50th Anniversary of Radio Caroline

Happy 50th may we always remember! You outlasted them all!….
"Hello everyone, this is Simon Dee from Radio Caroline on 199 metres in the medium waveband, your all day music station.."  and so it began!

Radio Caroline was begun by Irish musician manager and businessman Ronan O'Rahilly. O'Rahilly failed to obtain airplay on Radio Luxembourg for Georgie Fame's records because its airtime was committed to sponsored programmes promoting the major record labels; EMI, Decca, Pye and Philips.

Encouraged by the presence of the Scandinavian and Dutch pirates, Ronan O'Rahilly raised the capital to purchase a suitable vessel. In February 1964, O'Rahilly obtained the 702-ton former Danish passenger ferry, Fredericia, which was converted into a radio ship at the Irish port of Greenore, owned by O'Rahilly's father. At the same time, Allan Crawford's Project Atlanta organisation was equipping the MV Mi Amigo at Greenore, where the two competed to be first on air.

Financial backing for the venture came from six investors, including John Sheffield, chairman of Norcross, Carl "Jimmy" Ross owner of Ross Foods, Jocelyn Stevens of Queen magazine, with which Radio Caroline shared its first office. O'Rahilly named the station after Caroline Kennedy, daughter of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. On a fund-raising trip to the US, O'Rahilly reportedly saw a Life Magazine photograph of Kennedy and his children in the Oval Office that served as the inspiration for the name "Caroline Radio". In an extant photo, Caroline Kennedy and her brother, John F. Kennedy Jr., are apparently dancing in the oval office as their father looks on, an activity which O'Rahilly reportedly interpreted as a playful disruption of government.

First transmissions

The Fredericia was renamed MV Caroline and was anchored off Felixstowe, where it began test transmissions on Friday, 27 March 1964. On Saturday, 28 March, it began regular programming at noon on 197 metres (1520 kHz, announced as 199 metres) with the official opening being conducted by Simon Dee. The first programme, which was pre-recorded, was hosted by Chris Moore. Radio Caroline's first musical theme was Jimmy McGriff's "Round Midnight", a jazz standard co-composed by Thelonious Monk. In March 1964, Birmingham band The Fortunes recorded the song Caroline, which later became the station's theme song. Round Midnight was confined to close down on Radio Caroline North after The World Tomorrow programme. The station's slogan was Your all-day music station, and it initially broadcast from 6am-6pm, seven days a week.

Radio Caroline announced a wavelength of 199 metres, rhyming with the station's name, but was actually on 197.3 metres (1520 kHz). The Dutch offshore station Radio Veronica was on 192 metres (1562 kHz). Radio Atlanta broadcast on 201 metres (1495 kHz).
Radio Caroline's power was almost 20 kW, achieved by linking two 10 kW Continental Electronics transmitters together. Broadcasting hours were between 6 am and 6 pm to avoid competition from Radio Luxembourg. After its 6 pm close-down, the station returned to the air at 8 pm and continued until after midnight. This was to avoid direct competition with popular television programmes. Most of Radio Caroline's pop music programmes were aimed at housewives. Later, children were targeted. Without serious competition, Radio Caroline quickly gained a daytime audience of several million listeners.

Merger with Radio Atlanta

On 2 July 1964, Radio Atlanta and Radio Caroline's companies, Project Atlanta and Planet Productions Ltd., announced that the stations were to be merged, with Crawford and O'Rahilly as joint managing directors. At 8pm that day, Radio Atlanta closed. It was re-branded Radio Caroline South and MV Mi Amigo remained off Frinton-on-Sea while MV Caroline would broadcast as Radio Caroline North. MV Caroline sailed from Felixstowe around the coast of Great Britain to the Isle of Man, broadcasting as she went. The only broadcast staff on board were Tom Lodge and Jerry Leighton. MV Caroline arrived at her new anchorage on 13 July 1964. The two stations were thus able to cover most of the British Isles. Later, some programmes were pre-recorded on land and broadcast simultaneously from both ships.
In October 1965, O'Rahilly bought Crawford's interest in the MV Mi Amigo and engaged Tom Lodge from Radio Caroline North to make programming changes and regain the audience from Radio London. Lodge hired a new group of deejays and introduced a free-form style of programming which, by August 1966, had succeeded, creating an audience numbering 23 million.

