Café Jazz Radio - Canada's Smooth Jazz Connection
A Time-Traveling Adventure!
This Week at CaféJazz.ca

October 17th, 2010
Edition #586 PreviouslyThis Week at Café Jazz.ca - Edition #585 Next

Listen to Café Jazz Radio | Show Notes | Program Profile | Contact Information
Hot Links to Cool Cats | Cool Links | This Week | Music Den | Favourites (Most Played)


This Week at the Café: Timeline Series - Wayback in '94!
... the first in what will be our ongoing timeline series. On this installment we're pealing back the calendar pages for a feature called Wayback in '94 courtesy of our incomparable WABAC machine. So stay tuned for the likes of Rick Braun and Peter White. We have music from Boney James and Joe McBride, plus selections by Richard Elliot, Norman Brown and Paul Hardcastle. It was in May of '94 that The Chunnel opened and thereby connected England and France and that same year Marc Antoine issued Classical Soul his debut. From that release the track Timeless Line begins our time traveling adventure Wayback in '94, and what was a vintage year!
In This Issue:

HIGHLIGHTS:
After Dark - Richard Elliot
Trinidad - Boney James
Lazy Days - Paul Hardcastle
Wake Up Everybody - Peter White
Nothing Stays the Same - Ken Navarro
Passions - Special EFX

AFTER HOURS: More Wayback
PLAYLIST: Playlist for Ed#586

Back to Top
Highlights Hour One
After Dark - Richard Elliot:
It was when he was 11 and in junior high that Richard Elliot took up the sax for the school band. At 17 & while still in school, he landed his first professional gig backing Natalie Cole and The Pointer Sisters on a European tour. That was followed by a stint with the fusion band Kittyhawk, and with studio work for Smokey Robinson, The Four Tops, The Temptations, and The Yellowjackets. Following tours/playing with The Yellowjackets, Melissa Manchester, and Rick Springfield, Elliot joined Tower Of Power in 1982. He spent 5 years with the legendary ensemble and it was while he was with TOP that Elliot played on a couple of Huey Lewis cds and released his own debut. The success of that effort provided a spring board for the launch of Elliot's solo career. The '94 After Dark release was cd #8 in his catalogue and his 3rd consecutive chart-topper - from that effort we have the steamy title track!

CD: After Dark (1994)
Label: Blue Note
Links:


Richard Elliot - After Dark

Back to Top
Boney James - Backbone
Trinidad - Boney James:
Known to millions as Boney James, he was born James Allan Oppenheim. After graduating from UCLA with a degree in history, Oppenheim found himself newly married and out of work. He delivered pizza and played with up to five or six different bands until he landed a spot touring with Morris Day as a keyboard player. He later toured with Bobby Caldwell playing sax, but it was while he with Randy Crawford that he picked up his nickname. Having difficulty in making ends meet, Boney would save his per diem to pay the rent rather than spending it on meals. With the rigors of life on the road, it wasn't too long before a band mate observed and commented on his dwindling physique. Ultimately, the diminishing challenges of sideman gigs pushed Boney in the direction of recording a solo disc which was produced and recorded by Paul Brown. Backbone followed in '94 and Boney was well on his way to stardom - from that sophomore effort we've selected a tune with the flavor of the islands called Trinidad!

CD: Backbone (1994)
Label: Warner Bros.
Links:
Paul Hardcastle - Hardcastle 1
Lazy Days - Paul Hardcastle:
Although a part of the London music scene as far back as 1981, things didn't really start to click for Paul Hardcastle until a few years later. In 1984, the track Rainforest reached #1 in sales in the USA while his follow up in the track 19, went to #1 in 13 countries, and was one of the top single for '85! Subsequent projects met with varied success with Hardcastle working as a remix producer for Barry White, Hiroshima, & others while also composing for TV. By the 90s, Hardcastle felt a need to almost re-invent himself. In 1991, he initiated Kiss The Sky, a project that proved to be a proto-type for his next effort called The Jazzmasters. That concept initially caught on in Japan and in time, it swept the USA and the entire world! In the period since, Hardcastle's music has helped define the smooth jazz genre. Quick to recognize the virtually limitless variations on a smooth & soothing laid-back sort of theme, Paul launched the first in a parallel series identified only by his surname. From Hardcastle 1 we present vintage Hardcastle in Lazy Days, a tune that rates as a personal all-time favourite!

