Classic Artists Today's "Sittin' In With The CAT" features interviews with legacy bands and performers from the Classic Rock, Alternative, Adult Contemporary, Pop and Oldies genres. Ray White, multi-award nominated host of Classic Artists Today and Coool CAT, internationally syndicated radio show, brings you the latest from the musicians from the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's who have sold hundreds of millions of albums. We'll talk with them about the past...present...and future.
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Classic Artists Today's "Sittin' In With The Coool CAT" features interviews with legacy bands and performers from Soul, R&B, Smooth Jazz, and Blues genres. Ray White, multi-award nominated host of Classic Artists Today and producer of Coool CAT, internationally syndicated radio shows, brings you the latest from the musicians from the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's who have sold hundreds of millions of albums. We'll talk with them about the past...present...and future. Show details at www.cooolcat.com
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England's Chris Standring is a superb guitarist whose had over a dozen Top 10 contemporary jazz hits with a half-dozen reaching Number 1. Moving to the United States in 1991, Chris has become a prolific performer playing throughout the country. Coool CAT's producer Ray White caught up with Chris in May of 2024 to chat about his musical influences, …
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Greg Kihn released over 20 albums during his career and landed 11 songs on the Top 100 and/or mainstream rock charts in the U.S. Originally from Baltimore, MD, Greg moved to California in 1972 and laid the groundwork for his successful career. You'd also find him on the airwaves hosting many radio shows. Greg passed away on August 13, 2024, after a…
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Pieces of a Dream have been playing great contemporary jazz, R&B and funk music since forming in 1976. Releasing over 20 albums, you'll find tunes on the top music charts throughout their illustrious career. On this episode, multi-award winning program director Ray White catches up with Curtis Harmon, James Lloyd and their newest official member To…
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Jeff Pilson, bassist and keyboardist for Foreigner, has been with the band for over 20 years. The band was selected for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2024. During his music career you'll find Jeff was a member of numerous rock bands including Dio and Dokken. Multi-award winning program director Ray White caught up with Jeff in Augu…
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Tab Benoit is an amazing blues guitarist/singer/songwriter hailing from Louisiana Since the early 1990's Tab has released well over a dozen albums and has won numerous blues awards, keeping a busy touring schedule too. Be sure to listen to more from Tab on Episode 133. Music aficionado and Classic Artists Today's founder Ray White caught up with Ta…
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Drummer Donny Baldwin was a mainstay in the Elvin Bishop Group back in 1973. In 1982, he started his days with Jefferson Starship. Throughout his career you'd find Donny playing with Jerry Garcea Band, Eddie Money, Van Morrison, Paul Rodgers and Pablo Cruise. Multi-award winning program director Ray White caught up with Donny in August of 2024 to g…
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Bassist Christian de Mesones has honed his musical skills throughout his adult life while working various jobs to make ends meet. In 2021, this rising star garnered the attention of Dave Koz and landed on several jazz charts and Sirius XM's Watercolors. His latest album is You Only Live Twice and features his first #1 hit. Multi-award winning progr…
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John Ondrasik is Five For Fighting, which launched in 1995. His first two albums went "Platinum." During the early 2000's he was nominated for a Grammy and American Music Award. Recently, John released a trio of songs about current geopolitical events and has dedicated time to philanthropy including the USO, MDA and his whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com…
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Lao Tizer is a keyboardist/producer who blends together elements of various genres of music in developing his own brand of contemporary jazz. His band members comes from multiple music backgrounds which makes Lao's band unique in many ways. With over a half-dozen albums released since the early 1990's, he can be found playing festivals and shows th…
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Chieli Minucci formed Special EFX with George Jinda in 1982. With George's passing, Chieli has carried on the great music and heritage of the band and incorporated some of the top contemporary jazz musicians and vocalists in the country for his live shows and some albums. In June of 2024 Coool CAT's producer, Ray White, caught up Chieli out on tour…
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On part 2 of this special edition, featuring the 55th anniversary of Woodstock, we're joined once again, with the drummer of a band that performed at the iconic festival - Adolfo "Fito" de la Parra of Canned Heat. Also the mastermind who produced the sound for 500,000 people at the event - Bill Hanley, "The Father of Festival Sound," joined by IES'…
