Smooth Jazz News - October-November-Decemeber - 2024

O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 4 | 1 9 “Free,” featuring vocalist Lindsey Webster, is another up-tempo song designed to get listeners on their feet. Escape With Me also includes a smooth jazz version of “La-La Means I Love You,” an old-school R&B number popularized by The Delfonics. Ingala plays the melody on saxophone and vocalizes the chorus. When he plays the song live, he said the whole audience joins him on the lyrics: “La la la la la la la la la means I love you.” Ingala’s personal life has more amore, too, as he recently became engaged to his longtime love, Olivia. He proposed when the couple vacationed in Florida with Ingala’s parents. His mom, Dawn, kept the square-shaped, princess-cut diamond ring in her purse, waiting for the moment when her son decided to pop the question. “I knew I was going to do it on that trip; I just didn’t know exactly when,” Ingala recalled. “One morning, Olivia woke up and said, ‘I’m going to go for a run on the beach,’ and I said, ‘I’ll go with you.’” Once on the sand, Ingala set the scene by asking for help in collecting seashells for a home project. “I said, ‘Liv, wait till you see this shell; it has a shine to it. It’s almost blinding me.’ She asked, ‘What are you talking about?’ and I said, ‘Take a look.’ I was standing right there with the ring, and that was it. I got down on one knee when I was putting it on her hand. It’s kind of comical because we were both sinking in the wet sand, and we hugged and fell down at the same time.” Ingala said he sometimes consults his fiancee and family members when choosing song titles for his recordings, and his grandmother came to mind when naming “Lene’s Groove,” the ninth cut on Escape With Me . This tribute to her is a swaying tempo made more poignant by the addition of background strings. “Marlene was my grandmother. She passed away last September, and she was a big supporter of my career. I’m her only grandson, and she loved music,” Ingala explained. “She would come see me play live, and she had a cute little shuffle dance that she would do. We have videos over the years of her dancing to my songs. She will never hear Escape With Me, and that was a sad reality because she would always ask, ‘Have you finished your album?’ Olivia pointed out that the song sounds like something grandma Marlene would dance to. It’s her tempo. So, we settled on ‘Lene’s Groove.’” Ingala is scheduled to ring in 2025 as a featured artist at the three- day Mindi Abair’s Wine and Jazz New Year’s Eve event beginning Dec. 29 at the Loews Coronado Bay Resort in Coronado, California. His nuptials also will occur in 2025, at a date to be announced, when there’s a break in his busy touring schedule. He also hopes to find time to indulge in another passion many would find to be, well, highly unlikely for a musician. “I bought a house last September, and I just love having a beautiful, green, lush lawn,” Ingala confessed. “All during the pandemic, when we had nothing but time, I painstakingly researched lawn care, green grass fertilization techniques, aerating and overseeding. I know it sounds funny, but I love this so much, and I gained so much knowledge talking to lawn experts. I have a Toro TimeCutter® zero turn riding mower—it’s my man toy. It’s a nice release away from the road and something completely different.” This lawn-obsession confession comes from an internationally recognized musician who debuted his sax chops at a San Diego club as a teenager, was named 2011 Debut Artist of the Year by Smooth Jazz News , and who now requires a management team, booking agent, record deal and radio promoter to help him tend to his flourishing, bright green career. For more information on Ingala, including his complete tour schedule, visit www.vincentingala.com . Oct. 20 37th Catalina Island JazzTrax Festival (with Peter White and Mindi Abair) Catalina Casino Avalon, California www.jazztrax.com Nov. 29-Dec. 23 27th Annual Dave Koz & Friends Christmas Tour featuring Jonathan Butler with special guests Vincent Ingala, Adam Hawley and Rebecca Jade Various venues throughout the United States www.davekoz.com ON TOUR Dec. 30 Mindi Abair’s Wine and Jazz New Year’s Eve Loews Coronado Bay Resort Coronado, California www.mindiabair.com/new-years-eve May 6, 2025s Algarve Smooth Jazz Festival Pine Cliffs Resort, a Luxury Collection Resort Albufeira, Algarve, Portugal www.algarve.smoothjazzfestival.de shop@smooth-entertainment.eu Voyage One: June 7-14, 2025 Voyage Two: June 14-21, 2025 Dave Koz & Friends at Sea Iceland • Norway • Netherlands Aboard Holland America’s ms Rotterdam www.davekozcruise.com Photo: Bobby Quillard