Award
Nominees Showcase Hamilton's Mardis Gras August
2, 2005 - Hamilton's Mardis Gras Festival will take place Saturday August 6th
to Sunday August 7th, and will feature performances by Demo
Cates, Liberty Silver, and Chris
Smith, and The Downtown Oakville Jazz festival runs concurrently on Friday,
August 5th to Saturday August 6th along Lakeshore Rd in Oakville, Ontario(www.oakvillejazz.com).
On August 18th, 2005 Wave 94.7 will
welcome smooth jazz star Jesse Cook to the
Toronto Zoo (details
are available at The Wave's website). Smith, Silver and Cates were all nominees
as the first Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards in April of this year. -
by Cheryl Philips
Review
- Demo Cates - Smooth..Try Something New February
26, 2005 - Here's the deal. Imagine Kim Waters blended with Jackie Wilson and
a little bit of Smokey Robinson. Next throw in some influences dating back to
that time in the seventies when soul and funk intermingled with jazz, hard rock
and psychedelia. Getting the picture? Now, finally, add an acting career that
extends from Broadway to top rated TV shows.More
Liz
Rivard's Recap of The National Jazz Awards February
26, 2004 - It was a cloudy, chilly night in Toronto for the National Jazz Awards
but the stars shone through, brighter than ever. The 2004 National Jazz Awards,
held at the Winter Garden Theatre last night featured performances by some of
Canada's best, and most loved jazz artists, like Holly
Cole, Peter Appleyard, Lorraine Desmarais and Warren
Hill, to name a few.
The night also featured the introduction of the Smooth Jazz Musician of the Year,
sponsored by the Wave 94.7 fm. Nominees
were Eddie Bullen, Warren
Hill, Brian Hughes, Demo
Cates and Nura. Click
here to see the pictures from the National Smooth Jazz Awards.
Review
- Demo Cates - I'll Try Something New October
10, 2003 - Being an old Motown song, more specifically a Smokey
Robinson tune you know that this one has been tried by many. Of course, Smokey
and the Miracles did it in the early sixties and there were covers by the Temptations
and Diana Ross and the Supremes. So why would Toronto's Saxophonist/vocalist Demo
Cates even try this one when it's already been done to perfection? Probably
for the same reason Michael McDonald
recorded his Motown album because they can pull it off! Covering a Motown tune
is kind of like doing a Beatles cover, it's not the Holy Grail but it can make
you look foolish if you don't have the chops. Read
more of the review.
Linda
Nash introduces Tidal Wave Records October
9, 2003 - It's sometimes said that being a Jazz musician can be a thankless job
especially if you were playing a few decades ago. If you think playing the music
was tough selling it was even harder. Thankfully, the Jazz and Smooth Jazz worlds
are slowly becoming more marketable by the season but we have some unsung heroes
in the format to thank, people like Linda Nash. In the seventies as a promo rep
for the now legendary CTI label Nash was the one knocking on the sometimes not
so friendly doors trying to get the music heard. Fast forward to 2003 and Nash
still has a passion for the genres of Jazz and Smooth Jazz and this time around
she's the boss having started her own label Tidal Wave Records. We chatted with
Nash via phone in September 2003.
Read the interview. Demo
Cates Releases Single On New Canadian Smooth Jazz Label August
26, 2003 - Toronto singer and Sax wiz Demo Cates is back with the new vocal single
"I'll Try Something New," the old Smokey Robinson hit. It's the first
release from Tidal Wave records, a new Canadian Smooth Jazz label created by one
of the marketing innovators of the genre in Canada, Linda Nash. She worked with
the very popular CTI records in the early seventies laying the groundwork for
the rise of commercial Jazz via acts like George Benson and Grover Washington
Jr. Nash told Smooth Jazz Now, "Demo is an extremely polished singer songwriter,
saxophonist and his moving to Canada has definitely been the United States' loss
and Canada's gain." Cates is originally from Detroit. Nash says Cates first
album on Tidal Wave will be released in the next two months. Titled "Finding
Demo" Nash says "We went with a little inspiration from the Pixar mega
hit "Finding Nemo" so new fans who don't him won't call him demo as
in demo tape, it's actually Demo as in Nemo." The new single arranged by
Toronto artist/writer/producer Eddie
Bullen is two parts can-con. Tidal Wave records a division of Crossover music
Inc. is the first all Smooth Jazz label in Canada. For product contact Linda Nash
at nashthehitmaker@cs.com
Want
to volunteer for 'Smooth Jazz Now' email us here
August
2, 2005 - Hamilton's Mardis Gras Festival will take place Saturday August 6th
to Sunday August 7th, and will feature performances by 
February
26, 2005 - Here's the deal. Imagine Kim Waters blended with Jackie Wilson and
a little bit of Smokey Robinson. Next throw in some influences dating back to
that time in the seventies when soul and funk intermingled with jazz, hard rock
and psychedelia. Getting the picture? Now, finally, add an acting career that
extends from Broadway to top rated TV shows.
October
10, 2003 - Being an old Motown song, more specifically a 
October
9, 2003 - It's sometimes said that being a Jazz musician can be a thankless job
especially if you were playing a few decades ago. If you think playing the music
was tough selling it was even harder. Thankfully, the Jazz and Smooth Jazz worlds
are slowly becoming more marketable by the season but we have some unsung heroes
in the format to thank, people like Linda Nash. In the seventies as a promo rep
for the now legendary CTI label Nash was the one knocking on the sometimes not
so friendly doors trying to get the music heard. Fast forward to 2003 and Nash
still has a passion for the genres of Jazz and Smooth Jazz and this time around
she's the boss having started her own label Tidal Wave Records. We chatted with
Nash via phone in September 2003.
