Jazz festival salutes Gerald Albright

Gerald Albright is a favorite of the Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival. One of the biggest stars of R & B, contemporary and straight-ahead jazz, Albright has earned his reputation as a musician’s musician. It’s the smooth stylings of this polished saxophonist and his dazzling stage presence that have earned him the title of Artist of the Year for the jazz festival’s 30th anniversary.  The Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival will take place Thursday, Oct. 17 through Sunday, Oct. 20. Go to rehobothjazz.com for tickets and information.

Albright will join his daughter Selina Albright at noon, Saturday, Oct. 19 at Cape Henlopen High School in Lewes.  Opening artists are Nick Colionne and Marion Meadows.

Gerald Albright became a popular session musician in the 1980s, playing on albums by Anita Baker, Ray Parker, Lola Folana, Atlantic Starr, Olivia Newton-John, The Temptations and Maurice White.

He went on to record many successful solo albums for Atlantic Records, two of which hit the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Top Contemporary Jazz Chart and were nominated for Grammy Awards in 1989 and 1990.

He toured with Phil Collins in 1998, and recorded one of Albright’s tunes, “Chips N’ Salsa,” on Collins’ Big Band project, “A Hot Night in Paris.”

He’s been nominated for several other Grammys, including in 2008 for “New Beginnings” and in 2009 for “Sax for Stax.”  Subsequent Grammy nods were earned for “24/7” in 2012 and “Slam Dunk” in 2014.” His latest release, “30,” commemorates 30 years since the release of his debut CD, “Just Between Us.”