Mindi Abair Opening For Michael Bolton Summer Tour

Smooth Jazz saxophonist Mindi Abair will be playing to a whole-new audience this summer when she opens for vocalist Michael Bolton. One date has been set so far, July 25 in Costa Mesa, California, but many more are expected to be announced soon.

Although Abair is a headlining act in her own right, the saxophonist is not adverse to touring with stars in other genres to get her music heard. In 2004, she toured with pop and classical vocalist Josh Groban. Bolton, best known for songs such as “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You,” “When a Man Loves a Woman” and "Love Is a Wonderful Thing,” released a new CD on May 23 called Bolton Swings Sinatra.

Abair's new CD, Life Less Ordinary, includes the smooth jazz hit “True Blue.”

Rippingtons Finish 20th Anniversary CD

Guitarist Russ Freeman, leader of the Rippingtons, has finished recorded a special CD that marks the band’s 20^th anniversary. The 11-song CD, called The Rippingtons 20^th Anniversary, features nine new compositions written by Freeman and one, "Anything,” written and performed by Brian McKnight with Freeman's accompaniment on classical guitar.

The CD also features a nine-song medley of some of the band’s most popular songs called “20^th Anniversary Tribute,” with vocals by Jeffrey Osborne and solos by the original performers on the songs. The medley’s songs include “Moonlighting,” “Black Diamond,” “Weekend in Monaco,” “I’ll Be Around” and others.

Guest artists include those who have performed on Rippingtons CDs in the past, including David Benoit, Dave Koz, Steve Reid, Gregg Karukas, Brandon Fields, Kirk Whalum and Paul Taylor.

The CD will be released July 25 on Freeman's Peak Records.

The Rippingtons are now finalizing plans for a 20^th anniversary reunion tour this summer, with Reid and Jeff Kashiwa already on board.

The Rippingtons 20th Anniversary

City of Angels (Russ Freeman)
Celebrate (Russ Freeman)
Costa Del Sol (Russ Freeman/Yaredt Leon)
Bingo Jingo (Russ Freeman)
Eternity (Russ Freeman)
Six Four (Russ Freeman)
Rainbow (Russ Freeman)
Twenty (Russ Freeman)
Anything (Brian McKnight)
A Kiss Under the Moonlight (Russ Freeman)
20^th Anniversary Tribute: Moonlighting/Black Diamond/Weekend in Monaco/Welcome to the St. James Club/Morocco/Tourist in Paradise/I'll Be Around/Curves Ahead/Brave New World (Russ Freeman/Thomas Bell/Phil Hurtt)

Chieli MInucci Drops Solo Projects For Special EFX

There will be no more solo albums from guitarist Chieli Minucci. But there’s no reason to despair. Minucci and his record label, Shanachie, have simply decided that from now all of his music will be released under the moniker Chieli Minucci With Special EFX.

The consolidation of names makes sense, Minucci says. When Special EFX was formed more than 20 years ago, it was a collaboration between Minucci and percussionist George Jinda, who died in January 2002. The duo broke up 10 years ago, but Minucci continued to release Special EFX CDs on his own in addition to his solo projects. Since that time, Minucci has basically followed a Special EFX with a solo project, even though Minucci has for the most part been the focus of the music.

It all got to be confusing, Minucci admits, and his solo concerts would often be booked as Special EFX shows.

"I have six solo CDs and Special EFX has 17," Minucci says. "We’ve been around doing stuff for awhile. But it kind of confused what we were doing with the recordings and the bookings, and it feels like now we’re reconciling everything. The live shows have been called Chieli Minucci With Special EFX for a while now. And now we’re going to do a record under the same name. The thing is, how much of a chameleon can you be, right? I mean, I try to make the Special EFX and the Chieli records sound different, but there’s always a few songs that sound like they could be the same record, you know. I couldn't do it anymore."

Brian Culbertson Recording Xmas CD, Creating Tour

Dave Koz may have cancelled his annual Christmas tour, but Brian Culbertson is happy to fill the void.

Culbertson has confirmed that he will indeed embark on the first-ever Brian Culbertson Christmas Concert Tour with Bobby Caldwell, Warren Hill, Eric Darius and Ray Parker, Jr.

The tour comes about because just last week Culbertson entered the studio to create holiday music for his first-ever Christmas CD that will be released by GRP on November 7. He has already recorded what he calls a funky arrangement of “Ruldoph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” with keyboarder and composer Jeff Lorber.

To add a warm feel, Culbertson says CD will have real musicians with real drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and horns instead of computerized music.

Culbertson's latest smooth jazz hit, “Let’s Get Started,” is currently in the Top 5 on Radio & Records' smooth jazz chart.

Lee Ritenour's New CD: Smoke n' Mirrors

Great news from guitarist Lee Ritenour.

He has just wrapped up production on a brand-new CD called Smoke n’ Mirrors, which will be his first released for Peak Records. The new CD is his first of all-new material since “Rit’s House” in 2002. Ritenour says the upcoming CD is influenced by World Music and has numerous featured musicians from Brazil and Africa.

Although most of the tunes will be instrumentals, Ritenour is featuring a 21-year-old female artist from South Africa named Zamajobe for one track. Other vocal songs have the female singer Joyce and 33-year-old Daniel Jobim, the grandson of the late Antonio Carlos Jobim. It was in 1997 that Ritenour released the first of his popular Twist Of CDs called A Twist of Jobim, that featured numerous smooth jazz stars.

Smoke n’ Mirrors will be available this summer.

Chris Standring CD Cover Banned By Retail Outlets

Guitarist Chris Standring wanted something hot and eye-catching on the cover of his fourth solo CD, Soul Express. Now it turns out that the cover was just too hot to handle.

Standring received word that some retail outlets, when getting a glimpse of what he had it mind, said they would not carry the CD unless it was redone. Why the fuss? Well, instead of putting just another image of himself on the cover, Standring decided on a provocative image of model Holly Weber with only a strategically placed hand and a slim belt between her and nudity.

Standring's record label, Trippin N Rhythm, has now cropped the CD cover photo to the satisfaction of retail. If you want to see what the current CD cover looks like, you can go to chrisstandring.com. There, you can also visit Standring's Backstage Area to see the full image that was rejected. The image is also pictured here.

Soul Express – which features the hot smooth jazz hit “I Can’t Help Myself,” will be available on May 9. Standring will be joining keyboardist Jeff Lorber and vocalist Jody Watley on the Soul Express tour this summer.