About this Artist

With his sleek look, hip attitude, and intense, passionate performance style, MICHAEL LINGTON is becoming one of the hottest stars on today’s contemporary jazz scene. And if fans around the world sense something regal about the Copenhagen native, it’s no doubt due to the company he keeps. Lington, who previously played for the Queen of Denmark’s 50th birthday celebration, was commissioned in May to perform his new single “Show Me” at the royal wedding of Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederick.

One of the top genre hits of 2005, Lington’s Rendezvous Entertainment debut CD Stay With Me has already spent 24 weeks on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz chart. Lington, no stranger to chart topping hits, has had an incredible string of successes over the past few years.

Lington finds time to work with the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation to raise money for music education in schools; recently, with Dave Koz, he created an auction benefitting the Foundation, with the winners attending tonight’s concert. Lington himself began playing clarinet at age seven and remembers spending time as a young boy in Copenhagen with his grandfather, Otto Lington, who was among the first musicians and promoters to introduce jazz to Denmark. Moving to the United States, his first touring gigs were with rock legends Little Richard and Gary “U.S.” Bonds, but his major breakthrough came with singer Bobby Caldwell, whom Lington played with from 1994 through 1998. Caldwell has been a proving ground for saxmen who have gone onto huge solo careers, including Dave Koz, Richard Elliot, and Boney James.

In 2005 Lington has continued his busy performance schedule with a nationwide solo tour hitting over 20 major cites coast to coast, culminating tonight at the Hollywood Bowl. During breaks of his tour, Lington has found time to write and record tracks for his highly anticipated follow-up to Stay With Me, tentatively scheduled for an early 2006 release.