Nate Najar is on your radio now, and coming next week to the Palladium

They say time goes fast when you are having fun, so I must be having a lot of fun.

 

Another year has literally raced by.

 

The good news is that December means the return of one of my favorite Palladium traditions – Nate Najar’s Jazz Holiday concert on Thursday, Dec. 14.

 

I believe this is the 12th anniversary and the show is shaping up to the be the biggest seller of them all. So before I tell you anything else, let me encourage you to get your tickets now. Here’s a link to online tickets or call our box office at 727-822-3590 and they can get you fixed up.

 

Nate Najar’s Jazz Holiday 2017 features special guests Chuck Redd (vibraphone), Jeff Rupert (tenor saxophone) and Betty Fox (vocals), alongside longtime musical companions and jazz greats John Lamb (bass), James Suggs (trumpet) and Mark Feinman (drums).

 

Nate is now a nationally known Christmas artist. He is new album, Christmas in December, is out and will be on sale at the show. And the album is getting some great traction with listeners and radio stations around the country.

 

“I just did a radio interview with a radio station in Nashville….WFSK –  And I’m their ‘Artist of the Week’,” Nate told me.

 

Palladium favorite Betty Fox does two songs on the album, Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, and the Charles Brown Holiday classic, Merry Christmas Baby. It’s that last tune that has caught the attention of radio programmers.

 

“That song is now in rotation on commercial Christmas radio stations,” Nate said.

 

Which means keep your ear open when you tune into one of those “all-Christmas” radio stations this season and you’ll likely hear Nate and Betty.

 

 

You can also hear them doing the song live at the show next Thursday. Betty, who normally plays here with her own band, is the featured vocalist. Chuck Redd, one of the top sidemen in jazz, is in from Baltimore. Jeff Rupert is coming from Orlando, and Mark Feinman and James Suggs are two of the top stars in our town.

 

And while you are there, say hello to our favorite bass player, John Lamb, who just celebrated his 84th birthday this week.