When Radio London arrived off the coast of England, there was an unsuccessful attempt to merge the sales operation of this station with the Caroline organization before Radio London commenced transmissions.

Broadcasting personnel

Radio Caroline's first programme, broadcast on 28 March 1964, was presented by Chris Moore. Presenters Tony Blackburn, Tom Lodge, Ray Teret, Roger Day, Simon Dee, Tony Prince, Spangles Muldoon, Keith Skues, Johnnie Walker, Robbie Dale, Dave Lee Travis, Tommy Vance, Tony Prince, Bob Stewart and Andy Archer became well known. Some DJs from the USA and Commonwealth countries, such as Graham Webb, Tom Lodge, Emperor Rosko, Steve Young, Keith Hampshire, Colin Nicol and Norman St John, were also heard. DJ Jack Spector, of the WMCA "Good Guys" in New York, regularly recorded a programme for Radio Caroline. Syndicated shows from the US and pre-recorded religious programmes were also broadcast. BBC Radio 2 newsreader Colin Berry and Classic FM's Nick Bailey started their careers reading the news on Radio Caroline South.

In mid-September 1965, the crew and DJs on MV Mi Amigo were joined for the weekend by 1960s pop singer Sylvan Whittingham, who visited the ship to promote her single "We Don't Belong". Wittingham was unable to leave on the tender when a storm arose. The only singer to stay overnight, she helped present programmes, make jingles, and close the station down at night.

Featured Artist: Abe Lyman

Remembering the greats of the 20's and the 30's, starting with one of the greatest!

Abe Lyman was born Abraham Simon Lyman on 4 August 1897 in Chicago, Illinois. According to manager and booking agent Harrison Smith in Record Research magazine no. 16 (1958) his family name really was Lymon, but apparently both Abe and his brother Mike changed this to Lyman because it sounded better. Abe learned to play drums at a young age and by the age of fourteen had a job playing drums at the Colonial Café in Chicago. He also worked in the Chicago movie houses, but later he said he did this without pay, just to see the movies. Here he saw the early comic actors like Buster Keaton and Fatty Arbuckle and film cowboy Tom Mix.

His brother Mike had left Chicago for Los Angeles and this would prove to be an important factor in Abe's future career as well. How this may have happened was told more than fifty years later by British, but American-born, bandleader Roy Fox in his autobiography 'Hollywood, Mayfair and All That Jazz' (Leslie Frewin, London, 1975). Fox, born in Denver, Colorado in 1901, had already gained a few years of experience as a trumpeter in California when, one evening in 1918, he was approached by Mike Lyman and Mark Fisher, a dance band leader. Lyman told him he was going to open the "finest night club in the country" in Santa Monica, near Hollywood. The name would be The Sunset Inn and Mike's brother Abe was coming from Chicago to lead the band.

Towards his own band
The precise details of the personnel of Lyman's first band is still a subject of research - research not only around the activities of the early Lyman band, but also those of Paul Whiteman and Art Hickman with whose groups there was considerable interchanging of personnel. We are very pleased to have received some additional information from Marilyn Fletcher daughter of Gus Mueller, the New Orleans clarinet player, who joined Lyman in 1920.
Probably holding the trombone chair in Lyman's first band was Albert 'Buster' Johnson. Before he joined Lyman in 1918 he had been a member of the Frisco Jass Band with Rudy Wiedoeft and pianist and future bandleader E. Arnold Johnson. With this group he made several excellent sides for Edison in 1917. He subsequently joined a five piece group that included Henry Busse on trumpet, Gus Mueller on clarinet and one Al Conklin on piano. However in September 1918, just before the war was over, Gus was drafted into the army. The next year, 1919, he was back in California and, with Busse, played in a band at the famous Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. On 20 December of that year Mueller, Busse and Johnson copyrighted the tune that was to become a great hit a little later, Wang Wang Blues.