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On this special edition, we celebrate the 55th Anniversary of the Woodstock Music and Arts Fair that took place August 15, 16 & 17, 1969 in Bethel, NY. Joining us is the "Father of Festival Sound," Bill Hanley to talk about the behind-the-scenes activities providing the sound system for this momentous occasion with Steve Almas, CEO of Integrated En…
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Guitarist Steve Oliver has been a mainstay on the contemporary and smooth jazz charts for over 25 years. During this period he's landed over a dozen songs in the Top 20. His dynamic live performances have ignited fans from coast-to-coast. Multi-award winning program director Ray White caught up with Steve at the 2023 Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival to…
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Jorma Kaukonen, guitarist/singer/songwriter, recorded with Janis Joplin in 1964. In 1965, he joined Jefferson Airplane. You'll find him on every album that they released. In 1969, Jorma went on to form Hot Tuna with Jack Casady, who still performs today. In 1974, he recorded his first solo album, of which there are over a dozen studio albums releas…
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Saxophonist Steve Cole launched his national music career in 1998 when his first album release was produced by contemporary jazz stalwart Brian Culbertson. Growing up in Chicago, Steve brings elements of bebop, pop, funk and gospel to his contemporary jazz platform. He's also been on-stage or recorded with jazz and blues legends like: Larry Carlton…
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Joanne Shaw Taylor is a dynamic singer/guitarist/songwriter who has blazed a trail to the top of the Blues Rock genre. Discovered by Dave Stewart of The Eurythmics at the age of 16, she's released 12 solo albums throughout her rising music career. In 2021, she teamed up with guitar wizard Joe Bonamassa and started recording on his record label. Amo…
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Randy Jacobs grew up in the Motown city launching a career as a songwriter and guitarist. As a member of Was (Not Was) in the early 1980's he honed his musical skills. In the early 1990's Randy played on an album of all-star musicans called Soul Mission. Shortly afterwards, he formed The Boneshakers. Randy shares his insights with award-winning pro…
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Leon Medica, bassist and producer of LeRoux, co-founded the band in 1977. Throughout the years the band was featured on music television shows including Solid Gold, The Midnight Special and Don Kirshner's Rock Concert. They had 7 songs land on Billboard's Top 100 chart. Leon won an American Music Award for producing a song from the movie "Dirty Dan…
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Ivan Neville grew up with music from his relatives including his uncles Charles, Art, Cyril and of course his Dad - Aaron. Throughout his years Ivan's recorded five solo albums and four more with his band Dumpstaphunk. You'll also find him playing on many New Orleans based compilation albums and films. You may not know that Ivan has also recorded w…
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John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band hit their stride in the early and mid-1980's with four Top 10 songs. Many people know the band from the tremendous success of the Eddie and The Cruisers movie soundtrack. Throughout the years, that band had 11 singles land on the music charts. Multi-award winning program director Ray White sat down with John …
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Nathan Mitchell is a rising star in contemporary jazz and soul music genres. A composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist, Nathan is Grammy nominated and has three #1 Billboard songs so far in his career. Multi-award winning program director Ray White caught up with Nathan during rehearsal in November 2023 to capture his insights on his music, su…
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Franke Previte formed Franke and the Knockouts in 1980, who had three Top 40 singles and two Top 50 albums. Franke co-wrote music for the hit soundtrack Dirty Dancing featuring the Academy Award winning "The Time of my Life." He also co-wrote "Hungry Eyes," which was a #1 U.S. Adult Contemporary hit sung by Eric Carmen. Franke and the Knockouts mos…
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Lindsey Webster, a jazz, R&B, and Pop singer, has been gaining worldwide fame, since launching on the national music scene in 2013. This rising star's first single "Fool Me Once," reached number one on the smooth jazz charts making her the first vocalist since Sade to have a #1 vocal song in the primarily instrumental format. Lindsey's landed a hal…
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In Part 2 of our interview and feature with the phenominal Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, we focus on his years with Steely Dan and talk about the multi-Grammy award winning album (Minute by Minute) by The Doobie Brothers. We'll also get Jeff's insights on his awesome solo album Speed of Heat and dive into his thoughts on the music industry today. Be sure to…
