our friend. Things picked back up as Wayman would have wanted to with one of his favorites, “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now.”

Saturday morning brought out the beautiful Florida sun as well as lots of smooth jazz fans. They lined up early to get good seats for the day’s event. Saxophonist BK Jackson took the stage by storm, and caught everyone off guard with his stage presence and set list. Pulling music from his On The Move CD, this 18year old was upbeat, and all over the stage. He played “Philly Jams” and “Down 2 Nothing” that were original material along with Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” and Bobby Caldwell’s “What You Do For Love.” He was down in the crowd, and they were very appreciative of what he was doing. People talked about his performance all weekend. 

Guitarist Drew Davidsen came out next and got the crowd going right away. He played the title track from his CD Around (Again) along with “Island Blues” featuring Dave Krug on sax. Jay Rowe on keys (Special EFX) was a nice surprise to see as he was featured on Drew’s new single, “Going Coastal.” It had a nice clean sound to it along with the fun, upbeat “Astro.” The crowd enjoyed seeing Drew playing his guitar behind his head, and he didn’t miss a note. It was a good follow up act following Jackson. Ken Ford took the momentum and raised the level even more with his aggressive style playing of his green violin. He played a lot from his latest CD, and was down in the crowd playing to new fans. They were very appreciative as they called him out for an encore performance.

Rick Braun and Richard Elliot (also known as R &R) fed off the crowd as they played several selections from their disc together (like “Down and Dirty) as well as some of their solo work “Tijuana Dance?” and “Move On Up.”  Rick showed off his vocal range with “My Funny Valentine.” Dwight Sills was featured on guitar as the two went through several crowd favorites. Richard brought out his EWI and showed off some new uses for it including sending his voice through it. It made for an interesting combo as he brought the crowd to their feet. Rick worked his way into the audience as was followed shortly by Richard on his black and white sax.They made it back on stage as Richard launched into his ever soulful, “When A Man Loves A Woman.” The of them finished off the set with the ever fun “Grazin In The Grass.”

Guitarist Nick Colionne finally got to come out onstage as an artist instead of just the host. After his opening number, he went into the always favorite “Rainy Night In Georgia.” His vocals were clear and smooth as always. It wasn’t long before he joined the fans in the crowd with a little blues, and “Dirty Dishes.”  Dressed in his white suit and purple shoes and hat, he made it back onstage for a rousing tribute to James Brown. Everyone was on their feet as he closed out the set. Tower of Power closed out the second day. Their wall of sound was unbelievable. They reached into their bag of hits from over the years and gave the crowd everything they wanted and more. The highlight of the evening had to be when Rick Braun and Richard Elliot joined them on stage for “Me and Mrs. Jones.” They were equally into it as helped out on “What Is It?” It was my first time seeing these legends on stage, and their years of experience were well worth the wait.

Sunday brought the fans back out to another beautiful day as we started off with a Seabreeze favorite from Jones and Company. Vocalist Cheryl Jones had the crowd in her hand while saxophonist Al Avarado showed off his versatility. He was on tenor, soprano and EWI through out the set. There were good vocals on “Going Coastal” and a lot of fun on the reggae sounding “Lion Sleeps Tonight.” The upbeat “Going Coastal” was from their new CD and featured Avarado on Soprano.

The Seabreeze Groove Project featured Alex Bugnon, Shilts, Gerald Veasley and Matt Marshak. Alex kicked the set off with “Jersey Junk” followed by Marshak’s “On The Rocks.” This one played off well, and featured Alex on some extended key work. Shilts hit the stage with his ever popular “Look What Happens” followed by Veasley’s “Valdez In The Country” that he had recorded with Grover Washington Jr. This one featured a nice drum solo from Carl Anderson. Alex played “The World Is a Ghetto” followed by a Sly Stone number from Veasley with Shilts leading on sax. His “Staten Island Groove” featured the rich tones of Matt’s guitar as they finished up with “Brooklyn Heights.” This was a great group to see as each one played off of each other so well and flawlessly.

Steve Oliver came out full of energy with his guitar getting into “Global Kiss” right away and the crowd favorite “First View” a little later. He featured several songs from his new disc Global Kiss, including “True Vision” and his latest single, “ Fun In The Sun.” Shilts added some spice to the show along with Steve’s explanation on what sounds his guitar can make. His vocals are always an added bonus as they play off his guitar. He finished the set with an acoustic version of John Lennon’s “Imagine.” The process here was slow and deliberate, and the crowd was very appreciative.

The trio of Oli Silk, Jesse J and Jackiem Joyner came out next. Oli got things started with “Chill of Be Chilled” followed by Jesse’s ever popular “Tequila Moon” and Jackiem’s “I’m waiting for You.” The three really played well together. Oli played his first single “Easy Does It” followed by Jesse’s. Jackiem brought out some Earth Wind and Fire that was a crowd favorite. Jesse showed off her vocals on “Villa” and Oli played “Bits of Paper.” They finished up on Jackiem’s newest single called “Take Me There.” It was fun seeing them play this together and finish out the set.

After a little break, Euge Groove graced the stage with sax in had and a great band. After opening with one from his new disc Sunday Morning, he launched into “Say My Name” and “Livin’ Large.” He really got the crowd going on soprano as he played “Chillaxin.” He made his way down into the crowd for “Let’s Get it On.” Euge had a lot of fun with that one, and really brought down the house as they all sang along. “Slow Jam” from the Born To Groove disc was welcomed by all. The big surprise to a lot of people was when he went into “Amazing Grace” followed by “God Bless America.” It was a nice contrast for his number one hit and title track “Sunday Morning.” There were a lot of people enjoying this one. After a little dance contest, he played some more of the crowd favorites while finishing on a high note and a well deserved encore.

The buzz around the whole weekend had to be the premiere of Chuck Loeb with Fourplay. After some crowd interaction before the show, these four musicians launched into one really fine show. Bob Jame’s piano shined throughout the performance while being constantly driven by Harvey Mason’s drums. “Blue’s For Us” featured Chuck on guitar, and he didn’t miss a beat. It was good to see him on stage with the other three members. A favorite of the evening had to be Nathan East scatting on “101 Eastbound.” It was clear and crisp throughout. They included Nathan on vocals for “Journey” and “Between The Sheet’s.” The crowd brought them out for two more songs and they didn’t disappoint. It was so much fun to see these guys together and to see how well Chuck played with them. It was history in the making, and we were on hand to witness it.  

It is really hard to believe all the great artists I’ve heard and met at the festival. There were a lot of great fans that I met as well from various parts of the country. If you have not made it out to this festival yet, I would highly recommend doing so next year. It really is one of my favorites!