It was a night filled with good music and good times when the 2008 edition of the Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards happened last night at the Living Arts Centre.
Mississauga singer Chris Smith was nominated in the Male Vocalist of the Year category and was up against with big-name acts such as Michael Buble, Gregory Charles and Alfie Zappacosta. Smith suffered no shame in losing to eventual winner Buble.
The evening featured performances by saxophonist Richard Elliot, who was nominated in the International Instrumentalist of the Year category but lost to Peter White, who also performed. There were also performances by Finnish vocalist Janita, Zappacosta, Carol Welsman, Brian Hughes and Darren Rahn.
The list of winners include:
• Randy Crawford - International Vocal
• Diana Krall - Female Vocalist
• Jesse Cook - Guitarist of the Year
• Allistair Elliott - Wind Instrumentalist of the Year
• Kristian Alexandrov - Keyboardist/Pianist of the Year
• Carol Welsman - Album of the Year
• Michael Buble/Alan Chan/Amy Foster-Gillies - Best Original Composition
Alexander Zonjic returned for another year as emcee and also won the Broadcaster of the Year award.
There was also a presentation of the 2008 George Benson Lifetime Achievement Award to guitarist Lee Ritenour.
Local musician Robert Tardik kept the crowd going at the after-party in the RBC Theatre, providing the musical entertainment with a backing band.
For more information, visit www.canadiansmoothjazzawards.com.