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Greg Carmichael is a co-founding member of the Grammy award nominated contemporary jazz group, Acoustic Alchemy. SInce the mid-1980's the band has released over 20 albums. Multi-award winning program director Ray White went backstage at the Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival in October of 2023, before the band hit the stage, to talk to Greg about the uni…
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Jai Johanny Johanson aka Jaimoe is the only living original member of the Allman Brothers Band, that was formed in 1969. During his illustrious career he was also a member of Sea Level. Jaimoe presently leads a jazz-rock group called Jaimoe's Jasssz Band. In 1995, he was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Allman Brothers …
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Rick Braun is a dynamic trumpeter, composer and producer with over 20 #1 smooth jazz hits. Along with his 15 plus studio albums, you'll find Rick collaborating with Richard Elliot, Boney James and Kirk Whalum & Norman Brown in BWB. On this episode multi-award winning program director Ray White hangs out with Rick backstage and they discuss Rick's l…
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Don Dokken launched Dokken in 1978. The Grammy nominated band has had three Platinum albums and ten Top 40 hits on Billboard's Mainstream Rock charts. Their latest studio release is 2023's Heaven Comes Down. Multi-award winning program director Ray White caught up with Don in November of 2012, in this legacy edition of the CAT, to talk about their …
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Eric Essex is an incredible contemporary jazz guitarist who has released 29 full length albums since the late 1980's. During his early years he recorded four well received albums and earned a degree from Berklee College of Music. A Warner Brothers distributed label signed Eric in 1998 and his career took off. In the early 2000's, he launched his ow…
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Paul Nelson, a guitarist/record producer/songwriter won a Grammy award for Best Blues Album in 2015 for Johnny Winter's Step Back release. Paul's played with the elite guitarists in the world and was a phenomenal guitarist himself. He produced albums and toured with Johnny Winter for several years until Johnny passed in 2014. Working with many of t…
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Fred LeBlanc is a co-founder of Cowboy Mouth, a Louisiana band formed in 1990. Along with drumming, he's the vocalist for the band too. Throughout the years the band has performed for over 10 million people. Before forming Cowboy Mouth, Fred was in the "cowpunk" band Dash Rip Rock. Multi-award winning program director Ray White caught up with Fred …
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Joanne Shaw Taylor is a blues guitarist/vocalist/songwriter to keep your eyes on! Her career has skyrocketed since hanging with Joe Bonamassa and Dave Stewart. With over 10 albums released, you'll find her songs charting with each new album. In 2010, Joanne won Best Female Vocalist at the British Blues Awards. In February of 2024, multi-award winni…
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The Grainger Brothers are two of the hardest working musicians around. From the Baltimore, Maryland area Gary (Bass) and Greg (Drums) can be found as the rhythm section for Acoustic Alchemy and for the Paul Reed Smith band. They also lead their own bands including Grainger, Pockets and several tribute ensembles. Their latest work is with Paul Reed …
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Better Than Ezra was formed in 1988 in Louisiana. Their first major label album, Deluxe, went Platinum. Throughout the years a dozen of their singles have landed on the charts. Multi-award winning program director, Ray White, caught up with co-founders Kevin Griffin and Tom Drummond backstage at their show to talk about their All Together Now album…
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Phil Perry is among the elite R&B singers in the country. In the R&B Hall of Fame, his vocal talents can be heard on albums by Dave Grusin, George Duke, Najee, Chaka Khan, Fourplay and many more. Phil's solo career has been filled with over a dozen marvelous albums. In this interview, from November of 2014, Coool CAT's Ray White caught up with Phil…
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Russ Kunkel is one of the most sought after drummers in the world. A renowned session player, he has recorded or performed for the likes of Jimmy Buffett, CS&N, Stevie Nicks, Carole King, Dan Fogelberg and many more superstars in the music industry. He's produced nearly two dozen albums, too! He started to make a name for himself at L.A.'s Whiskey …
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Jay Beckenstein co-founded Spyro Gyra in 1974, and ever since the group has been among the elite music bands in contemporary jazz. Throughout the years the band has garnered numerous Grammy nominations and was tapped for the prestigious George Benson Lifetime Achievement Award. Multi award-winning program director Ray White hung out with Jay at his…
