STEVE TYRELL & DAVID BENOIT
Steve Tyrell
GRAMMY Award-winning producer and vocalist Steve Tyrell is the definition of a renaissance man. In his nearly five decades in the music business, he has achieved success as a singer, songwriter, producer, music supervisor, and most recently, radio host. His breakthrough performances in Father of the Bride and Father of the Bride II helped Tyrell reinvent and re-popularize classic pop standards for a modern-day audience. His hits, The Way You Look Tonight, The Simple Life, Crush On You, and The Sunny Side of The Street, have launched millions of romances and been played at thousands of weddings, including Chelsea Clinton’s!
As an artist, all 9 of his American Standards albums have achieved top 5 status on Billboard’s Jazz charts. His first album, A New Standard, was amongst the best selling jazz albums for more than 5 years. Steve’s latest album, That Lovin’ Feeling, debuted in the top 5. On it, he celebrates what he calls the Great American Songbook 2, featuring seminal rock era classics penned by legendary songwriters, including Carole King, Burt Bacharach, Neil Sedaka, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, Mike Stoller and Jerry Leiber, among others. He teamed with Judith Hill of 20 Feet From Stardom, as well as Neil Sedaka, Bill Medley, and B.J. Thomas for duets that put a new spin on their signature songs.
In August 2015, Tyrell added radio host to his long line of credits. Every Monday thru Friday, he can be heard on The Steve Tyrell Show, from 5PM to 8PM/PT on KJAZZ 88.1 in Los Angeles and online at jazzandblues.org.
Steve has had the pleasure of singing for Heads of State, including Presidents Bush and Clinton, Prime Minister Tony Blair, President Santos of Columbia, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. In 2014, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales invited Steve and his band for a command performance at Buckingham Palace.
As for American royalty, the Sinatra family has long embraced Steve and his music. Together with Quincy Jones, they handpicked Steve to be the featured performer with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra at their season opening concert in which Frank Sinatra was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame. Also at the request of the Sinatra family, he reprised that performance at Carnegie Hall. This was one of the rare times the family has reached into the vault of original Sinatra arrangements to share them with another artist.
Although Steve tours mainly with his band, he also enjoys playing with some of the most renowned orchestras in the world, and has had multiple performances with The Boston Pops, The New York Pops, The Nashville Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, and The Houston Symphony, among many others. In 2005, after the passing of the legendary Bobby Short, Steve was asked by New York City’s Cafe Carlyle to take over their revered holiday season of November and December, which Mr. Short had not missed for 36 years. Tyrell’s work in the studio as a record producer has included collaborations with such diverse and legendary artists as Rod Stewart, Diana Ross, Ray Charles, Linda Ronstadt, Aaron Neville, Bonnie Raitt, Blood Sweat and Tears, Mary J Blige, Chris Botti, Dave Koz, Dolly Parton, Smokey Robinson, Burt Bacharach, Bette Midler, and Stevie Wonder, among many others. He produced Woody Allen’s classic comedy album, Woody Allen – Stand Up Comic, as well as an album with the late Andy Griffith, which won the Grammy in 1995 for Gospel Album of the Year.
As a music supervisor and music producer for film and TV, Tyrell has worked with such distinguished directors as Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Nancy Meyers, Steven Soderbergh, Charles Shyer, and Hugh Wilson. His song, How Do You Talk To An Angel, written and produced for Aaron Spelling’s Fox television series The Heights, was a No. 1 hit on Billboards Top 100 Pop Charts.
Aside from being a GRAMMY Award winner, Tyrell is a Daytime Emmy Award winner and has earned two Prime Time Emmy nominations. He’s also garnered three Ace Nominations, the 2004 American Society of Young Musicians All That Jazz Award, a 2004 The Wellness Community Human Spirit Award, a 2006 Society of Singers Lifetime Achievement Award, 2008 Los Angeles Jazz Society’s Jazz Vocalist of the Year, and 2013 City of Hopes Goodwill Ambassador Award. His productions have earned over 11 GRAMMY Awards themselves. The music he produced for the children’s special, Cartoon All Stars to the Rescue, which aired on all three major networks simultaneously, was given a special certificate of recognition by the Emmys.