Later that year, news had got around that a new band was coming to Los Angeles. This was Paul Whiteman's new band, which was opening at the Alexandria Hotel. Paul was following the trend started by another dance bandleader, Art Hickman, who was the first to incorporate a saxophone section into his band. Like Hickman, Whiteman's band included two reed players, Leslie Canfield and Charles Dornberger. It also included Gus Mueller's buddies Henry Busse and Buster Johnson which made it attractive for Gus to join too, which he did in February 1920. A little later Whiteman accepted an offer from S.W. Straus, owner of the Alexandria, to take his band East to supply music at his new hotel in Atlantic City, The Ambassador. Johnson and Mueller left Whiteman after only half a year in the East. During that short period they participated in Paul Whiteman's first recordings, including the hits Japanese Sandman and Whispering, along with their own composition Wang Wang Blues.

In his book "Jazz" Paul Whiteman relates why Gus left: "he was wonderful on the clarinet and the saxophone, but he couldn't read a line of music. I tried to teach him, but he wouldn't try to learn I couldn't understand why he was so lazy or stubborn he said he was neither. "It's like this", he confided one day. "I knew a boy once down in N'Awleens that was a hot player, but he learned to read music and the he couldn't play jazz anymore. I don't want to be like that." In his book, Whiteman continues the story on Gus like this: "A little later, Gus came to say he was quitting. I was sorry and asked what was the matter. He stalled around a while and then burst out: "Nuh, Suh, I jes' can't play that "pretty music" that you all play. And you fellers can't never play blues worth a damn!"

Around September 1920 Gus was back in Los Angeles. It was probably about this time when he and Buster Johnson joined Abe Lyman. In L.A. he would also meet another old friend, trumpeter Ray Lopez. Gus and Ray had been members of the first jazz band to leave New Orleans, Brown's Band From Dixieland, who traveled North to Chicago in May1915 to play in Lamb's Cafe. Ray's story was told in detail by Dick Holbrook in Storyville magazine in 1976/1977. From 1917 onwards Lopez had been part of singer Blossom Seeley's act. He told Holbrook that Seeley never had time for any recording as long as Ray was in her group and she did not allow any recording activities on the side either. He recounted an occasion when Seeley was in New York on the Orpheum Circuit on the same bill as Vi Quinn, a dancer/entertainer who was backed by a group that would become famous as the Original Memphis Five. Their leader Phil Napoleon asked Ray to join them on a recording date, but Seeley would not permit him to do so.

In June 1920 Mike Lyman sent Ray a telegram with an invitation to join Abe's band, which was to open at the Sunset (or rather a re-open, unless Roy Fox was two years off in his memory). In the same telegram Mike asked Ray for a suggestion for a trombone player, the position probably being taken by Buster Johnson. Ray took the trumpet job and joined the band in the late autumn of 1920.

By this time Lyman's band was coming into shape. He now had a nine-piece group, probably consisting of Roy Fox and Ray Lopez, trumpets, Buster Johnson, trombone, Gus Mueller, reeds, Louis Garcia, violin, Henry Cohen, piano, Jake Garcia, bass, Charlie Pierce, banjo, and Abe himself on drums. Pianist Henry Cohen was to gain fame as the composer of Canadian Capers and was killed in 1933 when his car was struck by a train whilst he was playing at the Chicago World's Fair.

