Best of 2011

Here's a list of the best smooth jazz songs from the releases of 2011. Once again a reminder that these are not compiled from any sales charts or the suchlike, but these are the top 25 songs according to me. Album of the year has to go to Euge Groove for S7ven Large:

1. The Rippingtons – Bandol
2. Euge Groove – S7ven Large
3. Player A – Coming On
4. Boney James – Contact
5. Larry Carlton – I’ll Be Around
6. Richard Elliot - Panamera
7. Jessy J – Meant To Be
8. Acoustic Alchemy – Marcus
9. Euge Groove – Love Wont Let Me Wait
10. Neamen Lyles – Who Dat
11. Paul Hardcastle – Night Time Hustle
12. George Benson – My Cherie Amour
13. Euge Groove – To The Nines
14. Craig Sharmat – Something About You
15. Cindy Bradley – You Don’t Know What Love Is
16. Kool & Klean – I Smile
17. Richard Elliot – Metropolis
18. Neamen Lyles – Remember The Time
19. Euge Groove – Track 01
20. Acoustic Alchemy – Swamp Top
21. Boney James - Spin
22. Kim Waters - Heart Seeker
23. Maysa – Have Sweet Dreams
24. Jessy J with Paul Brown – Remember The Night
25. Nick Colionne – Windy Dance

And just in case you missed the rundown on the Live Show today. Here's the archive of it.

The SKY fm Smooth Jazz Sunday Live Show on livestream.com.

Oli Silk at Pizza Express Jazz Club This Weekend.

Only 4 days to go...




Book Now! SKY.fm/events

Here's one from Euge.

Recorded at Pizza Express.



Oli Silk next weekend.

http://www.sky.fm/events

Euge Groove currently rocking the UK

We're about midway through the UK mini tour with Euge Groove. Since last Friday he's been seriously rocking the house at Pizza Express Jazz club. There are still two nights to go there and then it's on to the Stables in Milton Keynes for Friday Night.

If you've not caught Euge's show yet then you should make a date for one of the remaining nights before you miss out.

Details and booking links on the SKY fm Events page.

Smooth Jazz 24/7 now live!

It's Tuesday. Launch day! And SKY fm's newest channel is on the air. Smooth Jazz 24/7 is now broadcasting and with an impressive line up of presenters.

And today we have two special guest presenters as well, so tune in at 1pm Eastern/10am Pacific to hear Oli Silk's first ever stint as a radio jock. And at 3pm Eastern/12 Noon Pacific Dave Koz takes the chair for two hours.

Links for listening are available on the SKY.fm Homepage, and also on the Smooth Jazz 24/7 website.

You can also get the new channel and all of your smooth jazz radio favorites on your iPhone, Android or Blackberry with the Sky.fm Apps.

Press Release - Announcing a new radio channel at SKY fm

On Tuesday June 7th SKY.fm will launch a fourth smooth jazz channel to its existing line-up, entitled Smooth Jazz 247.

The playlist will be a compilation of the best material from Sky's other three smooth jazz channels, but with the addition of presenters throughout much of the day, including guest artist presenters from the world of smooth jazz.

SKY are hoping that the new channel will appeal to people who have lost their local smooth jazz station in the last year or two. The addition of presenters should provide a station sound that will be more familiar to US based terrestrial smooth jazz radio fans.

Many of the industry's top names have kindly provided some liners to help make things sound a little more personal than traditional Internet Radio fare and the whole delivery is designed to be very free flowing.

Expect further announcements over the coming weekend with regard to presenters and line-ups for the coming week. To keep on top of things, please follow the Smooth Jazz 247 Twitter and Facebook pages.

Brian Culbertson Sells Out The UK

Less than a fortnight to go until Brian Culbertson arrives for a series of shows on British soil, and already there's hardly a spare seat to be had at Pizza Express Jazz Club in London. Of all of the shows there, only Monday 9th May now has seats available.

