All Is Merry & Bright: New Holiday Album By Donald Vega

December 9, 2024

Grammy nominated pianist and composer Donald Vega is getting into the holiday spirit early this year with his new album All is Merry and Bright;(Imagery, 2024). Recorded, Mixed & Mastered in DigitaleXtreme Definition (352.8kHz/32bit) in both stereo and immersive sound, with Multi GRAMMY-Winner Engineer &Producer Jim Anderson. The 2023 Guggenheim Fellow and Juilliard Professor shared his ...

Kate DeL

KATE DEL is a highly versatile and accomplished vocalist and recording artist based in the North East Ohio area, where she has built a distinguished career in the music industry. A cornerstone of her local music scene, Kate performs regularly with Backbeat, a premier wedding and event band, and has earned acclaim for her exceptional talent and diverse musical expertise. Her journey as a professional musician is deeply rooted in a rich family heritage of musicianship.

Kate’s musical education began at the age of eight, and from an early stage, her passion for music became evident. Her formative years were shaped by her involvement in a Grammy Award-winning high school music program, which ignited her desire to pursue music professionally. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from the Dana School of Music at Youngstown State University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Findlay. At Youngstown State, she studied classical voice performance, music education, and minored in French horn, further broadening her musical proficiency.

Russ Lorenson

Born: July 5, 1963

A terrific voice. Charisma to spare. A delightful raconteur. Impeccable musical taste and vocal phrasing. Unassuming nice guy. They all apply to Russ Lorenson, whose burnished tenor has thrilled audiences throughout the US and Europe.

Since his breakout club debut in 2005, Russ Lorenson has established a reputation as one of the San Francisco Bay Area’s leading interpreters of jazz standards.  As a singer, he is equally at home whether entertaining a concert hall audience or performing in the more intimate cabaret setting.  With comparisons to Tony Bennett, Mel Tormé, and Chet Baker, Lorenson has a voice one savors and remembers. It's no wonder he's called "San Francisco's Favorite Crooner."

Karen Stachel

Born: October 3

Karen Stachel is an American Flutist, concentrating on jazz and classical music. She co-leads a jazz band, LehCats with her husband Norbert Stachel and has collaborated in performances and recordings with notable musicians from the jazz and classical music world, notably Wallace Roney, Bob Weir and Rat Dog, Buster Williams, Lenny White, Barry Harris and others. The Wallace Roney Orchestra was developed to showcase music written by Wayne Shorter. This music was never recorded. In the spring of 2016, the 24 orchestra recorded this huge score at Water Music in Hoboken, New Jersey. It will be released early 2017

Soaring Music Is Excited To Pursue Its Song's Christmas Canon Destiny

November 3, 2022

New Christmas Song Released A cherished '50s Christmas song that only a few have heard. “In 2020, preceding the first pandemic holidays, SMP released the original 2004 production of Charles's 'I Want a Doll' to help make the season bright, intending to put smiles on faces in a world that needed a good reason to smile." ...

New Christmas Song Release by Donna Courtell

December 7, 2021

Donna Courtell playfully sings “I Want a Doll," according to Greg Nathan, Owner/President of Soaring Music Publications, label for the new Christmas song. Ms. Courtell has been a champion of the Great American Songbook throughout her live-performing career. She is the only vocal artist to record “I Want a Doll." Reed-man Paul Biondi has roots in ...

Prolific Singer-Songwriter Paul Kelly Readies 22-Track 'Christmas Train' Collection For November 19 Via Gawd Aggie / Cooking Vinyl

November 18, 2021

As he gathered the material for his first Christmas album, Paul Kelly soon realized that a collection of 10 seasonal standards could never cover the richness he wanted to convey. He knew he wanted to make a record that drew out all the emotions and layers of the Christmas story, and in a way that reflected ...

Gap Mangione: Family Holidays

December 10, 2018

Each December for the past 11 years, I've carefully chosen a different album for inclusion in my annual JazzWax Vintage Holiday Album Hall of Fame. I established this yule honor in 2008 to steer you to great favorites that may be unknown to you or merely forgotten. My holiday fave this year is Gap Mangione's Family ...

Holiday 2017 I – Georg Frederic Handel’s "Messiah"

by C. Michael Bailey
December 2, 2017

A banner year for Handel's warhourse. Charlesworth, Rupert; Wolf, Andreas; Niquet, Hervé; Concert Spirituel Chorus; Pichanick, Anthea; Piau, Sandrine; Concert Spirituel Orchestra; Katherine Watson Messiah. HWV 56 (1754 Version) Alpha Records 2017 The past several years has seen provocative French productions of Handel's flagship Messiah. These include Benoit Haller's ...

"Baby, It's Cold Outside" by Frank Loesser

by Tish Oney
December 1, 2017

A host of seasonal songs may be categorized correctly as standards, and this well-known piece is no exception. “Baby, It's Cold Outside" is particularly noteworthy in that, in North America, it fits any month between mid-autumn and early spring. This makes the song particularly versatile as a seasonal favorite--I personally have performed it at Christmastime, at ...