SMB Music Group

06/16/2025

May rest.

06/09/2025

06/05/2025

We wish a very Happy Birthday to saxophonist, composer, educator, and 2014 NEA Jazz Master Anthony Braxton, who turns 80 today.

An innovative composer and instrumentalist, Braxton is one of the most prolific artists of jazz’s avant-garde, releasing over 150 albums and publishing innumerable compositions beginning in the late 1960s.

Born in Chicago, Braxton was a key early member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and recorded the landmark “For Alto” in 1969 — the first full-length solo saxophone album ever released.

He was a member of the influential trio Circle with Chick Corea, Dave Holland, and Barry Altschul in the early 70s, and has collaborated with Max Roach, Sam Rivers, Dave Brubeck, Marilyn Crispell, Kenny Wheeler, Dave Douglas, and the Rova Saxophone Quartet. He taught at Mills College in Oakland and at Wesleyan University, and received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1981 and a MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellowship in 1994.

SFJAZZ commissioned and presented the world premiere of Braxton’s “Composition No. 132” at Grace Cathedral in 1986. The piece featured two separate orchestras, dancers, and six roving soprano saxophonists wearing silver space suits.

Listen to Braxton's historic concert at Grace Cathedrail, and thousands more SFJAZZ archival recordings at sfjazz.org/about/sfjazz-historical-archive/

06/01/2025

It saddens us to report Cole Nikolas McKnight—affectionately known as Niko—has passed away at the age of 32 following a courageous battle with cancer.

His mother, Julie, shared the news, which was confirmed in a video by his uncle, Claude McKnight, the Grammy-winning lead singer of the vocal group Take 6.

Niko, a talented singer and guitarist, revealed his cancer diagnosis in January 2024. As the son of R&B singer Brian McKnight, he carved out his own space in the world through his art and music.

We send our love and prayers of condolences to the McKnight family.

05/29/2025

A crash in Cobb County over the weekend claimed the life of a well-known musician in the industry. He is best known as “Chicago Mike,” the hype man for R&B/soul group Kool & the Gang. >> https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2025/05/28/kool-gangs-chicago-mike-dies-cobb-county-crash-police-say/

05/22/2025

The lawsuit alleges that UMG’s refusal to release the rights is blocking Salt-N-Pepa from fully controlling, promoting, and earning revenue from their own music.