There are still some seats to be had for the performances at The Stables in Milton Keynes on Wednesday 11th May and Pizza Express in Maidstone on Thursday 12th May, but don't delay if you want to catch Brian in the UK. Booking links and availability can be found on the SKY.fm Events Page.

Meanwhile here's an opportunity to capture that Pizza Express atmosphere with a video from the recent visit from Rick Braun & Richard Elliot.

Brian Culbertson Returns To The UK

It was just under a year ago now that Brian Culbertson made his first return to the UK in 10 years at Pizza On The Park in Knightsbridge The venue has since ceased to be, and whilst anyone who attended any of Brian's shows will tell you that he brought the house down, it wasn't literal. It was the end of the lease that saw off Pizza On The Park in the end.

The good news is that Brian is coming back in early May to play at a number of venues including Pizza Express Jazz Club, The Stables in Milton Keynes and Pizza Express in Maidstone. He'll be bringing along his father Jim Culbertson to play trumpet. The rest of the line up is Andy Whitmore (also on keyboards), Marc Parnell (drums), Otto Williams (bass) and Derek Nash (sax).

Tickets are already on sale. In fact, at the time of writing the early show on Saturday at Pizza Express Jazz Club is sold out, and the Friday and Sunday shows aren't far behind. So if you want to be sure of catching Brian's amazing show, then visit The SKY.fm Events Page for details of all dates and venues plus booking links and box office telephone numbers.

Rick Braun & Richard Elliot In The UK

There's only a week to go now until Rick Braun and Richard Elliot return to rock the UK for a 7 day mini tour. Last year's visit was a jaw dropping exprerience so if you missed it then you should definitely make a date for this time around.

The guys start at Pizza Express Jazz Club in London on Thursday March 3rd, and continue for another 6 shows in 5 nights until Tuesday 8th March. They finish up on Thursday 10th March at The Stables in Milton Keynes.

Seats are all on sale now and can be booked through The SKY fm Events Page. Alternatively you can book for Pizza Express on 020 7439 4962 and for The Stables on 01908 280 800.

Rick & Richard will be joined by Simply Red's Mark Jaimes on guitar, Andy Whitmore on keyboards, Frank Felix on bass and Marc parnell on drums.

Still not convinced? Take a look at a clip from last year...

Marc Antoine & Paul Brown in the UK

Smooth jazz returns to Pizza Express Jazz Club in London tomorrow when Paul Brown and Marc Antoine take up residency for 5 nights.

They started out at the Maidstone branch of Pizza Express last weekend and continue with six shows (2 on Saturday) at the London Jazz Club.

Joining them will be Oli Silk on keyboards, Otto Williams on bass and Tony Mason on drums. The Saturday night early show is sold out but currently there are seats available for all other shows. Call 020 7439 4962 or book online here.

The Best of 2010

Here's the list the best songs of 2010, as broadcast on the live show on Sunday 2nd january 2011.

Please note that these are not based on sales or requests. They are my choices. You won't be surprised to learn that I thought that Brian Simpson's "South Beach" was the album of the year:


1.Brian Simpson – Our Love
2.Renato Falaschi (w. Rocco Ventrella) – Waiting In Vain
3.Brian Culbertson – That's Life
4.Jonathan Butler – Make Room For Me
5.Marc Antoine – Dreamer
6.Dave Koz – This Guy's In Love With You
7.Brian Simpson – Lay It On Me
8.Oli Silk – All We Need
9.Fourplay – Love TKO
10.Norman Brown – Thinking About You
11.Brian Simpson – All I Want Is You
12.Oli Silk – Latin Haze
13.Brian Culbertson – It's Time
14.Paul Brown – Sugar Fish
15.Dave Koz – Anything's Possible
16.Brian Simpson – South Beach
17.Marc Antoine - Carmen B
18.Jazzmasters – Touch And Go
19.Paul Brown - Right Back At Ya
20.Jonathan Fritzen – Dance With Me
21.Fourplay – Pineapple Getaway
22.Andrea Razzauti – Black Sand
23.Chris Standring – Stop This Train
24.Jonathan Fritzen – Feeling The Groove
25.Steve Oliver – Global Kiss
26.Nils – Sara Smile
27.Jaared – Dancing With You
28.Jonathan Fritzen – Fly Away
29.Steve Oliver – Fun In The Sun
30.Mezzoforte – Wandering Soul

New Sky Smooth Jazz Wallpaper

There has been a slight change to the Sky FM logo, so here's an update to the desktop wallpaper that was created a while back.

