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The Nick Colionne Newsletter |  |
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Hi Everyone, May was quite a month. I started it out right at the Chocolate Festival in Long Grove, IL, where I watched Dave Hiltebrand, my longtime music director and friend, lead his own group in their first public performance...and Dave even sang. Who knew? Congratulations to Dave, I wish him much success. And before anyone freaks out, yes....he's still my music director and playing bass for me! What can I say about my experience in London except WOW! Dave Koz, Brian Simpson and I played six dates at the Pizza Express Jazz Club in Soho, sold out every show and had a better time than should be legal. The hospitality was outstanding, the audiences were amazing and Jimi King of SKY.fm has our undying gratitude for bringing us across the pond for this incredible experience. We made so many new friends, including Ross Dines and Soufiane Maadad of the Pizza Express who were the best! A shout out to our sound guy for the week, Luc, who did a great job for us and to Meski at the Cumberland Hotel for treating us like royalty. Speaking of royalty, I was going to drop by Buckingham Palace and have tea with the Queen, but I got too busy...maybe next time! Coming home I had the experience of doing a live radio interview with nationally syndicated Dr. Michael Eric Dyson who is one smart guy and we had a terrific talk. You can still listen to the interview - the link is posted in an article below.
Next up were three Epiphone Guitar
clinics in
the Chicagoland area. I love doing these,
meeting other music lovers and talking
guitars and music. Many thanks to Sam Ash
Music stores for hosting the clinics. Last
but for sure not least was the Summer
Lounge
show in Atlanta with Warren
Hill. Warren and
I both played fast and hard and it was a terrific
evening. Michael Alexander puts on
one heck of a party and the incomparable
Joni Hawkins makes sure everything is
just right! It was just one of those magic
nights...I have to say when I
closed out the
night with my tribute song to Georgia's native
son James Brown and my road manager Tony
Clarke ran out, unplanned, and threw my
jacket over
my shoulders like it was a cape, the place went
ballistic...what a lot of fun for all of
us! Peace,
Brian Simpson, Dave Koz and Nick at the Pizza Express Jazz Club, Soho, London; photo by Carol Ray
With profound sadness, the sports and music world bade farewell in May to one of the nicest guys in either arena - Wayman Tisdale. The shock of his death is still with me - we saw each other at the Seabreeze Jazz Festival in April and the first thing he said to me was "Hey bro, you're on my cruise!". We made plans to go fishing on the cruise and that big smile was there the entire time. Wayman went on stage and gave some show - the audience ate it up. I still can't believe this sweet, talented and gentle man is gone. God bless you and your family, Wayman. You are missed.
There are two changes to announce for The Smooth Jazz Cruise 2011. The first change is the addition of Marcus Miller to the line-up as Host and Music Director. Although there is no replacing Wayman Tisdale, Marcus is a monster bass player and has hosted Jazz Cruises on previous sailings, and he was a very close friend of Wayman's. It's going to be a thrill to work with Marcus - musicians of his stature don't come along every day! Speaking of musicians of stature, David Sanborn is the Music Nights Host, and Gerald Albright and Jonathan Butler are the Special Event Hosts. Rounding out the line-up are Rick Braun, Norman Brown, Nick as Jam Session Host, George Duke, Candy Dulfer, Richard Elliot, Jeff Golub, Philippe Saisse and Brian Simpson. The second change is the dates of the cruise which will now be January 16-23 and 23-30, 2011. The dates were pushed back a week to ensure that the m/s Noordam is ready for us - it's getting a complete make-over and we'll be the first to sail her with her new fittings. Talk about luxury!
Just had to share another photo from London. Dave Koz and Nick started clowning on the first night and as you can see, they got a little nuts towards the end of the run! Dave and Brian Simpson are two guys Nick would work with anytime, any place - they are great artists and great friends. While in London, Michael Tozzi of ijazzglobal.com shot a mini-documentary of the trip. Can't wait to see it, when it's up on ijazzglobal.com we'll let you know!
Dr. Michael Eric Dyson has been named by Ebony magazine as one of the hundred most influential black Americans. He is the author of fourteen books, is University Professor at Georgetown University, where he teaches Theology, English and African American Studies, and has an extremely popular daily radio show which is broadcast in 18 markets nationally. Nick was honored to be interviewed by Dr. Dyson on May 15 and you can listen to the entire interview by clicking on the link below. They discussed music, mentoring and jazz and it was a really exciting conversation.
