Guitarist Marc Antoine’s Mediterraneo seduces radio, the album charts, fans & critics alike. Up next is a 21-date holiday concert tour throughout the U.S.
The new world music-influenced CD from Latin-jazz guitarist Marc Antoine, Mediterraneo, is romancing radio listeners, record buyers, concert goers and music critics from coast to coast. “Funky Picante,” the first single from the Paris-born, Madrid-based artist’s new collection, is spicing up the Top 20 on Radio & Records’ smooth jazz radio chart, while the album crashed the shores of Billboard’s Top 10 Contemporary Jazz Album Chart.
Antoine recently wrapped a six-week U.S. concert tour along with Dave Koz, Chris Botti and Jeff Lorber. Saxman Dave Koz happens to be the co-founder of Rendezvous Entertainment, the record label that released Antoine’s album this fall. Beginning the day after Thanksgiving, Antoine and Koz team with Chris Botti, Brian Culbertson and Bobby Caldwell for A Smooth Jazz Christmas, a solidly-booked concert trek comprised of 21 concerts in 19 cities in 24 days before Christmas. The stellar group of musicians will be performing holiday standards along with tracks from their current CDs and recent hits.
We can spend time hurling a bunch of colorful adjectives at you that aptly describe the Mediterraneo album, but you’re much better at that than we are so we’ll let you do it for us:
“He’s an amazingly gifted guitarist who plays in flamenco and Latin jazz styles with equal grade and aplomb, and his recordings are slick, sweet and lean heavily on the smooth jazz tip. That said, on Mediterraneo, his seventh album, there is some real fire in both material and playing… Ultimately, Mediterraneo is Antoine’s finest moment to date, and is indicative of the kinds of changes he’s moving toward as his grasp of his chosen music vocabularies grows and expands on that knowledge.” – All Music Guide
“…Marc Antoine commands your attention with a world beat in a sea of jazzy currents. The songs on the album are distinctly spicy. You can almost taste the flavors of a quaint café in Madrid or imagine yourself on a distant shore… Flamenco guitar, samplings of hip-hop, cool grooves and classical remembrances all combine into an intimate jazz excursion that will ignite your senses.” - JazzReview.com
“Flamenco-jazz guitarist Marc Antoine gives smooth jazz a good name. Mediterraneo shows that Antoine’s acoustic guitar chops have enough bite to steer his music beyond the blandness of so much smooth jazz. His phrasing is confident and laid back – he doesn’t need to fill every moment with notes. And his playing is infused with a subtle romanticism and hints of the exotic.” – Newark Star-Ledger
“Marc’s last album, Cruisin’, was fabulous, and he’s taking it up a notch here. Antoine penned ten of the eleven tracks… Mixing styles and influences, you’d think that Antoine was a world music artist, but the contemporary jazz radio format has championed him and made him a future smooth jazz legend.” – JazzUSA.com
“Mediterraneo certainly deserves a wide hearing. Released, Sept. 23, the album’s 11 tracks feature eight Antoine originals, including the accurately titled ‘Funky Picante,’ and the closing ode to his son, ‘Alejandro’s Lullaby.’ The sound throughout is lively, a blend of funk rhythms and flamenco guitar, Latin percussion and lovely ballads.” – Stockton Record
Celebrate A Smooth Jazz Christmas with Marc Antoine, Dave Koz, Chris Botti, Brian Culbertson and Bobby Caldwell on the following dates:
November 28 Lake Tahoe, NV Hyatt Regency
November 29 Long Beach, CA Terrace Theatre
November 30 Palm Springs, CA McCallum Theatre
December 1 Santa Barbara, CA Arlington Theatre
December 2 Fresno, CA Saroyan Theatre
December 3 San Diego, CA Symphony Hall
December 4 El Cajon, CA East County Performing Arts Center
December 5 Modesto, CA State Theatre
December 6 San Francisco, CA Masonic Temple
December 9 Cleveland, OH Playhouse Square
December 10 Cleveland, OH Mershon Theatre
December 11 Atlanta, GA Robert Ferst Center
December 12 Melbourne, FL Maxwell King Center
December 13 West Palm Beach, FL Pompano Beach Amphitheatre
December 14 Naples, FL Philharmonic Center for the Arts
December 16 Sarasota, FL Van Wezel Performing Arts Center
December 17 Clearwater, FL Ruth Eckerd Hall
December 18 Milwaukee, WI Riverside Theatre
December 19 & 20 Chicago, IL Chicago Theatre
December 21 Los Angeles, CA Kodak Theatre
Posted by Peter Böhi at November 14, 2003 6:10 AM