(MORRISTOWN, NJ) -- WBGO "All That Jazz" concert series expands to Morris County. In addition to the ongoing "All That Jazz" concert series in Union County, Smooth Jazz New Jersey, WBGO, and the Morris Museum, are excited to announce three new shows starting this fall with the Nationally acclaimed and Grammy nominated group Special EFX October 11, followed by world renowned Keyboardist extraordinaire Alex Bugnon November 22. Rounding out the series March 14th will be 12-time Grammy Nominee and Grammy winner Saxophone icon Kirk Whalum.
The new series will take place in the Bickford Theater (6 Normandy Heights Road) in Morristown, New Jersey. This is a comfortable 300 seat state-of-the-art venue housed in the Morris Museum. Plentiful onsite free parking. Tickets for these concerts are on sale now. Go to www.smoothjazznj.com for a complete list of events, bios, and information.
Guitarist, composer, producer, and arranger Chieli Minucci is a longtime leader of the Grammy-nominated jazz-fusion group Special EFX, a major force on the jazz and world music scene for over 40 years.
Chieli and Special EFX recently released Meant to Be, the new chart-topping single, which reached the #1 spot on Billboard! In the summer of 2024, their previous single, Cool Summer, reached the #1 spot on Billboard, as well as a total of 5 charts simultaneously!
Chieli has also recently released 3 unique projects: Return to Budapest With Love, which is an archived 1990 live concert recording of Special EFX from their early days on tour in Europe; the solo, and mainly acoustic release, Someone’s Singing; as well as the 40th anniversary Special EFX CD, Twenty Twenty 2. Chieli and Special EFX’s previous release saw title track, Deep as the Night, win Billboard Magazine’s 2018 top honors, best-song-of-the-year.
Keyboardist Lao Tizer is one of today’s rising stars of the world-fusion genre. Tizer’s original music has spurred comparisons to a modern twist of the 1970s and early 1980s heyday of jazz fusion, when trailblazing ensembles like Return to Forever, Mahavishnu Orchestra and Weather Report set the aesthetic standard. Lao’s music has a multi-genre, multi-national appeal and his group, The Lao Tizer Band, has toured the USA and the world while being nominated “Jazz Group of the Year!” Their 2018 CD/DVD combo release, Songs from The Swinghouse has received acclaim across the industry while debuting near the top of the Billboard Jazz Album Chart! Most recently, in 2025, Lao released the blue-eyed soul, Amplify, featuring American Idol finalist, Elliott Yamin on vocals.
Bassist David Livolsi attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, for two semesters. It was there in Boston where he began combining all of his influences of Rock, Jazz, R&B, Blues, Fusion, Funk and Soul Music to create his “sound” on the bass. David has gone on to work with notable artists, such as John Scofield, Bill Evans, Jazz Is Dead, T Lavitz, Jerry Goodman, Roberta Flack, Maysa, Najee, Chuck Loeb, Sam Rivers, Kung Fu, John Tropea, David Spinozza, Nelson Rangell and many more.
Joel Rosenblatt is a world-renowned drummer and producer. He has performed and recorded with many greats, such as Spyro Gyra, Special EFX, Lee Ritenour, Freddy Jackson, Robben Ford, Larry Carlton, Eileen Ivers, Michel Camilo, Chick Corea, Steps Ahead, Paquito D’Rivera, Manhattan Transfer, Randy Brecker, Ken Navarro, Bill Evans and many more. Having toured the world many times over, Joel has a distinct international musical awareness. Currently the owner and main engineer at world-class Cliff Sound Productions, Joel is also actively involved in producing and cultivating new artists.
WBGO is the global leader in jazz radio, broadcasting from the jazz capital of the world. Founded in 1979, WBGO is a publicly-supported cultural institution that preserves and elevates America’s music: jazz and blues. WBGO reaches a weekly audience of close to 300,000 in the New York/New Jersey metro area via 88.3FM. Through programs such as Jazz Night in America, produced in partnership with NPR and Jazz at Lincoln Center, and WBGO's position as content provider to NPR, its reach extends to millions more across the country. From its home base of Newark, New Jersey, Public Radio station WBGO has long been an anchor institution in community engagement through its partnerships, concerts, education and news programming.
With too few venues in New Jersey offering live nationally recognized Smooth Jazz and R&B artists, the creation of Smooth Jazz New Jersey now exists. The mission is to bring live nationally recognized contemporary Jazz and R&B music to venues in New Jersey.
The Morris Museum creates opportunities for lifelong learning, discovery, and creativity, driven by the contemporary interpretation of its Guinness Collection of Mechanical Musical Instruments and Automata as well as its general collections. The performing arts add further unique perspectives and dimensions of interpretation.
