Feel-good soul, R&B and jazz music fans will be ecstatic to learn that South African singer-guitarist Jonathan Butler has launched a unique concert tour for the summer of 2011. But, the show is not a typical package where acts just come out to plug their latest CDs.
Butler’s “Soul of Summer Tour” is a collaboration of friends paying tribute to some of the most unforgettable music of all time, with equal parts jubilee and ballads. The national concert tour has made performance stops in Memphis, Phoenix, Cincinnati, Hampton, Va. and San Francisco. The tour continues on to Los Angeles on Aug. 5 at the Hyatt Regency Summer Jazz Festival; Temecula, Calif. on Aug. 21 at Thornton Winery; the Bay area; Richmond, Va. and Detroit.
Joining Butler for this very special production will be two Billboard chart-toppers and Shanachie Records recording artists; Maysa, a former member of the English acid jazz band Incognito, whose latest CD is A Woman in Love, and saxophonist-singer Eric Darius, whose latest CD is entitled On a Mission.
“I hand picked Maysa and Eric for this tour because I’d worked with them both, and had wonderful experiences,” Butler states in a press statement. “Maysa sang with me a while back on my Do You Love Me CD and I recently worked with Eric on a jazz cruise. It was important that we all vibed well together because my concept for ‘The Summer of Soul’ is unlike other all-star shows. Instead of just playing our hits, we are going to take the audience on a journey through the very best of soul music of the `60s, `70s, `80s and right on up to the present. We’re going to be digging up some gems that people love but haven’t heard in years.”
Sharing Butler’s enthusiasm, Maysa adds, “I’m excited to be on tour with them both. Jonathan is so smooth. Eric’s got that young, energetic thing and I’m bringing the sultry girl element. The fact that each of us is so unique will make for a nice mix of styles.”
Darius anxiously co-signs, “I’m very excited about this opportunity to bring something harmonious and fresh to the summer concert market which is very much needed in this format. Jonathan and I have talked for years about doing something like this and I’m really looking forward to hitting the road with them both.”
Although everyone involved with the tour remains tight-lipped about exactly what they will be doing, fans hope that Butler will cover Johnny Nash’s 1972 reggae soul classic “I Can See Clearly Now,” which is on his latest aptly titled CD, So Strong (Rendezvous Records). Maysa has recently shared stages with the great Angela Bofill, singing tropical jazzy-soul classics. Darius has been bringing an energy back to instrumental music like that of the great Jr. Walker – only in a very contemporary dance club context.
“This is my first time producing a show such as this under my own leadership,” Butler admits. I’m returning to my R&B roots in a major way, and I can’t wait to share it with my musical friends and fans.”
Guaranteed to be spiritually uplifting during America’s continuing times of social and personal challenges, and kissed with sensuality, joy, nostalgia and sizzling effervescence, ‘The Soul of Summer Tour,’ starring the multi-faceted music stars Jonathan Butler, Maysa and Eric Darius promises to be a funky good time for nostalgic music lovers.
For more tour dates, cities and venues, visit jonathanbutler.com.
