Lawson’s “Fire Cadenza” made into a ballet
Special announcement: Lawson’s piece “The Fire Cadenza” (the viral video hit with millions of views on YouTube to date), was used in a recent ballet from one of the world’s great ballet companies: the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company in New York. The ballet entitled “Within the Sunset” was created by world-renowned choreographer Amy Hall Garner and features Lawson’s music alongside music by global guitar sensations Rodrigo y Gabriela and 100+ million YouTube view guitar phenomenon Estas Tonne. The ballet debuted May 1st-5th, 2024 at the legendary Joyce Theater in NYC and a video of the ballet will be made available soon.
New album:
“Infinite Chill Volume 2”
“After Twilight” from ‘Infinite Chill Vol. 2’ hit #1 on the Billboard top 30 contemporary jazz radio airplay chart.
10 classic world music tracks taken from Lawson Rollins’ acclaimed solo albums, remixed and re-imagined with a modern aesthetic, incorporating elements of electronica/chill-out/downtempo into the world music fusion of the original songs. Also included is the brand new single “After Twilight”. All of the remixed tracks include new guitar performances from Lawson, remixing from Persian-American remixer/producer Shahin Shahida (member of the Billboard charting duo Shahin & Sepehr), and additions from an all-star cast of musicians who contribute a fresh musical approach to the original material. Mastered at the world-renowned Sterling Sound studio in NYC.
NEWS ARCHIVE:
HEARTWOOD
the 2023 album:
Featuring the contemporary jazz radio hits “Heartwood” and “Sunlight Bossa Nova”, which landed on the MediaBase Top 50 singles chart, the SJ Radio Network Top 100 singles chart, and the SJ.com top 100 album chart
With the release of "Heartwood" Lawson Rollins offers a melodically rich and rhythmically exhilarating set of songs that showcase his soulful connection to the guitar and his passion for unbridled six string acoustic artistry. Across a wide ranging musical tapestry Lawson draws from the spirit of the heartwood of the guitar - his chosen instrument - and incorporates the stimulating rhythmic drive of rumba, bossa nova, and samba with graceful melodic finesse and free-flowing improvisational flair. Joining Lawson on the album are Grammy winning violinists Charlie Bisharat and Mads Tolling, veteran jazz saxophonist Mary Fettig, Brazilian percussionist Marquinho Brasil, virtuoso bassist Dan Feiszli, multi-instrumentalist Stephen Duros, keyboardist Michael Bluestein, cellist Joseph Hebert, and drummers Colin Douglas and Dave Bryant.
Album review from Radio Guitar One:
“Lawson Rollins is a guitarist that is functioning at the highest level of his craft…His genre bending approach to the guitar is drenched in maturity and virtuosity. It is a style that was born from classical and gracefully moved into Latin jazz, seamlessly blending the styles into his own unique sound. Often it is not what he is playing but what he isn't playing that makes him stand out from the sea of great guitar players. He is a guitarist that has the chops to play almost anything, but seems to choose taste over everything….Lawson Rollins is a world class player and composer....plain and simple. His ear for melody is beyond rare. His latest effort, Heartwood is sure to satisfy even the most discerning ears. If you are a fan of great guitar playing there is nothing on this album that will disappoint.”
2023 SINGLE: SUNLIGHT BOSSA NOVA
from the album “Heartwood”
2023 SINGLE: ‘THE ETERNAL DANCE’
from the album “Heartwood”
2022 SINGLE: “The Calling”
Visit the RISE album page here for more info.
Featuring the radio hits “Free to Fly” and “Bossa Nova California”, featured on Sirius'-XM’s Watercolors channel and many other stations across the U.S.
“RISE” IS A TOP 10 SELLER ON THE ITUNES WORLD MUSIC ALBUM CHART
“Rise” CD
Order the CD here on Amazon.com:
Listen out for “Free to Fly” and “Bossa Nova California” off RISE on Sirius-XM’s Watercolors channel #66 and other radio stations across the country and worldwide on internet stations.
NEWSFLASH: Lawson closed out 2022 with his song “Free to Fly” off the recent Rise album landing on the Billboard Year-End contemporary jazz radio chart in the top 25!
“Free to Fly” also hit #8 on Allen Kepler’s Jazz Network Top 100 songs of 2022 radio chart and the album “RISE” reached #13 on the SJ.com top 100 albums of the year chart.
