A LEGENDARY EVENING

Ronnie Laws is an award-winning tenor saxophonist and composer whose career has, since the early 1970s, straddled the worlds of jazz and R&B. Since 1975 he has placed seven albums in the Top 200 -- including his 1975 Blue Note debut Pressure Sensitive -- as well as tracks and albums in no less than six other categories. He has worked as an in-demand session man and live musician with a who's-who of jazz and R&B greats including Ramsey Lewis, Gregory Porter, B.B. King, George Duke, Quincy Jones, Stanley Jordan, and dozens more. Tom Browne was a familiar figure on the R&B charts during the 1979-1989 period when he was recording pop-oriented material for GRP and Arista. Browne studied piano for a year when he was 11 and then switched to trumpet, attending New York City's High School of Music and Art. Originally interested in classical music, Browne discovered jazz while in college in the mid-'70s. He worked with Sonny Fortune, recorded with Lonnie Smith, and then signed with GRP. Although influenced by Freddie Hubbard and occasionally recording a hard bop number, most of Browne's output during that era was clearly geared toward the marketplace. A commercial pilot, Browne largely dropped out of music by the late '80s, but came back in 1994 with a recording for Hip Bop in several settings that included the credible jazz date Another Shade of Browne, which made one wonder "What took so long?" The sister of flutist Hubert Laws, saxophonist Ronnie Laws, and vocalist Eloise Laws, singer Debra Laws performed and collaborated with a veritable who's-who of jazz, funk, and R&B segments of the recording industry. After she was featured on recordings by her brothers, as well as Richard Roundtree's The Man from Shaft and Aquarian Dream's Fantasy, she signed to Elektra, where she released the 1981 album Very Special. Produced by Hubert and Ronnie, it reached number 13 on Billboard's R&B chart, led by three charting singles, including the title song; a staple of the quiet storm radio format, the hit has been sampled for songs recorded by Big Daddy Kane, Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Lopez, and K. Michelle, among others. Though her career continued, she didn't release another album until 1993 -- Moments, for the Japanese Polystar label. Laws has performed in world-class concert halls and at some internationally renowned jazz festivals. Equally impressive are her numerous credits, including sessions for recordings by Jeffrey Osborne, Betty Wright, and Stevie Wonder. Guitarist Adam Hawley is a gifted performer, sideman, and educator, known for his lithe, groove-oriented approach to contemporary jazz and R&B. After working steadily for over a decade with many marquee jazz and pop artists, Hawley launched his solo career with his breakthrough 2016 debut album, Just the Beginning, which featured three chart-topping smooth jazz singles including "35th Street," "Joy Ride," and "I Don't Mind." He has remained a Top 30 Billboard Jazz regular with albums like 2018's Double Vision and 2020's Escape. His fourth album, Risin' Up, arrived in 2021. Along with performing, the guitarist has a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Southern California. Once considered one of the country’s best kept secrets, soprano saxophonist Dee Lucas has evolved and catapulted onto the jazz scene. After launching his well-received 2004 debut CD, “Remembrance”, a tribute to legendary saxophonist George Howard, Lucas has been greeted both nationally and internationally with stunning reviews, garnered extensive airplay, and consistently climbed the charts. Lucas has developed and polished his distinctive style by collaborating urban funk sounds to smooth infectious melodic tunes, thus branding his timeless sound in the soul jazz market. A writer, producer, arranger and performer, Lucas’ career was birthed by blowing his horn on Atlanta’s jazz circuit and since then his passion with the saxophone has landed him in some of the country’s hottest jazz festivals, corporate gigs, celebrity birthday parties and well recognized spots across the country. One of the performances that he’s most proud of is the famous Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City. Lucas has either opened or co-billed alongside some of the finest contemporary jazz greats such as: Kirk Whalum, Gerald Veasley, Boney James, Phil Perry, Chris Botti, Warren Hill, Nancy Wilson, Abbey Lincoln, Bobbi Humphrey, Ramsey Lewis, Ronny Jordan, Greg Karukas, Peter White, Gerald Albright, and the list go on.

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