CD: Hardcastle 1 (1994)
Label: JVC
Links: Fan Sites:

Back to Top
Highlights Hour Two
Peter White - Reflections
Wake Up Everybody - Peter White:
Early on Peter White knew that music was his calling and he worked factory jobs until landing his first gig at a holiday resort. Shortly after, he was hired by Al Stewart after auditioning on piano and this began a 20-year association with Stewart. In 1976 Peter was featured on guitar on the million-selling The Year of the Cat, and then a couple of years later, he co-wrote the title track for Time Passages. Peter followed Stewart over to America in 1979 and in addition to this ongoing gig, he frequently guested with the LA band Windows fronted by his neighbour, Skipper Wise. After a guest spot on Basia's million-selling debut, and after 15 years as a sideman, in 1990 White finally released a cd of his own. That project and his subsequent releases made White an instant fan favourite and a staple of the format. From the Reflections cd, an album of some of White's personal favourites, we have Peter with a nice read on Wake Up Everybody!

CD: Reflections (1994)
Label: Sin-Drome Records
Links:
Ken Navarro - Pride & Joy
Nothing Stays the Same - Ken Navarro:
In the 80s, Ken Navarro moved to the West Coast, where he developed as a sideman on the LA session scene. Backing the likes of Doc Severinsen, John Pattitucci, Dave Koz, and others broadened Navarro's perspective. Then in 1990, he made a major move by releasing a solo debut and simultaneously launching the Positive Music record label. Navarro's follow-up project earned Grammy consideration while subsequent albums established Navarro as a perennial fan favourite. Now with nearly 20 projects to his credit, we return to a time earlier in his career for a tune which helped Navarro earn the spot that he enjoys among today's smooth jazz elite!

CD: Pride & Joy (1994)
Label: Positive Music
Links:
Special EFX - Catwalk
Passions - Special EFX:
Chieli Minucci & George Jinda met in NYC in 1982 during a series of jam sessions. The two hit if off and soon began laying the groundwork for what became one of contemporary instrumental's most endearing projects. Their debut initially released in Holland as Special Delivery, was subsequently issued in 1984 as Special EFX. Then for nearly a dozen years, thru until '95, their blend of jazz, new age, fusion & Latin music, made Special EFX a top group of the day. In the course of events, Minucci & Jinda recorded 12 albums with one additional release, a 1993 compilation, chronicling their first nine albums. On this occasion we return to, their second from last collaboration in Catwalk and Passions contained therein! Special EFX Then & Now Spotlight Feature Ed #466 - January 13th, 2008 Chieli Minucci Then & Now Spotlight Feature Ed #391 - January 8th, 2006

CD: Catwalk (1994)
Label: JVC
Links:

Back to Top

After Hours ~ Exclusive to our Site and Select Affiliates :
Wayback in '94 Continues: … our time-traveling adventure continues with more of Wayback in '94 and the initial installment in our timeline series. Included on this show are 3rd Force, Jeff Lorber, Gerald Veasley, Count Basic, Pat Kelley, Michael White, and Acoustic Alchemy - all as part of a 12-track set that helped define 1994 as a banner year for smooth jazz … and to begin there's a flashback from Dan Siegel and Birds of a Feather - from their earliest cd we have the aptly titled The Time is Right with Larry Carlton guesting! Playlist for Ed#586

Back to Top

Listen to Café Jazz Radio | Show Notes | Program Profile | Contact Information
Hot Links to Cool Cats | Cool Links | This Week | Music Den | Favourites (Most Played)
© 2010 Jazz Lynx / Café Jazz Radio