Check out the recent feature on Lawson from Guitar Player Magazine here:
The 2020 release “True North” hit #1 and ended the year at #5 on the top 100 albums of the year chart for radio airplay nationwide monitored by SJ.com
“On his masterful, rhythmically melodic, genre-traversing album, produced solely by himself, Rollins delivers a sultry dance of world beat rhythms and an impassioned surge of guitar arpeggios, scales and harmonies making the project the most radio ready album yet.” ~The Listening Loft
“A lovely, skillful and engrossing album, Rollins is just plain a contemporary master of the art. An album acoustic guitar fans should not be without.” ~Midwest Records
RADIO ACTION: “Bluewave Bossanova” off the album is a certified Billboard Top 30 contemporary jazz radio chart hit. Also climbed other major radio charts across the U.S. and heard on Sirius-XM’s Watercolors channel 66 among other major stations.
High Resolution Download on HDtracks (better than CD quality!)
UPDATES ON THE 2019 release
DARK MATTER: MUSIC FOR FILM:
DARK MATTER: MUSIC FOR FILM marks a bold departure for Lawson Rollins as he sets aside his main instrument - the nylon string Spanish guitar - and crafts a mysterious soundscape that transcends conventional song structure in favor of free-form musical impressionism ripe with emotional intensity.
Visit the Dark Matter page for music and more info.
ORDER HERE AT YOUR FAVORITE ONLINE SOURCE
Listen out for tracks from DARK MATTER on Sirius-XM’s ambient channel.
Also heard on 120 NPR stations nationwide on the syndicated Echoes program.
top 50 guitarist chart honor
Lawson was honored to be recently ranked as one of the “50 Transcendent Acoustic Guitarists” off all time by Guitar Player Magazine. The full list is here, in alphabetical order:
2018 single with israeli superstar singer Idan raichel
listen here
Download or stream on iTunes | Spotify | Apple Music | Google Play | Amazon MP3
UPDATES ON 2018 release
'AIRWAVES: THE GREATEST HITS'
Airwaves: The Greatest Hits. An 18 track collection of Lawson's Billboard Top 30 radio favorites from over the past decade, plus 2 new tracks featuring Grammy winner Mads Tolling and Billboard #1 charting band 3rd Force. Music samples and more are here. Read the press release here with details about the album and view the album artwork and track list here.
Check out the archived World Premier Presentation global radio show featuring an interview with Lawson and some track-by-track discussion of the new album "Airwaves: The Greatest Hits." The archived show features song samples only instead of the full tracks that were broadcast live:
"World of Wonder (featuring 3rd Force)" from AIRWAVES was a Billboard top 10 radio chart smash hit. Also a Top 5 hit on the major America's Music Chart!
updates on the 2017 release
'3 minutes to midnight':
Listen now here and watch behind-the-scenes videos of the recording process at Santa Barbara Sound Design.
Featuring the Billboard Top 30 radio hit "Island Time" (10 weeks in a row on the chart), also in the top 20 on the MediaBase radio chart (over 3 months in a row).
Guitar Player Magazine interview is here.
Read the Official Press Release here featuring an interview with Lawson about the concept behind the album.
Behind-the-scenes videos here.
updates on THE 2015
"infinite chill: the remix sessions" ALBUM:
"Infinite Chill (the remix sessions)" set radio airwaves afire, hitting #2 in the U.S. on one of the major contemporary jazz radio charts after 32nd weeks in a row on the chart! Music samples and more info are HERE.
Featuring the #1 radio hit "Cafe Paris (chill remix)"
The album is top 40 on the CMJ Radio Chart.
The VINYL EDITION is a Top 10 Hot New Release on the Amazon.com dance & electronic chart.
#1 on the Amazon.com Hot New Release charts:
Featured in Jazziz Magazine: "Lawson Rollins has built a global following with his virtuosity and an engaging sound that incorporates jazz and world rhythms."
Acoustic Guitar Magazine writes in their November, 2015 interview: "The sound is impeccable, the compositions dynamic, and the technique dazzling."
Full interview here:
guest appearance:
Check out Lawson's guest feature on the tracks 'Out of the Storm' and 'Carry On' off the chart-topping, mega-hit album 'Global Force' from the jazz-world fusion band 3rd Force, which hit #1 on the radio chart above and #1 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz radio chart. Listen on iTunes now.
3rd Force - Global Force - a Billboard #1 Hit Album
updates on 2015 "traveler"album
TRAVELER - the February 2015 release. Music samples, studio pics and more info are HERE. Featuring the America's Music Chart top 50 radio hit "Berlin Bossa."
