Greetings!
Welcome to the SmoothViews July update. Has the summer heat and high price of gas got you down? Unfortunately, we can't do anything to help you with that, but we have three great interviews this month with the very classy David Benoit; guitarist and consumate showman, Nick Colionne; and the always inspiring Wayman Tisdale.

We also have three great CDs for you to check out. First is Nick Colione with No Limits. This CD is Nick Colionne – in passion, in emotions, and delivery. Next it's time to get up out of that chair, and get your groove on with Eric Darius's Goin' All Out. And last, but certainly not least, Warren Hill gives us a taste of the sweet life in his eleventh CD release, La Dolce Vida.

Summer concerts are in full swing and we hope you are finding plenty of live music where you are. This month, we cover the 16th Annual Capital Jazz Festival in Columbia MD, and Guitars and Saxes in Cocoa Beach FL.

She calls herself the kitten amongst all the cats. It is with great pleasure that Smoothviews presents our first On the Side woman; keyboardist, pianist, organist, vocalist, composer, and Musical Director for Norman Brown – Gail Jhonson.

Long before his gig with the Rippingtons or becoming the solo artist that he is today, saxophonist Paul Taylor dazzled the world back in 1997 with ten hypnotic tracks on his second release entitled Pleasure Seeker. This month's Retrospectives takes another listen to this great CD.

July's Perspectives, The Virtual Listening Party Need to Be Legal, asks, "Wouldn't it be great to invite people to your virtual living room listening party where you could share those awesome songs that are not getting major label hype?"

On The Lighter Side, Please Don't Sit in Front of Me, takes a humorous look at those people we all hate to see coming up our row.

Thanks for your continued support of smooth jazz!

Man! I really enjoyed the interview with David Benoit. Thanks a million. I really wish many other musicians shared his opinion about the state of smooth jazz. Peace.

Thanks, Mark. David is a true gentleman and always a joy to talk to. He is open and honest and not afraid to speak up about the state of the industry. Sitting down and chatting with him about anything is always special for me.

Glad you enjoyed it.

I just read the interview and also enjoyed it. Excellent job.
I linked to the interview in my latest blog post:
http://mikechimeriblog.com/2008/07/01/david-benoit-interviewed-for-smoothviews/

I'm just getting into it and I see its another great one. Give my thanks to everyone there; this is really GOOD STUFF! I really dig the revisit on Paul Taylor's PLEASURE SEEKER.

Bill

Thanks, Mike for linking it! And Billy...Paul liked it, too! Got a message from him last night!

Hey Bonnie. I really liked the interview with David Benoit. It's really great to hear and see artists going back to live recording sessions. DB's right about engineers and producers worrying about airplay(money). Great job Bonnie.