Upcoming dates - always more in the
works 2009
THIS MONTH
NEXT UP
* July 11 - Inkster
Summer
Jazz Fest, Inkster, MI. Sponsored by
Smooth Jazz radio WVMV, Detroit's Home for
Smooth Jazz V98.7. FM. For info
info and tickets.
* July 12 - 5th Annual African American Festival, Toledo, OH. Scott Park Campus, University of Toledo Nebraska Ave. at Parkside. Admission is only $1.00! Click for info and performance times.
* July 18 - Jazz Fest West, San Dimas, CA. Formerly the Pasadena Jazz Festival, now in a new location. For info and tickets visit the website. * July 26 - Jazz in the Park for Charity, Bi-Centennial Park, Olympia Fields, IL. For info visit the website. * July 28 - Camden County Summer Concert Series, Wiggins Park, Camden, NJ. 8 p.m., free concert. For info visit the Series' website which will be updated soon. * August 8 - The 2009 Carolina Smooth Jazz Friends Concert Series starring Nick Colionne, Peter White, Maysa and Steve Cole. CPCC Halton Theatre, Charlotte, NC. For tickets and info visit the Series' info page. * August 14 - 16 - Nick hosts the 25th Annual Genuine Jazz & Wine Festival, Breckenridge, CO. For info visit the festival site. * August 16 - 18, Special Events, The Ritz Carlton Club, Aspen, CO. Info coming soon. * October 2 - JazzTrax Catalina Island Jazz Festival, Wrigley Ballroom, Avalon, CA. For info and tickets visit the JazzTrax website.
On June 8 Nick visited the Johnson Publishing Company, home to Ebony, Jet and Fashion Fair Cosmetics. He was hosted by the very charming Senior Editor for Ebony Magazine, Joy Bennett, who gave him the complete tour. Nick met the new editor-in-chief of JET magazine, Mira Lowe, and several other senior editors and staffers, and was truly honored when the CEO of Johnson Publishing, Linda Johnson Rice (pictured with Nick), came out to greet him. It was a terrific visit and Nick wishes to thank Joy and everyone at Johnson Publishing for their warmth and hospitality.
Nick's fan group has a new name, The Colionne Connection, and a new Leader - Rusty O'Brien of Fredericksburg, VA (pictured with Nick and his wife, the lovely Kathleen). Working with Rusty will be Wesley Smith of Richfield, MN as National Chapter Leader and Bonnie Schendell of Centreville, VA, Membership Leader. We are all excited about where The Colionne Connection is going, and the opportunity for direct interaction by our members is going to be even greater than before. So many members have expressed an interest in being involved in some way that we know The Connection is going to be even bigger and better. There will be a new website shortly, and we'll let you know when it's up so you can check it out. In the meantime, if you or a friend has an interest in being a part of the best fan group in jazz, "where fans and friends are family", send an email to jazz@nickcolionne.com and Bonnie will get in touch to let you know all the great things that come with membership (including cds of Nick's that are now collector's items!).
Nick shares with you the tunes that are tops on his iPod - here are his current TOP 10 faves!
While in London, Nick, Dave and Brian were interviewed by Inge Wenzel and Marijn Eland for SmoothJazz.eu, a quality website which focuses on presenting artists, fans and promoters in Europe. We found it fascinating that they came to England from The Netherlands via The Chunnel train! The resulting article features photos, video clips and an informative discussion. Be sure to check it out!
Nick has a webstore. Check it out!
Michael Tozzi's ijazzglobal.com is truly global - contributing writer and U.K. native Denis Poole (who many of you read regularly courtesy his SmoothJazzTherapy blog) came to the London show with his lovely wife Annette, and his insider knowledge of jazz and the three artists resulted in a fascinating article. Don't miss it!
As everyone knows by now, Nick loves to fish. Here's a shot from a recent fishing trip to Mallard Lake, IL. Next time, he promises he'll get a picture of an actual fish!
Artist Manager: Carol Ray, On The Edge Productions (847) 359-9941 / e-mail: jazz@nickcolionne.com Promotions Manager: Tom Clark, On The Edge Productions (610) 918-3252 / e-mail: funkyjazznc@gmail.com Marketing/Media Manager: Christine Clark, On The Edge Productions (610) 291-9278 / e-mail: christine.clark1001@gmail.com. Publicity & Promotion: Tom Estey, Tom Estey Publicity and Promotion (508) 451-5246 / e-mail: TJE64464@aol.com Booking Agent: Steve Butler, Mighty Music Corp (718) 682-3611 / e-mail: mightymusiccorp@aim.com
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E-mail:
jazz@nickcolionne.com
Management:
Carol Ray, On The Edge Productions 847-359-9941
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