Acoustic Alchemy is a British contemporary instrumental and smooth jazz band formed in England in the early 1980s (c. 1981), originally fronted by acoustic guitarists Nick Webb and Simon James. The band is currently fronted by Greg Carmichael and Miles Gilderdale. During the 1980s, there was little grateful audience for this form of music in the UK, and the big players in the genre were all American.
Lou Donaldson (born 1926) is a jazz alto saxophonist, born in Badin, North Carolina. He is best known for his soulful, bluesy approach to the alto saxophone, although in his formative years he was, as many were of the bebop era, heavily influenced by Charlie Parker's improvisational approach. His first recordings were with bop emissaries Milt Jackson and Thelonious Monk in 1952, and lead several small groups with other jazz luminaries such as trumpeter Blue Mitchell, pianist Horace Silver and the indomitable skinsman, Art Blakey.
Jaleel Shaw, alto saxophonist grew up in Philadelphia, PA, where he was surrounded by a enormous family of jazz musicians that Philadelphia has to offer. He studied with many of the strong jazz educators there, including Rayburn Wright, Robert Landham, and Lovette Hines – who is largely responsible for having nurtured the talents of Bassist Christian McBride, Organist Joey Defrancesco, Drummers Johnathan Blake & Ari Hoenig, Vocalist Bilal, Trumpeter Daud El-Bakara, and keyboardist Kamal of The Roots through his youth ensemble that is still going strong today.
The latest smooth jazz vocalist to hit the scene is Maxine Hardcastle. Yes, she is the daughter of British smooth jazz composer Paul Hardcastle. Maxine sings and has co-writing credits on three song on Hardcastle 4. They are
Ann Sexton was born 5th February 1950 in Greenville, South Carolina, U.S.A. Songwriter David Lee spotted Ann in 1971, although not a well known artist, Ann recorded a series of great soul records for the legendary Nashville soul DJ and label-owner John R (John Richbourg). Her best known songs, "You've Been Gone Too Long" and "You're Losing Me", were, and still are, great favourites on the Northern Soul scene.
With a voice that can caress or confront, embrace or exhort, Gregory Porter exhibits such an incredible degree of vocal mastery that no less a jazz luminary than Wynton Marsalis has gone on record to call him "a fantastic young singer," which makes the fact that Water (out now from Motema Music) is his recording debut even more impressive. A debut release it may be, yet Water flows with a sense of timelessness that reflects the seasoned talents of the giants of blues, gospel and soul that have influenced Porter throughout his career.
There are at least two artists that share the name Joyride: 1) A band from Indonesia 2) A punk band from California 3) Rock'n'roll-alternative band from Slovakia
Earth, Wind & Fire is an American funk band, formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1969. Led by Maurice White, they are best known for their hits of the 1970s, among them "After the Love Has Gone", "September," "Reasons," "Fantasy" and "Shining Star." Earth, Wind & Fire became the first black performers to headline throughout the world without an opening act, to receive Madison Square Garden's Gold Ticket Award for selling more than 100,000 tickets and to receive the Columbia Records Crystal Globe Award for selling more than five million albums in foreign markets.