Towards fame
The Orpheum Circuit was based on the West Coast, and so it is no surprise that one day in 1921, Vi Quinn and her little jazz band came Los Angeles. A row developed among the bandsmen for reasons which have never clearly been substantiated which brought the act to an end, and one member of the jazz band decided to stay a while in sunny California. This was trombonist Miff Mole, who joined Abe Lyman's band when Roy, Ray and Gus were members. Talking about Ray Lopez, Roy Fox relates in his book that "he handled the jazz and I played "sweet", and "when he and Miff and Gussie "busked" a few choruses it was something I'll never forget". Miff soon tired of Los Angeles and stayed only for a short time, and was probably replaced by Vic Smith.

The Sunset was a success for both Lyman brothers. All the movie stars came to see and be seen. The stars that Abe Lyman had seen on screen in the Chicago movie theatres only a few years earlier were the nightly guests. People like Mary Pickford, Norma Talmadge, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd. Unfortunately for everybody, this came to a stop when the Fatty Arbuckle and Wallace Reid scandals broke and movie stars had to sign contracts with severe moral clauses which, temporarily at least, drove them away from the night spots. Consequently Mike Lyman had to close the Sunset Inn. Things looked dark for a while, but luck returned when Abe got a contract to play in the Cocoanut Grove in the beautiful Ambassador Hotel. One of the conditions was that he would add a saxophone and a violin player. They opened on 1 April 1922. Publicity had been effective; on the opening night there were an estimated 1500 guests in the Grove and 500 more outside. The Ambassador was a top location for a many year - it was here that kings and presidents would stay in the company of famous movie stars and other famous personalities. From Charles Lindbergh and John Barrymore to Nikita Kruschev and the Queen of the Netherlands, the Ambassador boasted an impressive guest list.

Featured Artist: Ben Tankard

Ben Tankard (born January 24, 1964) is a former professional basketball player and an American gospel, jazz keyboardist producer, songwriter and author. He and His wife, Jewel donate their time as non-salary senior pastors of Destiny Center Church of Murfreesboro,TN. Ben dropped out of college after one year to play minor league pro basketball in Canada (he also co-owned The Murfreesboro Musicians -a pro team in the World Basketball Association / WBA). He was invited to an NBA camp but was injured and cut. Ben "rebounded" from his basketball injury to become the best selling musician known as the pioneer and Godfather of Gospel/Jazz music (multiple Gold and Platinum Records). He is also a guest motivational speaker for the NBA's D-League, Suit designer (Big & Tall), Record Label President, Aircraft Pilot/Owner, and Reality TV co-star with his own new show on Bravo - Thicker Than Water:The Tankards, which premiered November 10, 2013 and has made history as one of the network's highest rated new series with over two million weekly viewers.

On August 21, 2013 Tankard was nominated for three Gospel Music Dove Awards. This marks first time in Dove Award history that an Instrumentalist has been nominated for this many categories. These nominations were for Tankard's most recent CD release 'Full Tank" and the categories included : Contemporary Gospel/Urban Song of the Year, Contemporary Gospel/Urban Album of the Year, and Instrumental Album of the Year.

Ben Tankard discovered Yolanda Adams, signed her to his independent record label, Tribute Records (Ben-Jamin' Universal Music) and produced several of her earlier works. Tankard has also recorded a series of well received instrumental solo albums and soundtracks, with music styles ranging from pop to R&B to smooth jazz. Tankard was the first artist to dedicate complete instrumental albums to a mixture of gospel and jazz, thus the term "GospelJazz".

Since he came on the scene in 1990 Ben's musical accomplishments have earned him a total of three Grammy nominations, eleven Dove Award nominations, and twelve Stellar Awards including 2010's "Best Instrumental Album" for his Mercy, Mercy, Mercy CD. This high charting release featured an instrumental remake of the Chris Tomlin Christian hit song, "How Great Is Our God". Though many of Tankard's releases have received heavy rotation on gospel and smooth jazz stations, The Weather Channel, XM Satellite Radio and cable TV's Music Choice, Mercy, Mercy, Mercy was the first CD in the history of Billboard Magazine to chart on the gospel, contemporary jazz, and jazz chart all at the same time.

