“There is a deluxe edition coming out on the 6th. I added two songs to the deluxe – and a hard copy,” said Billboard chart-topping Jazz guitarist Ronny Smith about his new album “Velvet Vibe” (Pacific Coast Jazz). “With streaming there is no use for hard copy, but I have a distributor, Pacific Coast Jazz, and they demanded it.”
As a journalist of over 30 years, lately I have been hearing more artists and musicians bringing back the hard-copy and I applaud them for it. Take the money away from unfair and unethical streaming platforms. Force them to take the back seat to an artist’s talent and revenue. Without artists music, the streaming platforms would have nothing to stream. Imagine all at once, all high-profile artists and musicians refusing to place their music on mainstream streaming platforms and driving their fans to their own websites to download or stream. A coalition.
“With computers these days there is no way to play hard copies, they don’t come with CD Rom anymore,” Ronny pointed out.
We both acknowledged though that we still have CD Rom devices and a library of CDs and DVDs. Old school streaming!
“I think it’s coming back. I saw on the news someone is opening another Block Buster type store,” he added.
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I asked Ronny, a native of my hometown of Baltimore, about his start as a Jazz guitarist and he said, “I debuted in 2002 and at that time I was still in the military. I got this desire to record, and I gave it a shot…it’s been a learning experience.”
Ronny Smith recently played at Blues Alley in Washington, DC (November 9th) and I asked him about that show which was coming up at the time of out interview.
“We gonna play some tunes from the album…bring that energy. I hired a horn section…using a section is much easier,” he said when I asked about musicians to be at the show.
“Velvet Vibe” was released in July of this year and the deluxe edition – with addition tracks and hard copy – is coming out on the 6th on this month. The musicians on the new project include Jose Juvinao on bass; Dennis Fortune on keyboard; Erik Tulissio on drums; Asaf Finkelstein on piano, and the four-piece horn section he talked about called the Heartbeat Brass Band. I asked about any relationship he might have with the musicians he has on his “Velvet Vibe” album.
“I’ve recorded with some before. Like Dennis, he is a local from Philly,” Smith said. “I usually pick musicians that I know…”
I enquired if he had an idea in his mind of what he wanted the “Velvet Vibe” album to be like when he started recording it and he said, “I did…I was always looking for a way to make melody and groove connect. So…I start with the melody and insert it in a groove…or visa-versa.”
“Sometimes I start with no title and then sometimes I name it all the way at the end…like it ‘reminds me of…’,” Ronny told me when I questioned how he names “instrumentals.”
I kept probing because musicians fascinate me and asked how he remember instrumentals when performing them live after they’ve been released for a while, and he said with a slight laugh “I go back and practice it! After a while…when you create so many…you kind-of forget.”
Ronny Smith said he has 100s of songs that he has recorded but once he hears the start of it, he remembers the rest.
The “Velvet Vibe’ album is also in consideration this year for a Grammy nomination. It offers listeners an array of “energy vibes,” such as on “Once Upon a Dream” which gives me a Nite-club “vibe”; “Late Train Home” gives me that joy-ride feel; “Heaven’s Angel” is popping with nice vocals and awesome drum intro; “Night Wave” is bass driven that intertwines sweetly with Ronny’s guitar, and his “Quiet Moment” has that Latin “vibe” to it. The original “Velvet Vibe” release offers 10 tracks and the deluxe edition provides 12.
Ronny Smith’s #1 Billboard chart-topping credit came with his previous release titled “City Groove”. www.RonnySmith.com
SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: Dr. Eunice Moseley has an estimated weekly readership of over one million for her column The Pulse of Entertainment. She is the publisher of the digital magazine www.ThePulseofEntertainment.com, which has an estimated 160,000 visitors a month. An entrepreneur, Dr. Moseley’s company, Freelance Associates, is a business management/public relations strategic planning and consulting firm that is celebrating 32 years in 2025. Dr. Eunice also serves as professor for the School of Business at Stanton University in Anaheim, California and serves as promotions director (at-large), journalist and business consultant for The Baltimore Times. Dr. Moseley founded the Uplifting Minds II Foundation (www.UpliftingMinds.com) in 2023, a 501 C3 with a mission to empower the underserved through three major programs – One Stop Business Shop, the ULMII Professional Conference and the ULMII Academy (business management and public relations).EVENTS: “Uplifting Minds II” Entertainment Conference (ULMII), was launched by Dr. Eunice in 1999, to educate aspiring artists/musicians about the business of entertainment – www.UpliftingMinds2.com. Next ULMII Entertainment Conferences for Baltimore on Saturday April 18, 2026, presented by Security Square Mall and The Baltimore Times, and for Los Angeles on Saturday, November 7, 2026, presented by The Pulse of Entertainment and the ULMII Foundation. The ULMII conferences are free with virtual access via Zoom. ULMII entertainment conference offers a Professional Panel Q&A Session, a Professional Talent Showcase and International Talent Competition where the top three scored acts receive the ULMII Best Act Award and over $20,000 valued in prizes/product/services and cash!
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