Jim Savitt Showcased; with Incognito, Oceans, Paul Rozmus, Ed Calle, & Charo

Setting the Standard for Excellence in Smooth Jazz!!
This Week at CaféJazz.ca

March 2nd, 2008
Edition #473 Previously

This Week at CafeJazz.ca !
Your Café Jazz update! On the next show, it's Jim Savitt in the showcase spotlight as we spin selected tracks from the Second Light release. When hour 2 rolls round - get ready for golden oldies with the Back Trax segment and more favourites from back in the day. Headlining this edition, are Incognito and saxman Ed Calle - also appearing are flautist Paul Rozmus and the band Oceans while Charo, rounds out the feature. Then later in the hour, we've assembled a snazzy assortment of current faves - including Four80East, Chris Geith, Les Sabler, and Down to the Bone, while thruout you'll find selections by Gregg Karukas, Herb Alpert and Boney James! Meanwhile launching our two-hour soundtrack to musical adventure is the latest single from Chris Standring!!

In This Issue:

SHOWCASE CD :
Second Light - Jim Savitt

BACK TRAX :
L'Arc En Ciel De Miles - Incognito
Ridin' The Tide - Oceans
Little Kiss - Paul Rozmus
Marianne - Ed Calle
Seducción - Charo

AFTER HOURS :
Then & Now - New Music

Showcase CD
Second Light - Jim Savitt:
An alumnus of Berklee in Boston, NYC-based Jim Savitt is an accomplished guitarist, composer, & producer who stylistically draws from both traditional and contemporary jazz while incorporating touches of groove & world music. Additionally, Savitt earned a bachelor's degree from the Stevens Institute of Technology and now operates his own Manhattan-based state of the art production facility in SaviTech Studio.

Back in 2001, Savitt gained international airplay with Hear & Now, his first full-length release recorded in collaboration with David Mann and subsequently, he performed in many diverse locales such as Cairo, Copenhagen, and Kingston. All of this led to Jim's selection as the Sony Jazz New Artist Search Winner for 2004! In the time since, Savitt has been involved in a number of different projects ranging from rock and pop to new age while most recently he's attempted to get back to jazz and the sound of the electric guitar with his Second Light cd.

Although it's been several years between releases, it's readily apparent Savitt is poised to build on the momentum he's already enjoyed to this point in his career with a project that has the full potential to be one of the top break-thru releases for the year!! As such, it's with great pleasure that we thrust Mr. Savitt into the splendour of our showcase spotlight!!

Jim Savitt
Photo: cd insert

We've chosen three impeccably tasty musical selections beginning with the opening tune on the disc. Aptly entitled One World, Randy Villars contributes his saxwork to the synergism and the worldly flavor of the track. Opening hour 2 is Sirens, arguably the prettiest tune on the entire undertaking. Hauntingly lyrical, it's now Lanny Ward on sax with Savitt doing triple duty, supplementing his tantalizing guitar lines with some delicious keys and a bit of highly atmospheric programming!! Then, for the feature closer, we've injected an amazing chill/house-based excursion called Groove On - a fabulous piece that, when all is said and done, is guaranteed a choice spot among our in house list of faves for 2008!!

CD: Second Light
Label: NightCast Records
Site: Jim Savitt ; Savitt/NightCast

Back Trax: Part One
	L'Arc En Ciel De Miles - Incognito: Incognito is a group whose roots extend back to the late 70s and a band called Light of the World that was co-led by Jean-Paul "Bluey" Maunick. After three albums in the disco-funk vein, the ensemble disbanded and reformed with new personal as Incognito. Although they were relatively inactive record wise thru most of the 80s, the first Incognito single became a hit as part of Britain's burgeoning acid jazz scene and prompted the release of a sophomore album. Since that time, Incognito has essentially represented the musical vision of one man that being Bluey himself as, with no set line-up, well over 50 performers have contributed to the Incognito sound. Today we return to one of the earlier efforts, Vibes, Tribes and Scribes from 1992, for a tune written as tribute to the late Miles Davis in L'Arc En Ciel De Miles (arc en ciel being French for rainbow)!! CD: Tribes, Vibes and Scribes (1992) Label: Talkin Loud/Verve Forecast Site: Incognito
	Ridin' The Tide - Oceans: Oceans was a band that rode a wave of popularity in the late 80s and in spite of a name that suggested something to the contrary, they were based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin closer to Lake Michigan than to either the Atlantic or the Pacific. Led by Warren Wiegratz, acclaimed for his expertise on sax, flute, and keys, the group had a pair of releases the second of which landed squarely near the top of Billboard's jazz chart aided by the popularity of the ballad Felicia. Earlier in his career, Wiegratz recorded four highly successful albums with the acclaimed Jazz/Fusion group Sweetbottom and more recently he leads the band Streetlife, among many other persuits. However, I digress as on this occasion we're returning to 1989 and the aforementioned release for Ridin' the Tide the title track - the final minute and a half of which is simply pure musical magic!! CD: Ridin' The Tide (1989) Label: ProJazz/Intersound Site: Wiegratz/Streetlife ; Wiegratz/BeatHouse