To get it, first click the image on the right to get the wallpaper up on your screen then click again to magnify to full size. Then right click and "Set As Desktop Background" (Firefox), or "Set As Background" (Internet Explorer). One size should fit all.

Chuck Loeb comes to London

Only a week to go until Fourplay's newest recruit comes to play at Pizza Express Jazz Club in London's Soho.

Chuck is to play four shows in two nights. Namely Friday 1st and Saturday 2nd October.

At the time of writing you can still get seats for all shows. However if you want to be there call 020 7439 4962 or book online at Pizza Express Live without delay.

Chuck will be accompanied by Oli Silk on keyboards, Frank Felix on bass and Andrew Small on drums.

Keep up to date with all forthcoming smooth jazz happenings in the UK by visiting the Sky FM Events Page. You can also sign up for our mailing list on that page so that you'll receive an email when tickets become available.

Jeff Golub & Mindi Abair at Pizza Express Jazz Club

Jeff & Mindi start their four night run at Pizza Express in London this evening. Tonight's show is sold out, but there's still some availability for the remaining nights through to Monday (Although the Saturday early performance is filling up quite fast at the time of writing).

To reserve seats either call 020 7439 4962 or visit the Pizza Express Live Website. Tickets are priced from £22.

Jeff Lorber at Pizza Express Jazz Club

A series of six shows in five nights featuring Jeff Lorber at Pizza Express Jazz Club starts tomorrow night.

Unfortunately, at the time of writing the Friday show is sold out. The early show on Saturday is filling up fast too.

So book now to avoid disappointment at the Pizza Express Live Website, or alternatively you can book over the phone on 020 7439 4962.

Jeff is at Pizza Express until Tuesday 10th August. He'll be featuring tracks and signing copies of his new CD, "Now Is The Time". Joining Jeff will be Carl Stanley on Sax, Andrew Small on drums & Orefo Orakwue on bass.

Sky Fm Vocal Smooth Jazz is now on the air

Sky asked me to program a vocal smooth channel last year and I was initially rather daunted by the task. Mainly because the vocal material that gets played on most smooth jazz stations consists mostly of 80's soul artists like Sade, Anita Baker & Freddie Jackson, mixed up with the likes of Phil Collins and Sting. And most of the messages we get from listeners thank us for NOT playing those artists.

So I set about producing a channel that keeps as true to the smooth jazz concept as possible whilst steering clear of the aforementioned stereotypes. It hasn't been easy, but hopefully the result is going to be pleasing to the air.

Sky FM Vocal Smooth Jazz is now live. I hope you like it.

Marc Antoine in London

Only a week to go until Marc Antoine starts his 4 night run at Pizza Express Jazz Club in London's Soho.

Marc will be accompanied by Oli Silk for these shows and both guys have a new track to add to the set. Tickets are selling fast but at the time of writing there's still availability on all nights. Shows start Wednesday 23rd June and run through until Saturday 26th. There are two shows on the Saturday night.

Seats are £25 and can be booked online at PizzaExpresslive.co.uk. Or you can call the Pizza Express Bookings Line on 020 7439 4962.

I'm looking forward to meeting Sky listeners there. Hope you can make it.

Dave Koz UK Tour Is About to Commence

Dave Koz hits UK soil for an 11 day stopover which takes in 4 venues and promises to be something to remember. It all kicks off this Thursday April 1st in Milton Keynes.

Brian Simpson will be on keyboards and guitarist Randy Jacobs is also making the trip over from LA.

Visit The Sky FM Events Page for a full list of dates and links to all of the venues. Please note that some shows are already sold out.