The album received 2 major international music awards in 2016:
~ 1st Place Winner in the leading songwriting awards, the 2015 USA Songwriting Competition.
~ Triple Gold Medal Winner in the 2015 Global Music Awards for Album, Instrumentalist, and Top 10 Albums of 2015:
- 2015 Finalist, Instrumental in The International Songwriting Competition
ISC winners will be announced in May 2016
The album features Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, the Grammy-nominated swing band, as well as 2-time Grammy winning violinist Mads Tolling, and many more. Read the rave press reviews HERE.
1st Place Winner in the leading songwriting awards,
the 2015 USA Songwriting Competition.
Winner in the 2015 Global Music Awards:
AXS.com: Top 10 Jazz Albums of 2015: "An international contemporary jazz star, Lawson Rollins rolls up his sleeves for his fifth album to bring places like Madrid, Paris, Berlin, and the Bayou to life." Full review: here.
Read the feature on Lawson in the June 2015 issue of Guitar Player Magazine here and the Spring 2015 issue of Jazziz Magazine here.
Songs from TRAVELER were featured on NPR's Morning Edition national radio show. Program here
updates on the 2013 FULL CIRCLE album:
2014 USA Songwriting Competition Winner: 'Shifting Seasons' off Lawson's album FULL CIRCLE won Best Instrumental Song of 2014 in this prestigious international competition that brings in 25,000 submissions from 80 countries. He also won 3rd Best Overall Artist. List of winners here.
USA Songwriting Competition Winner
Best Instrumental Song of 2014
Featuring the Billboard Top 30 radio hit "Flight"
FULL CIRCLE - a top 10 selling album in the U.S. on the Billboard World Music Album chart!
RADIO ACTION: Thanks to listeners across the country for all the radio play requests for the song 'Flight' off the album FULL CIRCLE! The song was a Billboard Top 30 radio hit and also on the top 15 MediaBase radio chart that monitors 1700 major radio stations across the U.S. Chart here. Also on the Top 50 contemporary jazz chart and the top 10 Indie chart.
#1 on Sirius-XM Radio: 'Flight' tied for the most played song on Sirius-XM's contemporary jazz channel 66 'Watercolors'. Chart here.
The track "Pursuit" from FULL CIRCLE was a finalist in the International Songwriting Competition. Listen to "Pursuit" now on Lawson's Band Profile Page on Facebook. The list of finalists is here.
Two songs from FULL CIRCLE - 'The Offering' and 'Bloom' - were featured on NPR's popular national radio show Morning Edition. Listen here.
FULL CIRCLE also features the radio hit "Momentum": a Top 40 hit on the major national America's Music Chart, #1 most-added song on contemporary jazz radio in the U.S. and the #1 most-active song according to the Billboard/BDS radio chart. Also in the top 5 most-played chart on Sirius-XM's Watercolors Channel 66 for several weeks running.
Special thanks to U.S. Airways for all the 'airplay' on their in-flight jazz channel, featuring 20 artists including George Benson, Harry Connick Jr. and the Yellowjackets. Playlist here.
FULL CIRCLE landed on the Top 10 iTunes World Music sales chart!
Listen to a 15 minute radio interview with Lawson that was broadcast live in the U.S. on WRTC Radio here.
Lawson reached #1 on the ReverbNation global World Music Chart! Chart here.
All-Star Compilation CD:
A track by Lawson is on the recent album Guitar Greats: Best of New Flamenco, Volume 3. Artists included on this compilation are Jesse Cook, Armik, Govi, Johannes Linstead, Young & Rollins, Oscar Lopez, Pavlo, Luis Villegas, and Incendio. This is the 9th compilation of its kind Lawson has been on and it's one of the best yet with such a stellar line up!
"Celebrity Guest DJ":
Lawson was the "Celebrity Guest DJ" host of Sirius-XM 'Watercolors' Channel 66. Listen to the one hour show HERE.
2012 VIDEO: "LOCOMOTION":
"LOCOMOTION" press release here.
Updates on the 2011 album ELEVATION:
ELEVATION features the track 'Daybreak,' a certified Billboard top 25 contemporary jazz radio hit! Chart here. Visit the ELEVATION page for more info.
"Santa Barbara Song" - the second single from ELEVATION serviced to jazz radio stations across the U.S. - was the number 1 'most added' song of the week on Billboard! The 'most added' chart is here.
Guitar Player Magazine Interview here.