Though Steve was born and raised in Texas, he has called Los Angeles home for more than 30-years. The production he cherishes most is his ever expanding family!
David Benoit
For four decades, the GRAMMY®-nominated pianist/composer/ arranger David Benoit has reigned supreme as one the founding fathers of contemporary jazz. When he was coming up, Benoit worked with singers Patti Austin, Connie Stevens, Ann-Margaret, and Lainie Kazan as her musical director/conductor. In 1976, Benoit released albums on the AVI label from 1977 to 1984. He later released several chart-topping recordings for GRP, including Freedom at Midnight (1987), Waiting for Spring (1989) and Shadows (1991), which both topped Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Charts at #5, #1, and #2, respectively. His other noteworthy recordings include Letter to Evan (1992), his tribute to another piano influence, Bill Evans, and Here’s to You, Charlie Brown: Fifty Great Years (2000). Benoit also recorded with Russ Freeman on their album The Benoit/Freeman Project (1994), and on their follow-up collaboration, 2 (2004), which was released on Peak Records. His other recordings for the label include American Landscape (1997) and Orchestral Stories (2005), which featured his first piano concerto, “The Centaur and the Sphinx,” and a symphonic work, “Kobe”.
He has received three GRAMMY® nominations in the categories of Best Contemporary Jazz Performance for “Every Step of the Way” (1989), Best Large Ensemble Performance for GRP All-Star Big Band (1996), and Best Instrumental Composition for “Dad’s Room,” the latter from the album Professional Dreamer (2000) and in 2010, David Benoit received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Smooth Jazz Awards. He has also worked with an impressive potpourri of musicians including the Rippingtons, Emily Remler, the late Alphonse Mouzon, Dave Koz, Faith Hill, David Sanborn, CeCe Winans, Keiko Matsui, Hiroshima, and Brian McKnight.
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HOWARD HEWETT & MICHAEL LINGTON
Howard Hewett is one of the most gifted vocalists in the Post-Marvin Gaye era of pop R&B.
He started singing as a child, fronting his older sisters in The Hewett Singers. The group toured the gospel circuit. As a teen, Hewett sharpened his crooner skills in a funk band called Lyfe. In 1976, Hewett moved to Los Angeles and formed a group put together by the owners of the historic Maverick’s Flat, called Beverly Hills.
Hewett got his mainstream break as the male vocal lead in Shalamar, a centerpiece of Dick Griffey’s SOLAR (Sound of Los Angeles Records) label. His tenor voice mixed beautifully with the bright vocals of Jody Watley, the dancing skills of Jeffery Daniels and the writing and production of Leon Sylvers III. The group gave the world feel-good dance favorites The Second Time Around and A Night to Remember, the baby-making classic For the Lover in You, as well as a number of beautiful B-side ballads like You Can Count On Me and Somewhere There’s a Love. When Watley and Daniels left the group in 1983, Hewett continued to lead Mickey Free and Delisa Davis in the reconstituted Shalamar. This version of the group was best known for soundtrack contributions on Footloose and Beverly Hills Cop with Dancing in the Sheets and the Grammy-winning Don’t Get Stopped in Beverly Hills, respectively.
In the mid-eighties, Howard sets out on his solo career, releasing I Commit to Love in 1986 on Elektra and from the first single Hewett made magic, giving his amorous voice and whimsical lyrics to Stay, I’m For Real and the title track. Most beloved track on this freshman release would be his spiritually grounded Say Amen. This single soared on the Inspirational charts and has enjoyed the status of a modern gospel classic.
Subsequent projects have solidified Hewett’s place in the high ranks of R&B balladeers by writing and collaborating and lending his voice within an intimate group of crooners, including George Duke, Quincy Jones, James Ingram, Anita Baker, Prince and Stanley Clarke. With Elektra, he released Forever and Ever (1988- Once, Twice, Three Times), Howard Hewett (1990- Show Me) and Allegiance (1992- Can We Try Again).
