Jonathan Butler Goes Home again with CD & Bonus DVD : Smooth Jazz Now :

Smooth Jazz Christmas 2005
September 28, 2005 - Smooth Jazz artists Dave Koz, Brian McKnight, Chaka Khan, Eric Marienthal, Vanessa Williams, Norman Brown, David Benoit, Toni Braxton, Rick Braun, and Gerald Albright, will all contribute to this holiday seasons "A Charlie Brown Christmas Tribute". The album is due October 4th from Peak Records.

Anita Baker will also release a holiday album with Blue Note. "Christmas Fantasy" hits stores October 4th, and will feature appearances by Joe Sample, Larry Carlton, Nathan East, Ricky Lawson, and all four members of The Yellowjackets. Barry Eastman, who co-produces here, also wrote three original tunes for the outing.

Diana Krall will deliver her first Christmas album in 2005. The outing, "Christmas Songs" will be released on Verve November 1st.

Dave Koz and friends, David Benoit, Patti Austin, and Jonathan Butler will be hitting the road on "A Smooth Jazz Christmas Tour". Dates are available on www.davekoz.com - by Cheryl Philips

No Luck For "Artist of the Month" Jonathan Butler Just Good Decisions
July 1, 2005 - Jonathan Butler does not believe in luck. "I think we must make good decisions in life and thankfully we're more discerning when we get older and blessed as we go along," says the guitarist. He told Smooth Jazz Now that we all make our own luck "If you keep doing good things and being a great person it works out," says Butler who is our "Artist of the Month" for July. Growing up the youngest of twelve children under the grips of Apartheid in South Africa Butler made a conscious decision a long time ago to make the best of every situation, "I live my life celebrating everyday and every moment because there's been too much pain," says Butler. "It's a conscious decision to say in spite of what I've been through in my life, in spite of how I grew up and all those obstacles that I've gone through I've still been given this incredible gift which is music which takes me to a whole other place." Butler's new CD simply titled "Jonathan" is his first on Rendezvous Records and features the hit remake of James Taylor's "Fire and Rain." Read our new interview with Jonathan Butler. - by John Beaudin

Jonathan Butler To Help Charity at R&R Convention
June 17, 2005 - Jonathan Butler will appear on Thursday June 23rd at the annual R&R Convention. This special appearance will be made to discuss his work on the Board of Directors of a charity that is near and dear to his heart. "Acres of Love" is a non-profit South African organization which cares for abandoned HIV positive infants and children. In order to spread word of the charity's work, and raise funds for the cause, Butler will perform a concert billed as "The Sunset Serenade" in his homeland of South Africa. He also plans to perform numerous other benefit concerts for the organization in the coming months. - by Cheryl Philips

Dave Koz Welcomes Jonathan Butler To Rendezvous
March 31, 2005 - When we spoke to Dave Koz a few weeks ago he quickly segued the conversation to one of his true heroes - Jonathan Butler. The guitarist has now signed to Rendezvous Records, "What we are very excited about is the new Jonathan Butler CD which comes out in May," says the saxophonist. "This is a return to form; it's largely a guitar record. Here's a guy who has so many things that he can do so well but this record is about his reconnection with the acoustic guitar. It's such a celebratory jubilant record and I'm so excited about being involved with it. He's one of my favorite artists of all time." Koz ads the album's positive energy may be the key to its success, "Well, it's full with life and filled with love so we were very excited and very honored to be in business with Jonathan and release his records. We have a big job in front of us because we want to impress him, Koz says with a nervous laugh. "This is one of those times where the music just speaks for itself." Check out our new Dave Koz Interview from March 2005.

Smooth Jazz Goes Cruising Crazy

February 21, 2005 - Seems like everyone is cruising these days. Smooth Jazz Cruise pioneer Warren Hill has just completed his second sell out full charter while, almost at the same time, Bob James was sailing on a musical journey out of San Diego. Later in the year Rick Braun is leading a top-notch line up on a seven-day trip out of Galveston and Warren Hill's 2006 event is already proving to be a big early seller. Sandwiched among all this is the "Dave Koz & Friends At Sea" cruise that sails from San Diego on November 5 and is being managed by the same organization that made Hills last event such a success. Calling at destinations that include Mazatlan, Cabo San Lucas and Peurto Vallarta, Koz has assembled a line up every bit as good as one would expect from this master of live Smooth Jazz. Artists already confirmed, and who performed on the Hill cruise, are Wayman Tisdale, Kirk Whalum, Jeff Golub, and Jonathan Butler. Joining them will be Marc Antoine, Patti Austin, David Benoit, Chris Botti, George Duke, Jeffrey Osborne and Praful. It's a line up that promises to produce seven days of high quality Smooth Jazz. - By Denis Poole

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