Radio Chart Action: "Daybreak", the first radio single from ELEVATION, has been a national radio hit on the following charts: Billboard Chart, MediaBase Chart, Top 50 Chart, and the Indie Chart. Recent Adds: Sirius-XM Watercolors channel 66, WLFM Chicago, KILE Houston, KYSJ Coos Bay OR, WTCC Springfield MA, WVST Richmond, WGRV Melbourne FL, and KIHT St. Louis.
Lawson was recently selected as one of TrueFire's "100+ Gifted Guitarists You Should Know." See the list here.
Reviews of ELEVATION are located here.
Updates on the 2010 album ESPIRITO:
Following the success of "Moonlight Samba" and "Havana Heat" on jazz radio over the past several months, the third radio single from the album ESPIRITO - entitled "Return to Rio" - soared on radio in the U.S. and Canada and spent 4 months in a row on the top 20 Indie Chart and the SmoothJazz.com Top 50 Chart. Also designated by Billboard radio as 'Most Added', 'New and Active' and 'Most Increased Plays' on the Billboard chart.
After the #1 hit "Moonlight Samba" set airwaves afire for the past 10 months on U.S. radio, "Havana Heat" - the second single from ESPIRITO - spent over 4 months in a row on the Billboard Indicator top 30 radio chart. View chart here.
#1 Billboard Radio Single: The first radio single from ESPIRITO entitled "Moonlight Samba" hit #1 on the Billboard Recurrent Chart, which tracks songs that have spent more than 20 weeks on the radio single charts. View chart here. "Moonlight Samba" also came in at #22 on the 2010 year-end Groove Jazz Top 50 Internet Chart.
"Moonlight Samba" debuted on radio back in January, 2010 as the #1 Most Added song on stations monitored by SmoothJazz.com and Nielsen. The single and album were highlighted here on Broadcast Architecture's industry standard Jazz Network website.
The songs "Return to Rio," "Havana Heat", "Blue Mountain Bolero", "Rumba del Sol" and "Footprints" off ESPIRITO were featured on National Public Radio's popular show Morning Edition. Playlists are here, here, and here.
Read the press releases about ESPIRITO here.
Reviews of ESPIRITO are located here.
Internet and TV video hits:
"Santa Ana Wind" has been broadcast to millions of viewers on television music channels across the United States and Canada...watch it here. Guitar tablature is also available. Purchase a high quality download of the video on iTunes. The audio track alone can also be purchased on iTunes or Amazon MP3.
"Santa Ana Wind" Watch here.
By popular demand, the audio portion of “The Fire Cadenza” video is now available for purchase as a single on iTunes and Amazon MP3. Over 5 million views across the web to date. The video was posted by fans on countless websites and was featured on the homepage of Youtube, where it continues to attract thousands of viewers per day from around the world. Purchase the guitar tablature here.
"The Fire Cadenza" Watch here.
Updates on the 2008 album INFINITA:
The radio single “Infinita” from the album INFINITA received radio play across the U.S. for months on end, landing on the major Billboard top 30 Smooth Jazz Chart in August, 2008. The single also rose on the MediaBase top 50 smooth jazz chart, the R&R indicator chart (15 weeks in a row), the top 50 Smoothjazz.com chart and the top 10 SmoothJazz.com Indie Chart (8 months in a row). The single was also highlighted in Radio & Records Magazine.
Top 50 Radio Single: "In Motion" -- the 3rd radio single from Lawson's album INFINITA -- spent 30 weeks in a row on the SmoothJazz.com top 50 Indie Chart. The single is a special edit of the track "In Motion", featuring guest saxophonist Praful, whose mega-hit song "Sigh" has been a recurrent favorite on jazz radio for years.
The radio single “Cafe Jobim” from the album INFINITA landed on the top 30 Radio & Records indicator chart, the top 50 Smoothjazz.com chart, and top 10 SmoothJazz.com Indie Chart. “Cafe Jobim” was ranked one of the ‘Best of 2008′ by the Sounds of Brazil nationally syndicated radio show.
Music by Lawson Rollins is included on the recent compilation album Gypsy Spice – Best of New Flamenco alongside such bestselling artists as Ottmar Liebert, Jesse Cook, Benise, Armik, Govi, Shahin & Sepehr, and Young & Rollins.
INFINITA reached #2 on the Amazon.com Flamenco chart,
#2 on Barnes and Noble’s Flamenco chart, #2 on the Emusic World chart, and #14 on the iTunes World Music chart.
Reviews of INFINITA here.
