The Best of 2013

We counted down my favourite tracks of the year on the live show today. Here they are:

1. Jeff Golub - How Long
2. Boney James - Batucada (The Beat)
3. Dave Koz & Friends - Got To Get You Into My Life
4. Maysa (featuring Bluey) - Good Morning Sunrise
5. BWB - Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)
6. Bluey - Got To Let My Feelings Show
7. Brian Simpson (featuring Jonathan Butler) - Wherever You Go
8. Oli Silk (featuring Paul Brown) - Larson's Blues
9. George Benson - Smile
10. Elan Trotman - Master Blaster (Jammin')
11. Dave Koz & Friends - Hot Fun In The Summertime
12. Brian Simpson (featuring Dave Koz) - Girl From Ipanema
13. BWB - The Way You Make Me Feel
14. Steve Cole - With You All The Way
15. Bluey - Take A Chance On Me
16. Oli Silk (featuring Chuck Loeb) - The Prestige
17. Chuck Loeb - Silhouette
18. Brian Simpson - Just What You Need
19. Jessy J - Listen To The Groove
20. Paul Hardcastle - No Stress At All
21. Michael Buble - Young At Heart
22. Oli Silk - At Your Service
23. Boney James - Powerhouse
24. Brian Simpson - Emerald City
25. Paul Hardcastle - Summer Love
26. Andrew Smith - Call Me
27. Blake Aaron - Groove-O-Matic
28. Michael Buble - Nevertheless (I'm In Love With You)
29. Oli Silk (featuring Kirsten Joy) - Like A Whisper
30. Najee - Champs-Élysées

Usual caveat, in that these are not compiled from sales or airplay. They are just the best smooth jazz tracks of 2013, as I see it. Happy New Year, JK

Steve Oliver Coming to the UK in February

When we first got going with the live smooth jazz at Pizza Express back in 2009, Steve Oliver was one of our first visitors. He was part of a triple bill with Michael Lington and Bob Baldwin. It was a great show, giving people the opportunity to see three great names from the world of smooth jazz, but meant that each man only got a chance to play about 4 of their songs.

So It's great that Steve will be visiting us again in early 2014 as it will give his fans a chance to see more of this energetic guitarist in action. Seats will be bookable some time next week so visit the Smooth Jazz Events UK website and take the opportunity to sign up for the mailing list so that you get the heads up the moment the Steve Oliver seats go on sale.

Euge Groove UK Tour Starts Friday

Euge Groove hits British soil this week. And the music flows from Friday night, starting at The Pizza Express Jazz Club in London and going on to Manchester, Maidstone and Milton Keynes.

Quite a few dates are now sold out, but there are still plenty of seats left, so head on over to Smoothjazzevents.co.uk and bag yourself a place to catch Euge in action.

Gerald Albright. All Shows Now On Sale

It's great to be able to announce the return of Gerald Albright next year. Gerald proved a huge hit on his first solo UK visit earlier in 2013 so we're expecting a huge demand for the return trip.

Tickets are now on sale for all of the Pizza Express shows, and this time around he's taking a trip up the M1 to The Stables in Milton Keynes as well. Gerald spent a long time touring with Phil Collins and Phil's fans turned out in force back in January to catch a chance of seeing him solo. We're expecting that they'll want to catch him in 2014 too, so please book early to make sure that you don't miss out on Gerald's shows.

For a full list of dates and prices visit www.smoothjazzevents.co.uk.

Oli Silk at Pizza Express Jazz Club in Two Weeks

It's nearly time for Oli Silk's annual Pizza Express weekend. This year he has a brand new CD out, entitled "Razor Sharp Brit", and his line up is even bigger than last year, with the addition of Ed Barker on sax, who proved a bit hit on the Dave Koz Cruise last month.

Great news that vocalists Kirsten Joy and Hollie Petrie will be making a welcome return this year. Check out the video of  Didn't Know About Love from last year's show to see the girls in action.

There's now only limited availability on the Saturday early show and the Sunday night performance, so book now to avoid disappointment.

Euge Groove UK Tour. All Venues Now On Sale

It's nearly time for the annual visit from the one and only Euge Groove.

It's the third year running and Euge will be playing in London, Manchester, Maidstone and Milton Keynes. Not surprisingly, ticket sales are on fire and the Saturday early show in London is three quarters full after only a few days.

