Highlights !!
It's a new show that begins with New Day by Fridrik Karlsson!! This track has long been a favourites here at "The Café"!! It's a fabulous tune that sets just the right mood for our musical exploits & it quite nicely foreshadows our sense of mission!!

Just check this out!! Paul Hardcastle, Boz Scaggs, Walter Beasley, Paul Taylor, Marion Meadows, Brian Culbertson, Steve Cole, & Ken Navarro ... in the first hour alone!! Add to that an incredible showcase feature, one of the stand outs to this point in the year, and an incomparable Fresh Trax segment!! We don't miss a trick, so be sure not to miss this show!!

Showcase CD
The Eyes of Mars - Patrick Yandall:
Over the course of his career, Yandall has earned an enviable reputation as the consummate working musician. In addition to his extensive studio résumé, the San Diego based guitarist has enjoyed a highly rewarding & successful solo career with several well-received projects to his credit. Each album has seen Yandall further hone his considerable chops while continuing to refine his appealing blend of styles.

As great as his previous efforts have been, things have suddenly been kicked up a notch with The Eyes of Mars, his sixth & latest release. Now I don't mind saying this one's a gem!! Yah, I know you've heard it all before when I've talked about Patrick's previous albums. Nevertheless, Yandall's full-bodied tone has never been more appealing nor exuded more warmth than on this release, and as always Patrick's creativity & originality take us places where we've never been before.

Kicking-off hour 2 is Just Be Thankful, a reflective piece that features Yandall's guitar & the flugelhorn of Steve Ebner in perfect harmony. Then to complete the feature we finish with a flourish & one of our current favourites, Saturday Love. It's an intoxicating cover of the Cherelle hit from 1986. Fueled by the interplay between Yandall's guitar & the piano of Kevin Flournay, this one quite simply flows along with a hypnotic rhythm & groove that is totally irresistible !! So all you great guitarists on the SJ scene, it's time to move over & make room for PY as this man has arrived !!

CD: The Eyes of Mars
Label: Apria Records
Web Site: Patrick Yandall

Quisiera Ser - Turning Point:
The members of Turning Point first came together in the early 90s when they met as part of the studio scene in Phoenix Arizona. Each brought with him a résumé chock-full of studio gigs and a unique musical perspective. They established themselves on the club scene as they forged an eclectic mix of progressive jazz with rock, R&B and blues, together with touches of Greek music. A key to the band's success has always been a commitment to having fun and playing music that they love. Matador is Turning Point's Native Language debut and sixth album overall and perhaps no track on the release better captures this philosophy than the one that we've chosen. It's entitled Quisiera Ser & it's the album's first single. It's an uplifting cover of a Latin Grammy winning song that's highlighted by the superb flamenco playing of Thano Sahnas & we have it for you on the Fresh Trax feature!!

CD: Matador
Label: Native Language Music
Web Site: Turning Point

Steppin' Up - Mark Hollingsworth:
Chicago native Mark Hollingsworth is a graduate of Berklee with a career that's firmly entrenched in LA. Hollingsworth has worked with topnotch artists from Stevie Wonder & Santana to Ray Charles & Quincy Jones. For the last three years he's been a featured member of the Greg Adams band. He's recorded with Dan Siegel & performed at festivals across the USA. Now on his debut effort, Mark teams up with writer & producer James Wirrick who's worked on all of Greg Adams' solo albums. The project is called On the Mark, and quite rightly too as it presents Hollingsworth with all the polish that is characteristic of the top tier artists he has worked with. The track that we've selected for you today is Steppin' Up, a great tune & the lead track on the album !!

CD: On The Mark
Label: Windshore Music
Web Sites: Mark Hollingsworth

It's You and Only You - Kevin Toney:
A Detroit native, Kevin Toney's career stretches back to the early 70s when he worked with Donald Byrd. He recorded 7 albums as a member of the Blackbyrds, while earning a Bachelor of Arts in Composition and Jazz Studies. Although he released his first solo record way back in 1982, Kevin's career didn't really take off until 1994 when his sophomore effort was issued. Subsequent projects have continued to impress as Toney combines elements of traditional jazz with brilliant melodies and contemporary production. His latest release certainly is no exception to the rule, as it continues to build on Kevin's impressive catalogue of work. From that album entitled 110º and Rising, we have another fabulous selection from called It's You & Only You !!