Here's a video from last year at Pizza Express Jazz Club to wet your appetite.

Smooth Jazz in the UK

Although the smooth jazz genre has had a tough ride recently, things in the UK are beginning to look a little brighter. The saturation of Sky FM Smooth Jazz via the Internet and the re-launching of Jazz FM means that awareness of the genre in the UK is definitely on the increase.

The number of artists from the smooth jazz world that are interested in coming to play here is ever growing, and we've been able to spread our wings a little this year and take the Sky FM Smooth Jazz experience to newer pastures. So as well as Pizza Express Jazz Club we'll be visiting The Stables in Milton Keynes, The Forum in Norwich, Pizza On the Park in London's Knightsbridge and Pizza Express in Maidstone.

I've been talking a lot recently with Steve Quirk at Jazz FM and they will be attempting to add venues and dates in Manchester alongside the Sky dates wherever it's logistically possible.

Already confirmed are, Braun & Elliot, Dave Koz, Brian Culbertson, Jeff Lorber, Marc Antoine, Jessy J, Michael Lington, Mindi Abair, Oli Silk & Brian Simpson. And that's all before the end of August.

Be sure to bookmark the Sky FM Events Page, as it's the first place to get all the news on ticket availability and prices. As soon as we have confirmation of further dates and artists we'll update the events list. You can also sign up for our email newsletters on that page too.

Another Smooth Jazz Station Bites the Dust

This week WNWV "The Wave" in Cleveland has flipped formats, pushing their smooth jazz content onto the digital radio platform.

Whilst this is potentially good news for Sky.fm Smooth Jazz, as whenever these changes occur people inevitably turn the Internet for their smooth jazz fix and an awful lot of them find us, the long term outlook is not particularly rosy as the genre itself is now becoming threatened.

The change at WNWV is attributed to the PPM (Portable People Meter), a device used by Arbitron, who rolled out the PPM, a pager-sized device that electronically records what the person is listening to. The information collected is uploaded each night to Arbitron via a modem.

I'm personally not surprised that the results of this device have shown a decline in listeners to smooth jazz stations (many more have already "flipped" as a result of the PPM data). I've lost count of the amount of communications I receive from people who have found Sky.fm Smooth Jazz when their local station has changed formats. They mostly say things like "Why didn't I find you before?" and more importantly "You actually play smooth jazz!".

In fact most of the mail we have received over the last few years has pretty much followed the same pattern. People are really tired with getting served up 20-30 year old tracks by Sade, Al Jarreau, Anita Baker, Simply Red, Luther Vandross, Phil Collins, etc in the name of smooth jazz. It doesn't have to be that way.

On Sky we play none of the aforementioned. I guess it's a bonus that in the case of Internet radio we can see when people tune away and of course we know exactly what song was playing when they went. It was this information that helped me produce and prune the playlist for my original smooth jazz project "Soft Jazz FM" back in 2001 (still the #1 smooth jazz station on Live365.com after 9 years) and it was this information that I used for Sky in 2004. It took about a couple of years for Sky Smooth Jazz to become the World's #1 Internet Smooth Jazz station. We have been in the top slot ever since.

So I humbly submit that there's nothing wrong with the genre, it's the station playlists that are killing smooth jazz.

Best of 2009

Here's the rundown of the best songs of 2009, as broadcast on the live show on Sunday 27th December.

Please note that these are not based on sales or requests. They are simply the best smooth jazz tracks of 2009 as I see it:

1. George Benson – Living In High Definition
2. Jessy J – Baila!
3. Paul Brown & Marc Antoine – Foreign Exchange
4. Boney James – I Wanna Show U Sumthin'
5. Peter White – Always, Forever
6. Jessy J – Tropical Rain
7. Rick Braun – Puerto Allegre Jam
8. Jay Soto – Oasis
9. Peter White – Bright
10. Alan Hewitt – Shaft
11. Paul Brown & Marc Antoine – Flight Of The Conchords
12. Nils – Soul Mates
13. Boney James – I'll Be Good To You
14. Rippingtons – Paris Groove
15. Peter White – Good Day
16. Jessy J – Somewhere In A Dream
17. Euge Groove – The Gospel Truth
18. Gregg Karukas – Floating In Bahia
19. Richard Elliot – Move On Up
20. Paul Brown & Marc Antoine – Wine Night
21. Jimmy Sommers – Georgia On My Mind
22. Paul Hardcastle – The Circle
23. The Sax Pack – Wanna Get Closer
24. Boney James – I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby
25. Jessy J – True Love

Enjoy 2010. And always keep it Sky.fm Smooth Jazz!

