2022 Year In Review

A SUMMARY OF VICTORIES & REFLECTIONS

I’m not a stranger to the best and the worst of times happening simultaneously in my life.  2022 ushered in some really nice surprises with my music recordings and progress on my 9th Album, which came to be titled “Magic Mirror”. My Single release “Fire & Water” took off in January charting in February on Billboard Smooth Jazz Airplay.  It peaked at #4 position and ended 2022 on the Song of the Year Chart at #26 in the midst of many notable Artists.  My work on new recordings continued with a trip to Los Angeles in March to record with Paul Brown, Carmen Grillo and Roberto Vally on several tunes including “Paradigm Shift”, “Angels Watching Over Me”, and  “Sapporo Dream”.  

I was contacted to perform in Austin, Texas with my Band at an offsite venue during the SWSX Festival in March. I performed at the Berks Jazz Festival in Pennsylvania in April during the 2 week long Festival of amazing Artists.  It was great running into professional friends and meeting new friends at the same time.  I performed in many small intimate settings from January to June.

During this time my Father had become ill with cancer and it became apparent his health was failing and he had only a short time left in life.  Having lived a very strong and active life, it was hard for us to see him decline so rapidly. In June 2022 he passed away peacefully.  At the same time other close members of the family were going through some challenging times and personal struggles.  My Father had taught me to be strong and resilient and would want me to continue to move forward.  I continued with the project finishing my last composition “Gemini Sun” for the Album in July.   

The new Album was finalized in August 2022 and released on October 7, 2022.  I Titled the Album “Magic Mirror” reflecting the world I go into when I’m writing and composing music of joy, pain and fantasy. I imagined traveling through many scenes and spaces with tunes like “Sol Ipanema”, “Sapporo Dream” and dedicated “Angels Watching Over Me” to my Father.  “Paradigm Shift” became the lead Single and hit the Billboard Chart after just a few weeks. A highlight of the Year was when “Paradigm Shift” hit #1 on Halloween, October 31 and was #1 on all the Smooth Jazz Charts lasting for many weeks.  It’s still at #1 at the end of December on Groove Jazz/RadioWave, SmoothJazz Radar and still on Billboard/Mediabase A/C at #13 making 15 weeks on Billboard.  It was my first #1 Hit and a lifelong dream that truly I never thought possible.  I am truly grateful for the tremendous amount of support from Radio Program Directors and fans, as well as Jason Gorov at Gorov Music Marketing and my longtime loyal supporters.  

This Fall saw a flurry of Shows with Performances in Kentucky, Atlanta, and Alabama.  It was very gratifying to discover that “Fire & Water” and “Paradigm Shift” both made the Best of 2022 on all the Smooth Jazz Year End Charts.  “Magic Mirror” was also on the Best Album of 2022 list with SmoothJazz.com.

Throughout the year streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and many other services reported amazing numbers of streams for my tunes.  A favorite of many  “Perfect Sunday” reached over 7 million streams on Spotify and “Sun’s Out” over 2.5 million streams on Apple Music.  Even many of my older Albums have received many streams and physical CD Orders from my web and CD Baby.  

In summary, I believe it’s not what life throws at you but how you can deal with those challenges. My music has always been a great outlet for me and has resonated with so many people through the years.  I appreciate the amount of love and support from all of you this year!  

There’s so much more to come in 2023.  Stay tuned for many new directions, new music and developments.  

Much love, 
Carol