With his ability to assemble stellar talent for his recordings, Tankard has been also been called the "Quincy Jones of Gospel", and is the bestselling gospeljazz instrumentalist in the world with 16 solo albums to his credit. In addition to his extensive work with Yolanda Adams, Tankard has produced and collaborated with several other Grammy Award winning, gold and platinum artists including, Take 6, Fred Hammond, Kelly Price, John P. Kee, Shirley Murdock, Twinkie Clark and Gerald Albright. He has earned 15 Gold and 6 Platinum records in his two decades in the music business.

Now, based in Murfreesboro, TN (near Nashville), Tankard is an avid aviator and instrument rated pilot. He flies to most of his concerts on his own fleet of airplanes. His favorite aircraft is the Pilatus PC-12. Ben flies the following planes: Cessna Businessliner- 401A / N401BT and Cessna Skyrocket 337C / N2469S. He also has FAA registration N number reserved for the Pilatus PC12: N192PC. He makes over 100 special appearances and concerts each year including, Jazz Festivals, Gospel Explosions, and corporations. He shares the joy of flight with young children through his Urban Eagles outreach program. Since 2012 he has worked with the NBA on special projects as a musician and speaker. He provides support for the NY based NBA League office player development division and his role allows him to share his success stories and show the players "how to have a life outside of basketball". In his motivational sessions with the younger D-League players, Ben often plays a smoothjazz mini-concert from the piano as the players write out their goals and plans.

Tankard married Jewel LaGreen on January 27, 2000. They have a blended family five children (Marcus, Brooklyn, Britney, Benji, and Cyrene), two daughter-in-laws (Latisha and Shanira) and one grandchild (Diamond). Having both been survivors of divorce, the Tankards often speak on TV and at national conferences on marriage and the blended family. In 2002, The Tankard's launched Destiny Center Church in Murfreesboro, TN which is also the national headquarters for Tribute Records/Ben-Jamin'. Destiny Center is one of the fastest growing churches in the Mid-State.

On July 16, 2011 Tankard was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for Musical Excellence as an artist, producer, and songwriter by The Atlanta Gospel-fest. Ben Tankard is also a noted speaker and has spoken at major venues and events for the National Basketball Association, Joel Osteen, and Bishop T.D. Jakes amongst others.

Tankard's eighteenth studio album, the highly anticipated " Ben Tankard / Full Tank " was released on June 5, 2012 on his revamped Tribute Records (Ben-Jamin' Universal Music & Film) label. It features music from legendary producer-songwriters, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and special guest appearances by Mark Kibble / Take 6, & Gerald Albright. The lead single from this release, " Sunday Vibes " featuring Tim Bowman on guitar, was released on May 20 and quickly became the #1 most played song on Watercolors (Sirius XM). The CD debuted its first week on the Billboard and Amazon.com top sellers charts in three categories: Jazz, Gospel and Southern Gospel, a first for Tankard in that genre.

In September of 2012, Ben Tankard / Full Tank was nominated by the Soul Train Music Awards for Best Contemporary Jazz Artist and the Stellar Awards for Best Urban Contemporary Performance.
In October of 2012, Ben Tankard / Full Tank appeared on the Grammy Award ballot for Six (6) Grammy Awards. They included: Pop Instrumental Album, Improvised Jazz Solo, Instrumental Composition, Instrumental Arrangement, and Instrumental Arrangement for vocal and Engineered Album.

This was also a "first" for Tankard and a major accomplishment for his independent record label to have so many appearances on the Grammy ballot at once time. On March 1, 2013, Ben's new single (title cut) " Full Tank " hit the top five Smoothjazz charts and Billboard harts. He was also nominated for a " BlueMic " award and won it for Best Instrumental Artist on July 12, 2013 at the Gospel BlueMic Awards in Chesapeake,VA.

