Clearwater Smooth Jazz Jam Set for Ruth Eckerd Hall This May

Ruth Eckerd Hall and The Florida Smooth Jazz Foundation will present The 4th Annual Clearwater Smooth Jazz Jam on Saturday, May 30 at 7 pm and Sunday, May 31 at 7 pm. The line-up features Boney James, Norman Brown and David Benoit on May 30 and Brian Culbertson, RnR featuring Rick Braun & Richard Elliot and Mindi Abair on May 31. Single tickets and Two-Day Jam Passes go on sale Friday, February 13 at 10 am.

During his 30-year career, Boney James has released a staggering 19 studio albums – including a pair of Christmas records -with 1995's Seduction, 1997's Sweet Thing and 1999's Body Language all RIAA certified gold. In 2015, Boney's futuresoul spent 11 weeks atop the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart and was the best-selling Contemporary Jazz Record of 2015, while his 2020 album Solid went on to become his highest charting release ever on the pop charts, peaking in the Top 10 on the Billboard 200. With nearly a dozen of his albums having landed at #1 on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz Album chart, James' past collaborators include a Who's Who of R&B and soul: Raheem DeVaughn, Faith Evans, George Benson, George Duke, Dwele, Al Jarreau, Philip Bailey, Anthony Hamilton, Jaheim, Eric Benét, Dave Hollister, Stokley Williams, Kenny Lattimore,  Angie Stone, and Lalah Hathaway.

Over the course of crafting a 29-album catalog and architecting 40 Billboard #1 singles as a keyboardist, songwriter and producer, Brian Culbertson has charted his own unique course in music. Label him jazz and he makes a funk record. Call him an R&B artist and he drops an acoustic jazz trio collection. Brand him pop and he creates a 32-minute New Age opus. And you'd be hard pressed to name another instrumentalist of his ilk who can mount an elaborately designed concert production that will keep him on the road for three consecutive months. Culbertson burst onto the scene in 1994 with a chart-topping album that he recorded in his college apartment featuring keyboard-led contemporary jazz tracks. Long Night Out landed him a lengthy record deal and signaled that a star was born. Flash forward to present day, Culbertson has been going back and listening more and more to music that inspired him as a young musician such as David Sanborn, The Brecker Bros, Chick Corea, Al Jarreau, Pat Metheny, and others in the jazz fusion world.  

Born in Louisiana and raised in Kansas City, Norman Brown became interested in guitar at a young age when introduced to his older brother's six-string. Upon the discovery of Wes Montgomery, he was hooked on exploring the world of contemporary jazz. He first hit the scene in 1992 with Just Between Us, garnering praise and comparisons to legends like George Benson and Wes Mongomery himself. He continued with a steady string of well-received releases including Celebration in 1999, 2002's GRAMMY-award winning Just Chillin', and West Coast Coolin' in 2004. In the midst of this string of solo successes, he also joined forces with saxophonist Kirk Whalum and trumpeter Rick Braun and formed the group BWB.

The iconic pianist, composer, arranger, producer, film and TV scorer David Benoit, is a founding father of Contemporary Jazz, rooted in the tradition of Bill Evans and Dave Brubeck. Always one to break boundaries, Benoit has never been one to stay with one formula or style. He has consistently pushed the envelope, always drawing from his influences, which include jazz, film, comics, Broadway, symphonies and more. His fans love his magical soundtracks for the Peanuts television movies to garnering over 20 chart-topping radio hits and scoring music for films produced by Clint Eastwood, Sally Field and many others. His collaborations with such diverse artists as The Ripppingtons, Faith Hill, David Sanborn, Marc Antoine and Cece Winans have brought accolades from press and fans alike. His orchestra work with the Pacific Vision Youth Symphony (the orchestra he founded in 2001), the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Philippine Philharmonic are legendary.

Over three decades, 20+ albums and more than 20 #1 Billboard hits into one of contemporary jazz's most inspiring careers, Rick Braun remains a master of the trumpet and flugelhorn. His records have consistently ranked in the Top 10 of Billboard's Contemporary Jazz Chart, with Kisses in the Rain reigning at #1 for 11 weeks. The recipient of numerous awards, he shared a Best Collaboration honor with Boney James for their hit Shake It Up, and his duo project RnR with Richard Elliot also hit #1.

Richard Elliot has scored more than 20 Top 10 Smooth Jazz singles and #1 Contemporary Jazz albums. His debut solo album, Trolltown was released in 1986 and shortly thereafter he began a fruitful relationship with Bruce Lundvall and was signed to Blue Note Records. A few of his other stand out releases include 2016's Summer Madness albums including On The Town, Soul Embrace, After Dark, and Jumpin' Off. His 2013 collaboration with saxophonists Dave Koz, Gerald Albright and Mindi Abair, Summer Horns. Elliot's last record Authentic Life was released in 2021 and joined together an A-list line up including Rick Braun, Dave Koz, Jeff Lorber, Chris “Big Dog” Davis, Philippe Saisse and David Mann.

Two-time GRAMMY nominee Mindi Abair is a saxophonist, vocalist, and author of How To Play Madison Square Garden. You might know her as the featured saxophonist on American Idol, or from touring and/or recording with Aerosmith, Duran Duran, Gregg Allman, Smokey Robinson, and more. As a solo artist, she has consistently topped the Contemporary Jazz and Blues charts, earning her first GRAMMY nomination in 2014 for Summer Horns and her 2nd nomination in 2015 for her solo album Wild Heart.