Smooth Summer Jazz Festival 2016
Many Jazz festivals are weekend affairs, featuring ten artists or more over a span of three days. While this is a great format, there will be times where you cannot attend all three days, so you have to determine which day you want to go. Of course, there will be an artist or two that you will miss…..such a bummer.
The Smooth Summer Jazz Festival 2016 is a “mini” festival….A one night only affair on Sunday, August 28 at the Hollywood Bowl. This is a great venue to watch a show, and the lineup is also top-notch.
George Benson will be headlining the show, and for good reason: The legend is a ten-time Grammy award winner, National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, and of course he can play the guitar a little bit! You know the hits; This Masquerade, Give Me the Night, The Greatest Love of All, On Broadway, and the countless others. The fact that Benson can seamlessly transition from vocal songs to instrumentals is a major part of his success.
Fun Fact: Give Me The Night was written by Rod Temperton, the Heatwave keyboardist who also wrote the Heatwave hits, Stomp by the Brother’s Johnson, Razzamatazz and The Secret Garden for Quincy Jones, and also Rock With You, Off The Wall, and Thriller by some guy named Michael Jackson.
The Average White Band will also take the stage. They will be providing the funk for the evening with classics such as A Love of Your Own, Pick
Up the Pieces, and Cut the Cake.
Jeff Lorber Fusion is also on the bill. This group has been together in some form since 1977, and have recorded nine albums. If you like Jazz Fusion, they are definitely at the top of the list.
To Grover With Love, featuring Jason Miles will round out the lineup. This is a tribute to the late Grover Washington, Jr. The album of the 
same name was released in 2001, and it features Smooth Jazz heavyweights Russ Freeman, Dave Koz, George Duke, Chaka Khan, Regina Belle, and others.
If you want to experience a night of Smooth Jazz with some R&B, this is the show you want to see!