On April 3, 2013, Bravo cable network announced that Ben Tankard and family had been cast for Thicker Than Water: The Tankards, a new reality show that showcases Tankard's family life, music career, business ventures, passion for aviation, and his role as a motivational speaker with the National Basketball Association (NBA) and his true passion : ministry. When asked how the reality show will look, Ben responds: " With a wonderful blended family this big, there is sure to be much excitement going on all the time at the Tankard Palace. I would say this show is a comedic cross between Bill Cosby and the Brady Bunch with a twist......Watch What Happens ". The International Black Film Festival presented a screening of the first episode " Family Ties " to a standing room only crowd on November 2, 2013 at Nashville's Country Music Hall Of Fame. The response was tremendous. The show airs in N. America, on Bravo TV Sunday nights at 9/8c.

Featured Artist: Marion Meadows

Meadows is an American Saxophonist, composer, and smooth jazz recording artist of Native American, African American and Caucasian descent. Meadows has released a total of 9 albums to date. Meadows was born in West Virginia and grew up in Stamford, Connecticut. He began playing the clarinet and studying classical music at the age of eight. In high school, Meadows began to play the soprano saxophone and played tenor through most of his college years. His passion for music led him to appreciate the work of many jazz musicians such as Stevie Wonder and Duke Ellington.

After studying jazz with Anthony Truglia, Meadows attended Berklee College of Music, where he majored in arranging and composition. He later went to the SUNY Purchase School for the Arts, where he studied under Ron Herder. During college, Meadows was with a band called the Aboriginal Music Society. Meadows was playing in Grand Central Station and Jay Chattaway who was working with Bob James at the time introduced himself and later signed Marion to his record label, TappanZee. Although Meadows’ first recording went unreleased, the experience of recording with Bob James put him on the road to his eventual success.

Meadows collaborated up with numerous artists and musicians in the 80s, recording or performing over the years with Brook Benton, Eartha Kitt, Phyllis Hyman, Jean Carne, The Temptations, Michael Bolton, Angela Bofill, Will Downing and Native American flute player Douglas Spotted Eagle, among others. You can hear Marion's Music right here on the Island 24/7.

Featured Artist: Wynton Learson Marsalis

Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is a trumpeter, composer, teacher, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City, United States. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences. Marsalis has been awarded nine Grammys in both genres, and a jazz recording of his was the first of its kind to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music.

Marsalis is the son of jazz musician Ellis Marsalis, Jr. (pianist), grandson of Ellis Marsalis, Sr., and brother of Branford (saxophonist), Delfeayo (trombonist), Mboya, and Jason (drummer). Marsalis was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on October 18, 1961, the second of six sons of Dolores (née Ferdinand) and Ellis Louis Marsalis, Jr., a pianist and music professor. At an early age, he exhibited an aptitude for music. At age eight, he performed traditional New Orleans music in the Fairview Baptist Church band led by banjoist Danny Barker, and at 14, he performed with the New Orleans Philharmonic. During high school, Marsalis performed with the New Orleans Symphony Brass Quintet, New Orleans Community Concert Band, New Orleans Youth Orchestra, New Orleans Symphony, various jazz bands and with a local funk band, the Creators.

Marsalis graduated from Benjamin Franklin High School with a 3.98 GPA. At age 17, he was the youngest musician admitted to Tanglewood's Berkshire Music Center, where he won the school's Harvey Shapiro Award for outstanding brass student. He moved to New York City to attend Juilliard in 1979, and picked up gigs around town. During this period, Marsalis received a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts to spend time and study with trumpet innovator Woody Shaw, one of Marsalis' major influences at the time. In 1980, he joined the Jazz Messengers led by Art Blakey. In the years that followed, Marsalis performed with Sarah Vaughan, Dizzy Gillespie, Sweets Edison, Clark Terry, Sonny Rollins, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams and countless other jazz musicians.