Best wishes,

JK

Oli Silk live in the Studio

Oli came in for his traditional Christmas visit to the Sunday show yesterday, and while he was here he played "De-Stress Signal" live on air. The video is below. However if you click on the Youtube logo bottom right, you will be able to view it in full HD 1080 (don't forget to click the "HD" button when you get there).

New Gigs for 2010

We are hoping to expand on our presence at the Pizza Express Jazz Club (and beyond) throughout 2010. Our first few shows are now official and therefore published for all to see at:

www.sky.fm/smoothjazz/events/

So if you fancy some UK Smooth Jazz make a point of signing up for our mailing list at the bottom of the events page, and we'll make sure that you're the first to know when seats go on sale.

The Sax Pack live in the studio today

Just a reminder that The live show will have three guests today (22nd November). Kim Waters, Steve Cole & Jeff Kashiwa, aka The Sax Pack. We will have to finish half an hour early however, as I have to get them over to Club 1 in Ascot for tonights show.

So we wont be able to do the usual round of acknowledgements. Instead we'll be taking questions for the three guys. If you have a question please use either facebook chat, or write on my facebook wall at www.facebook.com/SkyFMSmoothJazz once the show starts.

5pm UK, 12 Midday Eastern & 9am Pacific time.

Paul Brown & Marc Antoine - Foreign Exchange

Live at Pizza Express Jazz Club in London

Jessy J - Tropical Rain

Live at Pizza Express Jazz Club in London

Guests on the live show tomorrow

There'll be three guests in the studio on tomorrow's live show. No prizes for guessing that it's Marc Antoine, Paul Brown & Jessy J. 5pm UK, 12 noon USA EST & 9am Pacific.

Once again let me remind you that if you have previously had problems viewing the video feed for the show it's worth downloading and trying VLC Media Player. It's free and works on PC, Mac & Linux and plays just about any video format without a fuss.

Marc Antoine, Paul Brown & Jessy J in London

Only a few days left now until Marc, Paul & Jessy arrive for a five night stopover at Pizza Express Jazz Club in Soho.

It all kicks off on Wednesday evening, so if you haven't done so, book your seat now on 020 7439 4962 or visit Pizza Express Live and book online.

Some nights have limited availability.

Marc Antoine, Paul Brown & Jessy J at Pizza Express

Less than three weeks to go before the next smooth jazz experience at the Pizza Express Jazz Club in London.

This time Marc Antoine and Paul Brown will bring songs from their new collaboration "Foreign Exchange" for your listening pleasure. And if that's not enough to wet your appetite then Jessy J will be on board to play some tracks from her new CD "True Love" as well.

Needless to say tickets are selling quite briskly, and are available now on the Pizza Express website at http://pizzaexpresslive.co.uk/jazzList.aspx, or you can call and book seats on 020 7439 4962 (if you're overseas dial +44 20 7439 4962).

Here's hoping to see you there.

Pizza Express Jazz Club

We still have some seats for the remaining four shows over two nights at Pizza Express Jazz Club in Soho, London to see Steve Oliver, Michael Lington & Bob Baldwin. Call 0845 6027 017 or go to The Pizza Express Jazz Club Bookings Site if you want to see the show.

Also, seats for the next Sky.fm Smooth Jazz show are now on sale (although not on the website yet). So once again call 0845 6027 017 to reserve your seat to See Marc Antoine, Paul Brown & Jessy J at Pizza Expess from Wednesday 7th to Sunday 11th October.