Later work shows increasing authenticity as Hewett rips song lyrics straight from his soul. It’s Time (1994- This Love is Forever), written and produced almost exclusively with long time friend and collaborator Monte Seward, displays all the vulnerability involved in falling and staying in love. In 2001, Hewett released the all inspirational album The Journey, where he shows us that his faith can’t be separated from his heart and soul.
Hewett continues to seduce audiences and eardrums as he is constantly touring and intermittently releasing new music.
“Of all the fine vocalists working today, Howard Hewett is one of the finest.” – Babyface
Michael Lington is an award winning saxophonist, songwriter, producer, recording artist and a purveyor of soul and contemporary jazz.
Powering full steam ahead into the next phase of his dynamic 25 year solo career, saxophonist Michael Lington captures all the freewheeling magic, energy and optimism we’re feeling post-pandemic with his latest perfectly titled Billboard single “Play” – a funked out, fun-spirited, perfect for summertime jam that marks his first time co-writing and co-producing with longtime friend and fellow horn master and hit maker Darren Rahn. The groove-intensive track also features Paul Jackson Jr.’s blistering guitar fire and the non-stop grooves of bassist Mel Brown and drummer Tarell Martin. While creating a forward minded way to keep joy and hope flowing in turbulent times, “Play” – from Lington’s upcoming EP and first set of original tunes since 2018’s Silver Lining – also reflects the multi-talented artist’s ever-bustling role as a first time dad to his son Landon and the passion he’s bringing to his latest endeavor, hosting his own Friday radio show on Smooth Jazz 247.
He has released 12 solo albums and has 27 singles that have charted on the Billboard and Radio & Records (R&R) contemporary jazz radio charts.
Over the course of his career, Lington has collaborated with Michael Bolton, Barry Manilow, Randy Crawford, Bobby Caldwell, Kenny Lattimore, Booker T. Jones, Ray Parker, Jr., Taylor Dayne, Brian Culbertson, William Bell, Dave Stewart, Vince Gill and many others.
He has toured regularly his entire career, averaging 60-80 shows per year. In recent years, Lington joined Michael Bolton on tour as his opening act & special guest. Lington and Bolton performed over 350 shows together in more than 40 countries.
Barry Manilow invited Lington to join his “One Last Time” arena tour. Michael opened the show and joined Manilow on the song “Brooklyn Blues” during the headliner’s main set.
In Nov. 2016, Lington performed for the Memphis Music Hall Of Fame ceremony, honoring 2016 inductee Charles Lloyd. Stax Records soul singer William Bell and Snoop Dogg also performed at the induction ceremony.
In September 2019 it was announced that Michael would join the Dave Koz and Friends; Gifts Of The Season Christmas tour alongside Koz, Jonathan Butler, Melissa Manchester and Chris Walker. The 22-date concert tour traveled across the U.S. between November 29 and December 23, 2019.
In 2020 during the pandemic, Michael become one of the leading music artists producing hi-quality virtual shows, which earned him a most innovative artist award by Stageit!
Lington is signed to the The Reliant Talent agency for worldwide representation and has a publishing administration deal with Kobalt Music Publishing. He is an ASCAP songwriter/publisher and a 25-year voting member of the Recording Academy.
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GEORGE BENSON
Ten-Time GRAMMY-award-winning artist, George Benson, has the rare distinction of being in the pop consciousness while remaining in the pantheon of jazz greats. With 36 studio albums and 8 live albums, Benson has emerged as a household name best known for the 1976 three-time GRAMMY-winning album, Breezin’, boasting the pop-jazz vocal smash “This Masquerade,” which topped the jazz, pop, and R&B charts. The album remains one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time and has since been certified 3x platinum. His 1980 soul-pop gem, “Give Me The Night,” produced by Quincy Jones and written by Rod Temperton (Michael Jackson), summited to the top of the soul single charts. In 2009, Benson was awarded the NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship— the highest honor that our nation bestows on jazz artists.
Benson is a consummate performer and an adventurous instrumentalist who remains an annual must-see artist. He regularly packs and, o_en sells out, such hallowed venues as The Hollywood Bowl, Royal Albert Hall, Hampton Court Palace, and Sydney Opera House. Benson is also a marquee artist at many U.S. Jazz and international festivals, including Montreux Jazz Fest.