In 1995, PBS premiered Marsalis on Music, an educational television series on jazz and classical music hosted and written by Marsalis. Also, in 1995, National Public Radio aired the first of Marsalis' 26-week series, entitled Making the Music. His radio and television series were awarded the George Foster Peabody Award. Marsalis has also written five books: Sweet Swing Blues on the Road, Jazz in the Bittersweet Blues of Life, To a Young Musician: Letters from the Road, Jazz ABZ (an A to Z collection of poems celebrating jazz greats), and his most recent release Moving to Higher Ground: How Jazz Can Change Your Life.[citation needed] There is a Language Arts study guide available for Moving to Higher Ground: How Jazz Can Change Your Life for high school English teachers who desire to integrate the arts into their classrooms. It is aligned to the Common Core State Standards and has audio and visual supplemental materials.

In 1987, Marsalis co-founded a jazz program at Lincoln Center. In July 1996, Jazz at Lincoln Center was installed as a new constituent of Lincoln Center. In October 2004, Marsalis opened Frederick P. Rose Hall, the world's first institution for jazz containing three performance spaces (including the first concert hall designed specifically for jazz), along with recording, broadcast, rehearsal and educational facilities. Marsalis presently[when?] serves as Artistic Director for Jazz at Lincoln Center and Music Director for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. One of his most recent releases was a 2011 collaboration with blues-rock guitarist Eric Clapton, a Jazz at Lincoln Center concert that produced the live album Wynton Marsalis & Eric Clapton Play the Blues.

In December 2011, Marsalis was named cultural correspondent for the new CBS This Morning. Wynton's Music can be heard right here on Island Radio - Online.

Featured Artist: Joyce Cooling

One of the Bay Area's premier guitarists and most popular performers for over a decade, Joyce Cooling's Playing It Cool is a dazzling showcase of her eclectic approach to music. Drawing upon a wide palette of influences ranging from acclaimed Brazilian guitarist/singer/songwriter João Bosco to outstanding Texas bluesman Stevie Ray Vaughan, a typical Cooling performance usually combines jazz, pop, funk, and R&B with a smattering of worldbeat.

Playing It Cool, her Heads Up International debut album, produced and co-arranged with her longtime musical partner, keyboardist Jay Wagner became a favorite of smooth jazz world enthusiasts. The first radio single, "South of Market," soared to number one in the country on both the Gavin Report's and Radio & Records' smooth jazz charts holding the position for five consecutive weeks. Cooling was nominated for the Gavin Smooth Jazz Artist of the Year, named the Jazz Trax Debut Artist of the Year, and was voted Best New Artist in the smooth jazz category of a Jazziz Readers Poll. Playing It Cool, which is an enhanced CD has several standout tracks: the chugging "Carrie" that sounds similar to a Paul Hardcastle track; the snappy "Coasting"; "Aint Life Grand" with an acoustic bass tone that has rumbling stride similar to the bass line on Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean"; with solid blocked piano chords and bluesy, Wes Montgomery-like guitar lines, "Before Dawn" is in the same vein; and Cooling takes a turn at vocals on "Simple Kind of Love," which has a Michael Franks flavor.

Considering the great variety of music, her large family surrounded her back East in the New York City area, Cooling couldn't help but have such a wide love of different types of music. Her mother was a classical buff, one brother was a hard rocker, a cousin was into funk and pop. She dabbled in keyboards and percussion before settling on guitar. Her mind made up in part when she heard Wes Montgomery's solo on "If You Could See Me Now." A glance at Cooling's massive record collection would turn up everyone from Bill Evans to Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis and Wes Montgomery to João Gilberto.

While music was a passionate part of Cooling's life, a career as a musician only took root after she moved to California and began hanging around outside an African drumming class taught by C.K. Ladzekpo, a renowned Ghanaian percussionist. She was entranced by the intricate polyrhythms, being an enthusiastic student, while she worked at every kind of part-time odd job in order to be able to be a musician. Her introduction to Jay Wagner, a keyboardist on San Francisco's Brazilian circuit, gave her the energy that her developing chops needed; before long, she was playing that circuit herself and working with Wagner on a full-time basis.