CD: 110º and Rising
Label: Shanachie
Web Sites: Kevin Toney ; Shanachie

All In My Mind - Liberty Silver:
Silver is a gifted vocalist who is blessed with a five and a half octave range. Starting her career as a backup singer, Liberty quickly became prominent on the Toronto club scene, broadening her repertoire to include R & B, reggae, jazz and pop. Along the way she garnered a fair degree of critical acclaim, all to go along with winning several awards including a pair of Juno's & five Black Music awards. In 1996, Silver was part of the writing team that produced Canada's song for the Summer Olympics and most recently Liberty was nominated in two categories at the Canadian smooth jazz awards. Her albums have sold in the millions with At Last, her latest effort, being released just earlier this year. Recorded in collaboration with Eddie Bullen, this project has been highly anticipated as it squarely falls in Smooth Jazz territory. From that release we have the exquisite All In My Mind, a track destined for our best of '05 year end review !!

CD: At Last
Label: Independent Release

I'm Only U-Nam - U-Nam:
Funky & fresh are adjectives that describe the music of U-Nam, a new name on the SJ scene. The Parisian born guitarist began on the instrument at the age of 12 & ended up studying jazz for 3 years at CIM, the premiere school for that discipline in all of Europe. He turned professional by 19 and a few years later released a solo album that presented a hip blend of styles. For the past few years U-Nam has focused on songwriting, producing, & remixing and just recently chose to make his return as a solo artist. The Past Builds The Future has already drawn rave reviews from those in the know in the European community for it's wide appeal across several genres. Judging by those reactions & by the track that I played, U-Nam is most assuredly poised to make a similar impact here in North America. From that album which is due to be released in the next few weeks or so that was I'm Only U-Nam, the name being a play on I'm Only Human the track that was issued by the Human League back in the 80s. In any event, a great tune with some very slick guitar work that nicely caps off the FT feature !!

CD: The Past Builds the Future
Label: trippin 'n' Rhythm Records
Web Site: U-Nam ; U-Nam Productions ; trippin

Then & Now Feature : Darren Motamedy

Dangerously Close / MM 1994

It's All Good MM 1999

Relax Your Mind MM 2002

The Los Angeles born sax player comes to us via Taiwan, where his family lived for a time in the 60s. When they moved to the Seattle area, Darren auditioned for the school band on clarinet but was given the choice to try the sax or to forget about the band. He choice the former. Motamedy took part in the jazz ensemble & in his junior year of high school, he joined a funk-rock band that opened an entirely new world of music.

Photo courtesy of Darren's Site!

After high school, Darren attended Central Washington University where he channeled his energies to playing the saxophone, clarinet, and flute. He took in every musical ensemble imaginable from orchestra to pep band, from symphonic wind ensemble to jazz band, super sax ensembles, private lessons, orchestra pit shows, basketball band, and chamber music. In the end he received the music department's prestigious Presser Scholarship. Upon his graduation, Motamedy worked at establishing himself on the contemporary scene. In the late 80s & early 90s, he released a pair of albums in collaboration with Bela Havasreti as Mottoretti. His solo debut followed in 1994 or so. Since then, Motamedy has been a mover & shaker on the Seattle scene. He's worked with Tony Gable & 206, John Raymond and other notables in the region, and a few years back he was also a member of pH7, a project fronted by Dean Krippaehne and Erik Hall. He's been a session man, played innumerable live gigs, and has also released several more well received projects under his own name.

Now generally when we present Then & Now, our effort is to bring you completely up to date with the featured artist. However on this occasion I must confess that we're not quite up to the task as Darren has a brand new album with a release date that is imminent & we hope to have that for you before too long.

Nevertheless though, we do have three great track that span a good portion of Motamedy's career. So to get things started we're heading back to 1994 & Darren's Dangerously Close release for Heads or Tails. Kickin' It from 1999's It's All Good follows and we cap things off with the title track from Relax Your Mind. By the way, for more from Mr. Motamedy, you may want to check out the compilation Smooth Jazz, The Best of Darren Motamedy It was released just last year, it contains all the tracks that I've selected and it's available on Darren's web site.

Web Site: Darren Motamedy