So make sure you stake your place before it's too late. Euge is a great showman and you'll kick yourself if you miss him.

All dates and booking links can be found on the Smooth Jazz Events website.

Smooth Jazz Top 20 Album Chart

After a number of requests from artists, listeners and the record companies and promoters too, I have started a monthly album chart based on the airplay given to current CDs on the stations that I am responsible for programming.

It is actually long overdue, since neither SKY.FM or JAZZRADIO.com provide airplay information to any other chart compilers, it was time to provide some kind of listing that related to the smooth jazz world as we see it. Especially given that we broadcast to more smooth jazz fans than any other Internet service.

So please check out the Top 20 Airplay Album Chart and perhaps bookmark it, as it will be updated at the beginning of each month.

Dave Koz & Friends Now On Sale

Tickets are now on sale for the Smooth Jazz Spectacular with Dave Koz, Peter White and Mindi Abair on

October 5th at Cadogan Hall in Chelsea. It's the biggest smooth jazz event in almost a decade for the UK and initial sales were so good that almost 15% of the capacity sold in a few days.

Seats are allocated on a first come first served basis, so you're encouraged to book early for the best positions.

There's a great seat finder facility at The Cadogan Hall website which shows you the view of the stage from your intended seat.

Tickets are priced at £45 (Stalls) and £35 (Gallery), so stake your place now. Details at http://www.smoothjazzevents.co.uk

Lots of live smooth jazz coming to London

Is London the new smooth jazz capital of the World? Well with the ever growing list of artists visiting you might wonder.

The forthcoming shows with Dave Koz and Brian Simpson are pretty much sold out. If you don't yet have a seat there are some left at the Stables in Milton Keynes, but you really do need to shake a leg. Although all is not completely lost as Dave will return in October for a London Smooth Jazz Spectacular along with Peter White and Mindi Abair.

Other dates now on sale are for Fourplay's Chuck Loeb at Pizza Express Jazz Club in August and Rick Braun will also be returning there in September too.

Details and booking links are at www.smoothjazzevents.co.uk along with an opportunity to sign up for the newsletter so that you'll always be the first to know when tickets go on sale.

The Sunday Live Show

It's been a long time since we mentioned the Sunday Live Show on here.

We're about to go live, complete with multiple video cameras and a private chat room (for live show viewers only). So why not join us.

Head on over to www.skyfmliveshow.com and join in with our global community. We'll see you at the top of the hour.

Dave Koz in The UK. All Dates On Sale

Mr Showbiz returns to the UK in July for a mini tour lasting a week. He'll be accompanied by Music director Brian Simpson and will be playing a number of dates at Pizza Express Jazz Club including a Saturday lunchtime performance, and one night at the Stables in Milton Keynes.

Tickets are already on sale (and already sold out for the Saturday night Pizza Express show!). There's limited availability now on a number of the shows, so hurry on over to www.smoothjazzevents.co.uk right now and make sure of your seat.

Marc Antoine in London

Tickets are now available for Marc Antoine's three night residency at Pizza Express from Thursday 6th to Saturday 8th June.

The Saturday night performance is already half sold out, so please be quick if you don't want to miss out.

Marc will be bringing his CD "Guitar destiny" with him and will be pleased to sign a copy for you.

Full details and booking links can be found at Smoothjazzevents.co.uk or alternatively you can call the Pizza Express Bookings Line on 0207 439 4962 to book over the phone.

Brian Culbertson Seats On Sale

It's always great to see Brian Culbertson returning to London. And tickets went on sale recently for his scheduled 11 shows in 9 days at Pizza Express Jazz Club in June.

Needless to say the bookings have been going crazy and already there are a few nights that are nearly sold out.

There are still seats available for every performance at the time of writing but that situation is likely to change very quickly so book now to be sure of a place.

Seats now available for Richard Elliot

Richard Elliot returns for his fourth year in a row to play Pizza Express Jazz Club from the 28th February.

This time he's bringing two guys from his US line up with him. Namely Ron Reinhardt on keyboards and Third Richardson on drums.

Richard always puts on a great show and inevitably sells out. The seats went on sale today so to be sure of a good position get yourself over to Smooth Jazz Events right now and secure your place.