Smooth Jazz for Scholars 2009 April 17, 2009
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Personal.add a comment
As I posted two months ago today, Jay Rowe’s 7th annual Smooth Jazz for Scholars concert will take place on Saturday, May 16. The concert will be held at the Joseph A. Foran High School Auditorium in Milford, Connecticut, and will benefit the Milford Public School’s Music Department.
In addition to guitarits Chieli Minucci and Ken Navarro, and saxophonists Nelson Rangell and Marion Meadows, the concert will also feature guitarist Rohn Lawrence, drummer Dave Livolsi, bass guitarist Trever Somerville, and vocalist Lamone Andrews. All four musicians are part of Best Kept Secret, Jay’s band.
Tickets are $40 each and can be purchased here. And for more information on SJFS, visit Jay’s website.
7/12 UPDATE: A recap of the concert can be found here.
Spring 2009 pre-order update #1 April 8, 2009
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Personal, Sports.add a comment
Paul Brown & Marc Antoine’s collaborative CD arrived in my front porch yesterday. As I type this early Wednesday morning, I just finished listening to all ten tracks. I say this for nearly every album I listen to, but it was great.
Next week, Bernie Williams.
Spring 2009 pre-orders April 5, 2009
Posted by Mike C. in Comedy, Jazz, Personal.add a comment
Since it’s now spring, any future pre-order posts will fall under “Spring 2009.” So, here are the CDs I have to look forward to in the days and weeks ahead:
Paul Brown & Marc Antoine, “Foreign Exchange” (4/7, this Tuesday)
Joyce Cooling, “Global Cooling” (either 4/7 or 4/10; currently not in stock on Amazon)
Bernie Williams, “Moving Forward” (4/14)
Down to the Bone, “Future Boogie” (4/21)
Marion Meadows, “Secrets” (4/28)
Spyro Gyra, “Down The Wire” (4/28)
Richard Elliot, “Rock Steady” (5/19)
If I pre-order or buy anything else, I’ll post about it. And of course, I’ll post when an album arrives and again after I’ve heard it.
I also bought “Dennis Miller: The HBO Comedy Specials” on DVD, which was released two weeks ago. I should be getting that in a day or two.
4/13 UPDATE: “Global Cooling” is now available on Amazon through Group 2 Productions. Amazon also lists “Rock Steady” as coming out next Tuesday, April 21, rather than May 19. We’ll see if that holds up.
4/17 UPDATE: It didn’t hold up. The listed release date is back to May 19.
Winter pre-order update #5 March 31, 2009
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Personal.add a comment
Gregg Karukas’ “GK” arrived today. I’m ripping it to the computer right now. It features two tracks with a “Contractually Anonymous” saxophonist. I think I know who it is, but I won’t speculate here.
Meanwhile, I’m loving Chuck Loeb’s “Between 2 Worlds.” “Let’s Go” is my favorite track so far. I like it as much as I did in my last post. Equally enjoyable are “Mittens,” “Let’s Play,” and the title track.
Winter pre-order update #4 March 25, 2009
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Chuck Loeb’s “Between Two Worlds” arrived 90 minutes ago. I’m about to rip the tracks to one of my external hard drives and I’ll get to listening to it tomorrow. I have heard the first track – “Let’s Go” – while filling out track information before ripping. It sounds great. Who needs keyboards? (It’s a keyboard-less album.) And if that’s any indication, I’m going to like this album.
Winter pre-order update #3 March 12, 2009
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Personal.add a comment
The Rippingtons’ “Modern Art” arrived in the mail on Tuesday and I spent yesterday and today listening to it. I love it! “Jet Set” is my favorite track so far.
Paul Jackson Jr.’s and Darren Rahn’s albums were good, too.
Winter pre-order update #2 March 1, 2009
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Personal.add a comment
I made three more pre-orders today.
Gregg Karukas, “GK” (3/31)
Marc Antoine & Paul Brown, “Foreign Exchange” (4/7)
Bernie Williams, “Moving Forward” (4/14)
I also ordered saxophonist Darren Rahn’s “Talk of the Town” album, which was released two weeks ago, and guitarist Paul Jackson Jr.’s “Lay It Back,” which came out on October 7.
I listened to Jeff Kashiwa’s “Back In The Day” and Pieces Of A Dream’s “Soul Intent” Wednesday through Friday. They were fairly good, but as always, it’ll take a few more plays for the songs to grow on me.
Winter pre-order update #1 February 25, 2009
Posted by Mike C. in Animation, Football, Jazz, Personal, Sports, TV.add a comment
The first round of pre-orders came out yesterday (Tuesday) and promptly arrived at my front porch. The items were:
Jeff Kashiwa, “Back In The Day”
Pieces Of A Dream, “Soul Intent”
“Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder” (DVD)
“Super Bowl XLIII Champions: Pittsburgh Steelers” (DVD)
After bringing everything in, opening the packaging, and unwrapping, I ripped (loaded CD tracks from) “Back In The Day” and “Soul Intent” to my computer. I didn’t get to watch the “Futurama” DVD or listen to the CDs, but I did watch the Super Bowl XLIII DVD. It was in widescreen format, which was zoomed by my HD upconversion DVD player. That’s why I love the player.
I’ll get around to CD listening in the next day or so.
Smooth Jazz for Scholars 2009 date/lineup February 17, 2009
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Music, Personal.add a comment
I spoke to Jay Rowe on the phone yesterday and he confirmed the lineup for this year’s Smooth Jazz for Scholars concert in Milford, Connecticut, along with the date.
The concert is set for Saturday, May 16. The headliners are Chieli Minucci, Ken Navarro, Nelson Rangell, and Marion Meadows, who grew up in nearby New Haven. They’ll be performing with Jay and his band, Best Kept Secret. Besides Jay, the band consists of Rohn (pronounced “Ron”) Lawrence on guitar, Dave Livolsi on bass, and Trever Somerville on drums.
This will be my third year in attendance. I’ll post a recap within a week afterward.
Meanwhile, click here, here, and here for a look back at last year’s concert, and here for Mary Bentley’s review in last June’s SmoothViews.
7/18 UPDATE: A recap of this year’s concert can be found here.
Winter pre-orders February 9, 2009
Posted by Mike C. in Animation, Football, Jazz, Personal, Sports, TV.add a comment
It’s time for another round of pre-orders on Amazon.com. The pre-ordered items range from jazz CDs to animation DVDs to a Super Bowl Champions DVD. Here’s the list:
Jeff Kashiwa, “Back In The Day” (2/24)
Pieces Of A Dream, “Soul Intent” (2/24)
“Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder” (DVD) (2/24)
“Super Bowl XLIII Champions: Pittsburgh Steelers” (DVD) (2/24)
Rippingtons, “Modern Art” (3/10)
Down to the Bone, “Future Boogie” (4/21)
Check back in the coming weeks for pre-order updates, which will come when the items arrive or if I pre-order anything else.
2/10 UPDATE: Chuck Loeb, “Between 2 Worlds” (3/24)
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