This week’s look at artists will focus on Danish-American saxophonist, songwriter, and producer Michael Lington. Born in Copenhagen in 1969, he is the grandson of Danish band leader Otto Lington. At age seven he began his career as a clarinetist. At 15, heavily influenced by David Sanborn an artist featured on our Program 4, Lington became a saxophonist. He toured regularly throughout Europe and performed on numerous occasions for the a Danish royal family, including the royal wedding of Denmark’s future king.
In 1990 at age 21, Lington moved to Los Angeles and quickly became involved in the contemporary jazz scene. He toured four years with Bobby Caldwell and three years with Randy Crawford. His first album was released in 1997. Real success followed in 2006 from his album A Song For You that produced three top five songs and a terrific smooth jazz rendition of It’s Too Late, a song written by the great Carole King, played as our second song tonight.
Michael Lington toured with Michael Bolton from 2010 to 2013. In addition to doing 60 to 80 live shows a year, Lington manages his own wine company, Lington Wines, which is based in California’s central Paso Robles region, as well as a cigar company, Michael Lington Cigars.
In 2014 Michael Lington established his own label Copenhagen Music releasing two more great albums Soul Appeal in 2014 and Second Nature in 2016. You will hear music from those albums in tonight’s second hour. Lington just released his 10th solo album on June 8th of this year, Silver Lining. An early release from that album is already climbing the charts. That song is City Life and features on the guitar Dave Stewart from The Eurythmics. I will play that song on our new releases page.
I will play Billboard’s top three songs in smooth jazz this week.
Our new releases page has songs from new 2018 albums from Michael Lington, Michael Paulo, Elan Trotman, Jessy J, and Nick Colionne.
In the second hour I have songs from Diana Krall, Boney James, Peter White, Brian Culbertson, Kenny G, more Michael Lington, Dotsero, Bonafide, Down To The Bone, Vandell Andrew, and another new release from Michael Lington and Paul Jackson Jr.
