The Oasis Contemporary Jazz Awards (Oasis Music Awards) is a United States based award presented annually to recognize achievement in the smooth-

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

music format as well as

Jazz Fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...

and other sectors of the contemporary jazz genre. The award categories are similar in nature to the

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

American Music Awards The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show, generally held in the fall, created by Dick Clark in 1973 for ABC when the network's contract to air the Grammy Awards expired, and currently produced by Dick Clark Produc ...

Country Music Association Awards The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards or CMAs, are presented to country music artists and broadcasters to recognize outstanding achievement in the country music industry. The televised annual presentation ceremony f ...

. Awards are given for Song of the Year, CD of the Year, Male and Female Artist of the Year. Also, an award is presented to the player of the year on saxophone, piano, drums, bass, or guitar. The three previous Oasis Music Awards shows were virtual all-star concerts in 2000, 2001 and 2002 with

The Rippingtons The Rippingtons are an American contemporary jazz group, mainly relating to the genres smooth jazz, jazz fusion, jazz pop, and crossover jazz. Formed in 1985 by guitarist and band leader Russ Freeman, their career has spanned more than three de ...

Rick Braun Rick Braun (born July 6, 1955) is a smooth jazz trumpet, flugelhorn, trombone and keyboards player, vocalist, composer, and record producer. Career Braun was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania and attended Dieruff High School. His mother was a se ...

Jeff Lorber Jeffrey H. Lorber (born November 4, 1952) is an American keyboardist, composer, and record producer. After six previous nominations, Lorber won his first Grammy Award on January 28, 2018 for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for '' Prototype' ...

Richard Elliot Richard Elliot (born January 16, 1960) is a Scottish-born American saxophonist. He was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards for ''Summer Horns''. Career Elliot started out as a member ...

, Peter White,

Boney James Boney James (born James Oppenheim September 1, 1961) is an American saxophonist (tenor, alto and soprano), songwriter, record producer and recording artist. He is a four-time Grammy Award nominee (Best Pop Instrumental Album, 2001, 2004, 2014 an ...

Kirk Whalum Kirk is a Scottish and former Northern English word meaning "church". It is often used specifically of the Church of Scotland. Many place names and personal names are also derived from it. Basic meaning and etymology As a common noun, ''kirk'' ...

Herb Alpert Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass in the 1960s. During the same decade, he co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss. Alpert has recorded 28 albums that have landed on the ...

Dave Koz David Stephen Koz (born March 27, 1963) is an American smooth jazz saxophonist, composer, record producer, and radio personality based in California. Early life Dave Koz was born in Encino, California, to Jewish parents: Norman, a dermatologist ...

Al Jarreau Alwin Lopez Jarreau (March 12, 1940 – February 12, 2017) was an American singer and musician. His 1981 album '' Breakin' Away'' spent two years on the ''Billboard'' 200 and is considered one of the finest examples of the Los Angeles pop and R ...

, Bob James,

Keiko Matsui , is a Japanese keyboardist and composer, specializing in smooth jazz and New-age music. Biography Keiko Matsui was born in Tokyo, Japan. Her mother, Emiko, took her to her first piano lesson in the June following her fifth birthday. Japanese t ...

Brenda Russell Brenda Russell (née Gordon; born April 8, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, producer, and keyboardist. Russell has a diverse musical range which encompasses R&B, pop, soul, dance, and jazz. She has received five Grammy nominations. Li ...

David Benoit David Bryan Benoit (born August 18, 1953) is an American jazz pianist, composer and producer, based in Los Angeles, California, United States. Benoit has charted over 25 albums since 1980, and has been nominated for three Grammy Awards. He is a ...

Euge Groove Steven Eugene Grove (born November 27, 1962), better known as Euge Groove, is an American smooth jazz saxophonist. Early life and career Born in Hagerstown, Maryland, he graduated from the University of Miami School of Music in 1984. Grove did n ...

Brian Culbertson Brian Culbertson (born January 12, 1973) is an American smooth jazz/ R&B/funk musician and producer. His instruments include the synthesizer, piano and trombone. Early life and career Culbertson was born in Decatur, Illinois. As a child, he wa ...

, Marc Antoine,

Steve Cole Steve Cole (born August 17, 1970) is an American smooth jazz saxophonist. He is also a professor/adviser of music business at the University of St. Thomas. Early career and education Cole was born in Chicago, Illinois and began to play music ...

, Joyce Cooling, the late

Wayman Tisdale Wayman Lawrence Tisdale (June 9, 1964 – May 15, 2009) was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and a smooth jazz bass guitarist. A three-time All American at the University of Oklahoma,

, and more, all performing. The 2011 Oasis Contemporary Jazz Awards Show was to be held in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

over the weekend of March 10–13, 2011. Larry Seacat and Bill Paddock were producing the show. The show was cancelled.

History

The Oasis Smooth Jazz Awards were conceived in 1999 by radio executive Rick Parrish, and created by Parrish, Bill Paddock, and concert promoter Jerry Thompson. They were first announced at the June 1999 Radio and Records Convention in Los Angeles. The name “Oasis Awards” was chosen because it is the single most common name associated with the format. The first show was held January 28, 2000, at

Bass Hall The Bass Performance Hall (also known as Bass Hall) is a performing arts venue, located in Fort Worth, Texas. Overview The hall was first suggested by pianist Van Cliburn to philanthropist Nancy Lee Bass and her husband, Perry Richardson Bass.S ...