Back Trax: Part Two
	Little Kiss - Paul Rozmus : Classically trained, Paul Rozmus's passion for jazz began in his native Poland, where he studied at the conservatory in Katowice. Serving as musical director at numerous festivals, Rozmus was awarded top honours for his songs and performances, and subsequently graduated with a Master's in Composition and Arranging. Additionally, he's been involved in hundreds of recordings having contributed to gold and platinum albums in his native country. Now residing in south-west Florida, Rozmus has been the creative force behind a pair of solo projects - from Rhythm of Love, the first of these from 1998, we have the funky amour of Little Kiss!! CD: Rhythm Of Love(1998) Label: Face 2 Face Records Site: Paul Rozmus
	Marianne - Ed Calle : Born to Spanish parents and hailing from Caracas Venezuela, Ed Calle and his family moved to the US in 1966. Calle started taking music lessons at the suggestion of his father and once he picked up the tenor sax, he took to it quickly and rarely put it away. Even as a student attending the University of Miami en route to a Master's in Jazz Performance, he was backing performers such as Gloria Estefan. Calle can now be heard on hundreds of recordings while having appeared on Grammy-winning albums by Frank Sinatra, Arturo Sandoval, and others. Besides his international acclaim as a jazz performer, composer, and arranger, Calle is in great demand as a jazz clinician. Presently residing near the Miami area in Florida, Calle operates his own recording studio and is currently completing work on a Doctorate. In addition, he's issued over a half-dozen solo projects, with a pair of recent releases being Latin-Grammy nominated. He scored a big smooth jazz hit in 1996 with his cover of Me and Mrs. Jones, but on this occasion, we've opted for one of his prettiest ballads!! CD: Sunset Harbor (1999) Label: Concord Records Site: Ed Calle
	Seducción - Charo: She was born Maria Rosario Pilar Martinez Molina Baeza in the town of Murcia in southeast Spain but she is known to millions for her onstage flamboyance as Charo. A multi-talented performer, Charo is songstress, dancer, comedienne, and actress as well as a serious guitar talent although that latter aspect has sometimes been overlooked. Having trained with Andrés Segovia, acclaimed by many as the greatest guitarist of all time, Charo became a recording artist early in her teens. Discovered by Latin bandleader, Xavier Cugat, she married "Cugie" reportedly while underage by using a fake birth certificate, and traveled to Vegas where she performed in all the major casinos. Appearances on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In in 1968 brought Charo to the attention of a national audience in the US and as her career progressed, she made hundreds of appearances on all the top-rated comedy TV shows of the day as well as on the talk show circuit. Additionally, Charo holds the record for most guest appearances on The Love Boat where frequently she would perform on guitar. Twice named "Best Flamenco Guitarist" in Guitar Player's readers' poll, Charo's crowning achievement may well have been the '94 Guitar Passion cd for which she accepted the Female Pop Album of the Year. From that effort, which went on to become a platinum seller, we have the inspiring Latin- rhythms of Seducción!! CD: Guitar Passion (1994) Label: Universal Wave Records Site: Charo ; Charo Fan Site

After Hours ~ Exclusive to our Site and Select Affiliates :

This week on the After Hours portion of the show .... our focus is fresh listening with 14 selections new to the show including the latest from Bob Baldwin, Paul Hardcastle, and Kenny G; there's more from Hiroshima, Danny Lerman, and the band East of West. New to the show are Jay Leach, Miles Stiebel, and Kevin Kooyumjian - as well we have tracks by Stuart Steinhart and Mike Levine. Also appearing - Snake Davis and Marcos Ariel while kicking off our musical bash is another track from Jim Savitt heretofore unplayed on our show!!

Listen to Café Jazz Radio

| Show Notes

| Contest Page

| Program Profile

| Contact Information

Hot Links to Cool Cats

| Cool Links

| This Week

| Music Den

| Favourites (Most Played)