Benson’s recent accomplishments are varied and aplenty. He collaborated with subversive art-pop band, Gorillaz, featuring Blur’s Damon Albarn, to co-write and perform on the track “Humility,” which has amassed over 100 million YouTube views and counting. In 2021, DJ Steve Aoki remixed Benson’s hit “Give Me The Night,” with a rugged house beat introducing the irresistible R&B-pop gem to a whole new audience. His recent albums have earned features and rave reviews in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, American Songwriter, Forbes, and Newsweek. In 2020, Benson was inducted into jazz bible DownBeat Magazine’s Hall Of Fame. The following year he was inducted by music legend Quincy Jones into New Jersey’s Hall Of Fame— an honor from which he received a personal congratulatory note from President Obama.
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CHRIS ISAAK
Over the course of his three-decade plus career, Platinum-selling and GRAMMY-nominated singer & actor Chris Isaak has performed to sold-out crowds across the globe with his longtime band Silvertone. His music and film credits include thirteen critically acclaimed studio albums, twelve chart-topping singles along with several motion pictures, such as The Silence of the Lambs and That Thing You Do!. His work has also taken him behind the scenes, creating music for multiple film soundtracks, including Eyes Wide Shut, True Romance, Wild at Heart, and Blue Velvet. Isaak has starred in his own critically acclaimed television series The Chris Isaak Show on SHOWTIME, has previously served as a judge on The X Factor Australia, and hosted the music talk show, The Chris Isaak Hour on BIO. 2019 marked the 30th Anniversary of Isaak’s beloved Heart-Shaped World album, which includes his breakthrough classic “Wicked Game”. Isaak was recently honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance by the Americana Honors.
Opening Act: David Rosales
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MATTEO BOCELLI
Much of the world first heard acclaimed singer-songwriter Matteo Bocelli on “Fall on Me,” theEnglish/Italian song that he co-wrote for the elder Bocelli’s acclaimed 2018 album,Sì, which topped the Billboard 200 and the UK Official Albums chart. The song, which has amassed over 300 million combined global streams, went on to soundtrack Disney’sThe Nutcracker and the Four Realms. The pair performed “Fall on Me” at Madison Square Garden and the Hollywood Bowl as well as on numerous television programs, including “Dancing with the Stars,” Colbert, “Good MorningAmerica,” “TheRoyal Variety Performance” and “Strictly Come Dancing.” It was a powerful introduction, but Matteo’s musical journey began when he was a child.By age six, he was learning piano, and as a teenager his passion for music rivaled his love of sport. At18 he made his stage debut, singing Verdi at the Colosseum in Rome. He’s worked his whole life to master his craft. But the melodies that emerge whenever the young man opens his mouth feel real in a way that can’t be explained by a classical education. He sings with a purity of expression that seems innate, with charisma and clarity of purpose. Matteo, who is graduating at the Conservatory of Lucca in Tuscany, has just released the new single,Tempo, which has been tapped for the European/UK advertising campaign for the new Fiat 500 LaPrima. The stylish new vehicle sets the pace for a madcap adventure throughout Tuscany in the official video. Tempo is the follow-up to his duet with Latin superstar, Sebastian Yatra, Until She’s Gone, his first duet since 2018’sFall On Me with his father. Matteo, who is fluent in Spanish released the track in various languages–Tu Luz Quedó(Spanish) and Un Attimo Di Te(Italian).“You need this artist on your radar,” saidEuphoria Magazine after Matteo released his fittingly titled debut single“Solo”on Capitol Records in 2021. Combined global streams of the song have surpassed seven million and views of the official video now exceed five million.In recent months he also appeared on the star-studded PBS special “In Performance at the WhiteHouse: Spirit of the Season,” “TODAY”,CNN’s New Year’s Eve special, Good Morning America and The Kelly Clarkson Show. Considered to be one of the most promising emerging vocalists on the international pop scene,Matteo is currently working on his first record.
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