Ft Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. Accordin ...

. Originally, the awards were called the Oasis Smooth Jazz Awards.

2000 show

Saxophonist Dave Koz hosted the “First Annual” Oasis Smooth Jazz Awards Show. Jeff Lorber served as Music Director and put together the back-up band of mostly session players who would support all performances at the show. Performers and Presenters included: Dave Koz, David Benoit, Wayman Tisdale, Herb Alpert, Rick Braun, Richard Elliot, Jeff Lorber, and Grady Nichols, among others. TV personality Cameron Smith assisted Dave Koz in the hosting. The awards portion of the show was an alternating of performances and award presentations. Note: Grover Washington, Jr, was to be part of the show but he died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

at the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

Studios in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on December 16, just six weeks before the show. Several performers played together in tribute. A panel of industry experts chose the seven nominees in each category. Voting on the nominees was then done online by the public. The various smooth jazz radio stations and artists promoted the voting process nationally.

2001 show

The 2001 show was moved to The Chicago Theater in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. The theater was sold out, 3,500 seats, three weeks in advance. The show was Saturday, March 3. Performers and presenters included Dave Koz, Keiko Matsui (who flew in from Tokyo), Bob James, Bona Fide, Jeff Golub, Brian Culbertson, Paul Taylor, Euge Groove, Marion Meadows, Chuck Loeb, Larry Carlton, Jeff Kashiwa, Joseph Quevedo, Steve Cole, Peter White, and Brenda Russell. Again, Dave Koz and Jeff Lorber served as Host and Musical Director, respectively. The show was videotaped for BET and BET On Jazz networks. Their national sponsor was

Heineken Heineken Lager Beer ( nl, Heineken Pilsener), or simply Heineken () is a pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 Febr ...

. Michael Fagien, publisher of JAZZIZ magazine, was Chairman of the Advisory Committee.

2002 show

After the 2001 show, Paddock and Thompson sold their interests to Parrish and his brother. The Parrishes then moved the show to the Golden Hall Theater in San Diego. The date of the third show was March 2, 2002. A

KIFM KIFM (1320 AM) is a radio station in Sacramento, California, that has been affiliated with ESPN Radio since February 2007. It has separate transmitter sites for daytime and night operations. Owned and operated by Audacy, Inc., its studios are ...

/San Diego radio personality, Lenny B, served as

Executive Producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

. Dave Koz and Brenda Russell co-hosted. Al Jarreau, Brian Culbertson, Rick Braun, Keiko Matsui, Peter White, Kirk Whalum, Boney James, Fattburger, Wayman Tisdale, Gabriela Anders, Boz Scaggs and Craig Chaquico were among the performers and presenters. The show was again taped for BET and BET On Jazz networks. This year for the first time ever, the show was broadcast nationally on all participating smooth jazz radio stations. About 3,400 attended the San Diego event.

2003 show

After the 2002 show, the Parrishes sold to ShoCorp, a division of SCI Event Group, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. ShoCorp announced that the 2003 show (4th Annual National Smooth Jazz Awards) would be presented June 18, 2003 at the

Wiltern Theater The Pellissier Building and adjoining Wiltern Theatre is a 12-story, Art Deco landmark at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue in Los Angeles, California. The entire complex is commonly referred to as the Wiltern Center. Clad in a ...

in downtown Los Angeles. Scheduled to perform were Al Jarreau, Dave Koz, Gerald Albright, Euge Groove, Freddie Ravel, David Benoit, Jeff Lorber, Peter White, Richard Elliot, Jeff Golub, Rick Braun, Steve Cole and Norman Brown. Another announcement came from ShopCorp on April 21, 2003 – The 4th annual National Smooth Jazz Awards ceremony scheduled for June 18 at The Wiltern in Los Angeles has been cancelled. The actual awards for this year will be given out but without the ceremony. Tim Goodwin President/Executive Producer of ShoCorp's who was to handle the event says, "Due to our current world climate, several of the valuable participants in this endeavor are apprehensive about rising to the commitment level that is required to make this event a success." Carol Archer of

R&R magazine ''R&R'' (also known as the "new" '' Radio & Records'') was a weekly music trade publication that followed the radio industry and tracked the monitoring of current songs by format, station and audience cumes. The magazine was a sister publication ...

says nominations are currently being tabulated by the magazine and will be announced tomorrow with voting to commence immediately after. Voting will end one week prior to the June 18 awards announcement. Goodwin says he plans to put a ceremony together for next year's awards. Subsequently, winners were announced although there was no ceremony or show. This was the last public announcement from ShoCorp. Show tickets never went on sale.

2011 Oasis Contemporary Jazz Awards

The 2011 Awards Weekend (March 10–13, 2011 in San Diego, CA) had scheduled shows at the

Balboa Theater The Balboa Theatre is a historic vaudeville/movie theatre in downtown San Diego, US, built in 1924. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996, the Balboa was refurbished (beginning in 2005) and reopened as a performing arts venue i ...

on Thursday, March 10 and the Awards Show at the San Diego Civic Theater on Saturday, March 12. The show was unfortunately canceled due to lack of ticket sales.

Compilation CDs

Two compilation cds, ''Oasis Smooth Jazz Awards Collection'', Volumes 1 and 2 have been released by Native Language Records.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Smooth Jazz Network
Jazz awards