“It’s such an honor to win the B.B. King Entertainer of the Year award,” Benoit says. “They gave this award to B.B. so many times, it’s named after him. I had a friend who once met B.B. and asked him, ‘Who should I listen to when I first get into the blues?’ B.B. King could have named almost anyone, but instead he said, ‘Tab Benoit.’ That’s why the B.B. King Entertainer of the Year award means so much to me.”

Medicine was released in April 2011 on the Telarc imprint. The 11-track recording features seven Benoit originals co-written with ace songwriter Anders Osborne. Engineered by David Z, Medicine spotlights the work of keyboardist Ivan Neville, drummer Brady Blade and bassist Corey Duplechin. Fiddler/singer Michael Doucet of BeauSoleil makes a special appearance on three tracks.

Legacy: The Best of Tab Benoit, a 14-song compilation of recordings from Benoit’s years, so far, on Telarc, was released last month.

In 2010, Benoit received the Governor’s Award for Conservationist of the Year from the Louisiana Wildlife Federation.

DeJohnette has also scheduled performances at several renowned North American festivals this summer and fall, including appearances at two of the most prominent U.S. jazz festivals. On June 28, The Jack DeJohnette Group (featuring saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, guitarist Dave Fiuczynski, pianist George Colligan and bassist Jerome Harris)—his working ensemble—will headline the Ottawa International Jazz Festival. On August 4, DeJohnette will headline the 2012 Newport Jazz Festival, performing in three different settings: with his working ensemble, his All-Star group (featuring guitarist Lionel Loueke, pianist George Colligan, bassist Christian McBride, saxophonist Tim Ries, percussionist Luisito Quintero and trumpeter Jason Palmer) as well as a duo performance with Jason Moran. In September, DeJohnette will serve as the 55th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival’s 2012 Showcase Artist, and will perform three times throughout the weekend (September 21-23): with his working ensemble; his Special Trio (with Pat Metheny and Christian McBride); and in duo with Bill Frisell.

Other notable appearances for DeJohnette throughout the year include participation in Pat Metheny’s five-day Summer Music Workshop beginning on August 20, and two European tours (in July with The Keith Jarrett Trio and in late September with his own group).

DeJohnette’s 2012 festivities will culminate with two performances: the long-awaited reunion of “The Gateway Trio,” featuring John Abercrombie and Dave Holland, at Chicago’s Orchestra Hall (a hometown performance for DeJohnette) on November 2, and a Keith Jarrett Trio performance at NJPAC in Newark, New Jersey on December 1.

DeJohnette recently participated in the International Jazz Day inauguration at the United Nations in New York City on April 30 with Herbie Hancock and a plethora of other artists. “It was a great honor to be part of this extraordinary event,” DeJohnette said. “An amazing feeling to play in the UN General Assembly with my friends Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Ron Carter honoring Miles Davis, and also playing with some of my other friends.”

For more information and complete tour dates, go to www.jackdejohnette.com.

The three musicians will explore the unique relationship and common roots between the two seemingly unrelated musical worlds of popular music and jazz. The show will present classic songs from two viewpoints: as they were originally conceived for Broadway, Hollywood and Tin Pan Alley, and then as they were re-invented by jazz performers to become classics in the jazz repertoire.

The shows on June 5th and 6th will take place at 7:30 p.m. Tickets prices are $75 for mezzanine concert seating and $95-$120 for cabaret seating. Tickets for the Sunday afternoon family matinee are $25. Tickets can be purchased through jalc.org or CenterCharge at 212-721-6500. Tickets can also be purchased at the Jazz at Lincoln Center box office, located on Broadway at 60th Street, ground floor.

For more information about the “Jazz and Popular Song” series, visit www.jalc.org/jazzandpopularsong.

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Recorded over two days in a Burbank, California studio, Overtime locates Ritenour in a variety of environments—from the soulful funk of The Temptations’ “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” to a set of Brazilian samba to the jazz-rock fusion of his early days. The songs are culled from 1977’s Captain Fingers, 1978’s Captain’s Journey, 1981’s Rit, 1988’s Festival, 1992’s Wes Bound (a tribute to Wes Montgomery) and 2003’s Twist Of Motown.

Guests include vocalist/pianist Patrice Rushen; trumpeter Chris Botti; flute/sax man Ernie Watts; multi-instrumentalist Eric Marienthal (sax, flute, piccolo); Peruvian percussionist Alex Acuna; soul singer Kenya Hathaway (daughter of the late Donny Hathaway); drummer Harvey Mason and many others. Composer/arranger/pianist Dave Grusin (with whom Ritenour won a 1985 Grammy for Harlequin) shares the bill with the band on four tracks of bonus material drawn from the 2011 Montreux Jazz Festival: “Wes Bound” “Stolen Moments” “The Firm” and “Lay It Down.”

Here are the other tracks:

1. Party Time

2. Blue in Green

3. Mizrab

4. Sugarloaf Express

5. Harlequin

6. Beyond the Storm

7. Dinorah Dinorah

8. P.A.L.S.

9. Captain Fingers

10. Morning Glory

11. Captain Caribe

12. Night Rhythms

13. A Little Bumpin’

14. Water to Drink (Agua de Beber)

15. Possibilities

16. Papa Was a Rolling Stone

17. Is it You?

18. Thirteen

19. She Walks this Earth