Dave Sanborn

As music director for Dave Koz and keyboardist for such icons as Teena Marie and Janet Jackson, Brian Simpson has earned a stellar reputation for his funky grooves and brilliant melodies. He is a nominee for the 2010 American Smooth Jazz Awards Keyboardist of the Year and, as music director of the Smooth Jazz Cruise, appears before thousands of fans as he performs with such greats as Smokey Robinson, Dave Sanborn, Boney James and many more! As the buildup for the release of South Beach continues, Brian will be featured on the Smooth Jazz Top 20 countdown which reaches over 50 major markets. In addition, a national tour is being booked in support of the release. Brian will be featured on the Dave Koz radio broadcast and will be the featured performer at the American Smooth Jazz Awards Show in October. Highlights include the smash hit radio single "South Beach," a slammin' duet with groovemaster George Duke on "Fire Sign" plus the exquisite "Summer Song," featuring the acoustic guitar of Peter White.

Returning to solo recording almost immediately after forming Utopia, Todd Rundgren continued with the synth-heavy prog rock he pioneered with Todd Rundgren's Utopia on Initiation. The differences immediately resonate with "Real Man," a terrific song that encapsulates not only his newfound fondness for electronics, but also his burgeoning spirituality and his knack for pop craft. "Real Man" is so good, it's tempting to believe that the remainder of Initiation will follow in the same direction, resulting in an inspired, truly progressive fusion of classic Rundgren and synthesizers. As soon as the second track, an a cappella vocoder opus called "Born to Synthesize," it's clear that Rundgren has no intention of following that path, choosing to push the limits of synth technology and recorded music instead of constructing an album. Initiation suffers accordingly. At times, particularly on the first, song-oriented side, it is pretty intriguing, but too often, the results are simply frustrating because it doesn't go anywhere. That's particularly true with "A Treatise on Cosmic Fire," a half-hour "suite" that comprises all of side two and doesn't really go anywhere, despite hitting many stops along the way. It's enough to erase the memory of "Real Man," "Eastern Intrigue" and "Initiation," the moments where it all comes together on the first half of the record, but another spin of the first side reveals that Rundgren could have made Initiation something special if he had the discipline.

The Peterson Brothers - keyboard player Ricky, bass player Billy, drummer / guitar player Paul and their nephew, saxophonist Jason - are true brothers in arms, Minneapolis institutions, members and survivors of that city's musical revolution. They lay the music out like an uptown groove buffet.

Studio and session guitarist Joe Beck was best known for hits when backing vocalist Esther Phillips on Kudu in the '70s. During the '80s he made a series of competent fusion and pop/jazz recordings for DMP and had a big hit recording with Dave Sanborn on CTI in 1975. His career continued into the '90s and beyond with albums like 1991's Relaxin', 1997's Alto and his 2000 collaboration with Jimmy Bruno, Polarity.