Becoming a top attraction on the festival circuit, Cooling appeared at the JVC Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival ,the Stanford University Jazz Festival (a tribute concert with Stan Getz), and cities throughout the world including the Phillippines, Guadalajara, Mexico, and Colombia, and with such jazz giants as Joe Henderson, Airto, and Charlie Byrd.

Cooling released her first independent album Cameo in 1989, receiving high critical praise and a huge amount of regional airplay, including spins on 94.7 the Wave in Los Angeles and Bay Area stations KKSF and KBLX.

Also included on Playing It Cool are Cooling's bandmates, bassist Gary Calvin and drummer Billy Johnson. You can hear Joyce through the week on Island Radio - Online.

Featured Artist: Dave Koz

Dave Koz was born on March 27, 1963 in Encino, California. Koz attended William Howard Taft High School in Woodland Hills, California performing on saxophone as a member of the school jazz band. He later graduated from UCLA with a degree in mass communications in 1986, and only weeks after his graduation, decided to make a go of becoming a professional musician. Within weeks of that decision, he was recruited as a member of Bobby Caldwell's tour. For the rest of the 1980s, Koz served as a session musician in several bands, toured with Jeff Lorber. Koz was a member of Richard Marx's band and toured with Marx throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s. He also played in the house band of CBS' short-lived The Pat Sajak Show, with Tom Scott as bandleader.

In 1990, Koz decided to pursue a solo career, and began recording for Capitol Records. His albums there include Lucky Man, The Dance, and Saxophonic. Saxophonic was nominated for both a Grammy Award and an NAACP Image Award.
In 1994, Koz began hosting a syndicated radio program, The Dave Koz Radio Show (formerly Personal Notes), featuring the latest music and interviews with who's who in the genre. Dave co-hosted of The Dave Koz Morning Show With Pat Prescott on 94.7 The Wave, a smooth jazz station in Los Angeles for six years. He decided to leave the show in January 2007 and was replaced by Brian McKnight.

In 2002, Koz started a record label, Rendezvous Entertainment, with Frank Cody and Hyman Katz.

In an April 2004 interview with The Advocate, Koz came out publicly as a gay man. Later the same year, he was named by People magazine as one of their "50 Hottest Bachelors" in their June issueIn 2006, Koz was selected to host a syndicated afternoon show for Broadcast Architecture's new Smooth Jazz Network. The show, based in Los Angeles, is broadcast on other Smooth Jazz stations across the country. Koz and Ramsey Lewis are the only two Smooth Jazz personalities to host two different syndicated shows during the week.
Capitol Records/EMI's "Forever Cool" (2007) features Koz in a new arrangement of "Just in Time" with the voice of the late Dean Martin.

Koz has promoted annual Dave Koz & Friends Jazz Cruises since 2005.

Koz is the host of a weekly half-hour television series named Frequency put on by Fast Focus. Koz interviews musicians on the show such as Earth, Wind & Fire, Jonathan Butler, and Kelly Sweet. At the end of each interview, he plays along with the musician, adding some of his saxophone riffs to one of their hit songs.

Koz was also the bandleader on The Emeril Lagasse Show. The band, Dave Koz & The Kozmos, featured Jeff Golub (guitar), Philippe Saisse (keyboards), Conrad Korsch (bass guitar), and Skoota Warner (drums).

Koz plays a Yamaha silver alto sax (YAS-62S) with a No. 7 Beechler metal mouthpiece, a Yamaha straight silver Soprano sax (YSS-62S) or a vintage Conn curved soprano sax with a No. 8 Couf mouthpiece, and a Selmer Mark 6 Tenor sax with a Berg-Larsen 90/2 hard rubber mouthpiece. As for reeds, he uses size 3 Rico Plasticover.

On September 22, 2009, Koz received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In October 2010, Koz performed "Start All Over Again" in a Desperate Housewives season 7 episode "Let Me Entertain You", alongside singer Dana Glover.