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Jeff "Skunk" Baxter is one of the elite guitarists today. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Doobie Brothers. His career on the national scene was launched in 1968 as a member of Ultimate Spinach. In 1972, Skunk became a founding member of Steely Dan, playing on their first three albums. Joining the Doobies in 19…
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Christian de Mesones has been playing the bass for over 40 years, gaining national and international acclaim starting in 2017 with several singles and his They Call Me Big New York album. Previously, you could hear him with the Groove Skool Band. His years of performances and recordings propelled him to the top of Billboard's Smooth Jazz Airplay ch…
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Humble Pie came together in 1969 led by Steve Marriott and Peter Frampton. Many regarded the band as the first supergroup in rock music. Throughout the years the band has experienced numerous changes. The current group is still led by originial member Jerry Shirley including members with impressive music resumes. Multi award-winning program directo…
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Norman Brown is a guitarist who's been called "a culmination of Jimi Hendrix and George Benson with some Wes Monthgomery thrown in," by Jazz Times magazine. His prowness as a musician and genre-bending facility has made him one of the most sought after internationally renowned musicians in contemporary jazz! Multi award-winning program director Ray…
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Ivan Neville, son of Aaron Neville and nephew of the other Neville Brothers, has been on the national music scene since 1983. You'll find him on albums by his band Dumpstaphunk, his Dad, The Neville Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, The Rolling Stones and many others. Ivan is a multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter. Multi-award winning program directo…
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This year we feature the amazing Jonathan Butler and guitarist Randy Jacobs, founder of The Boneshakers, who are winding down the 2023 Dave Koz Christmas Tour. They'll provide insights into their recent holiday projects as we finish up the year with our celebration. In our showcase segment, we bring you more holiday cheer from Joe Bonamassa with Di…
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Denny Tedesco is director of the films The Wrecking Crew and the brand new release Immediate Family. Both of these documentary films are about world-class musicians that you'll find on hundreds of albums and thousands of songs by artists who are in numerous Hall of Fame's and won hundreds of Grammy awards. Played in film festivals around the United…
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Dave Koz is among the elite saxophonists and entertainers in the music industry today. Throughout the year you'll find him on his global sea cruises, with his "Summer Horns" or out on his Christmas Tour - headlining with other world-class musicians. Throuhout the years, Dave's been nominated for numerous Grammy awards in the "Best Pop Instrumental …
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Jeff Berlin is known among bass players as one of the elite. His one-of-a-kind tone, jaw dropping techniques and highly advanced harmonic approaches to the bass puts him near the top. In addition to his 12 solo albums, you'll find him on recordings and live performances with Anderson/Bruford/Wakeman/Howe, Allan Holdsworth, Bruford, David Sancious, …
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Brent Carter has been the lead vocalist for the Average White Band since 2011. Before then, he was the frontman for Tower of Power. Multi-award winning program director Ray White caught up with Brent backstage to talk about his days with Tower of Power and how he hooked up with AWB. He also shared his insights on Average White Band's latest sudio a…
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Felix Cavaliere co-founded The Young Rascals in 1965. As singer/songwriter/keyboardist, they had nine Top 20 hits from 1966-1968. Throughout the years, Felix has released several solo albums, launched a band called Treasure, and recorded several releases with Steve Cropper. You'll find him in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Songwriters Hall of Fame…
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Bob James, is known worldwide as a premier composer/producer/keyboardist. A multi-Grammy award winner, Bob was also bestowed with the George Benson Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. Ray White, the CAT's multi-award winning program director, caught up with Bob backstage before his concert to talk about his early years in music, changes in recordin…
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Guy Allison, keyboardist/composer/producer, is best known as a touring member of The Doobie Brothers for 19 years. His career started off in jazz having secured a place in the coveted Monterey All-Star Jazz Band. Through the late 1970's and today, you'll find him in several rock bands, but returned to jazz on his excellent latest album - A Designed…
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