The Smooth Factor Dee Lucas

• 1 Rise and Shine (Intro) 01:20
• 2 The Smooth Factor 04:19
• 3 On the Move 04:47
• 4 Wish You Were Here 04:47
• 5 Cruising With You 03:42
• 6 The Smooth Jazz Ride 05:31
• 7 Stay (feat. Judith Nicholas) 04:12
• 8 Santa Monica (feat. Joel Del Rosario) 04:58
• 9 Dee's Groove (Outro) 01:03
• Total Runtime 34:39

Info for The Smooth Factor

The Smooth Factor marks the fifth album from saxman Dee Lucas! This 9-track project highlights various contemporary stylings from various producers such as LA-based Lew Laing, Jr. and grammy-award winner Phil Davis.

National recording artist and saxophonist Dee Lucas has been noted as the most consistent and hardest working indie artist in the entire music industry while steadily growing his brand and fan base beginning with Remembrance in 2004. Thereafter, it has been a steady showcase of unique stylings with Something to Ride 2 (2007), Standing Room Only (2010), Rebirth of the Smooth (2012), The Smooth Factor (2014), Going Deeper (2016), The Sweet Spot (2017), Going Left (2018), the critically-acclaimed The Time Is Now (2020), the outstanding offering of No Boundaries (2023), and now his much anticipated upcoming release title “Twenty” which celebrates his 20 years as solo recording artist. This captivating artist is a 3-time Billboard smooth jazz artist with four #1 hits across various smooth jazz charts.

His style, from a horn perspective, is different from that of many traditional smooth jazz artists in terms of melodic phrasing. Lucas mentioned, "I like taking off on an uncharted path in music and Something to Ride 2 is a representation of the journey that I take each time I pick up the sax." Over the years, Dee Lucas has co-billed or headlined on an extensive number of concerts and festivals across the U.S. He will hit the both nationally and internationally with his “Twenty Tour” celebrating 20 years as a solo recording artist.

Dee Lucas

Dee Lucas
National recording artist and saxophonist Dee Lucas has been noted as the most consistent and hardest working indie artist in the entire music industry while steadily growing his brand and fan base beginning with Remembrance in 2004. Thereafter, it has been a steady showcase of unique stylings with Something to Ride 2 (2007), Standing Room Only (2010), Rebirth of the Smooth (2012), The Smooth Factor (2014), Going Deeper (2016), The Sweet Spot (2017), Going Left (2018), the critically-acclaimed The Time Is Now (2020), the outstanding offering of No Boundaries (2023), and now his much anticipated upcoming release title “Twenty” which celebrates his 20 years as solo recording artist. This captivating artist is a 3-time Billboard smooth jazz artist with four #1 hits across various smooth jazz charts.

In 1997, Lucas got his start as a musician playing as a sideman in a local band, Between 9&7. The band recorded a CD, which was a moderate regional hit. Although he got performances, both rhythm and solos, Lucas felt it was time to develop his own by ensemble to demand more challenges within himself as both a musician and entrepreneur. So, on New Year's Eve of 1999, Lucas formed his own contemporary jazz trio, Xpressions. They produced and recorded a CD titled Footprints, which gained notoriety in regional markets. The record contained the classic hit People Make the World Go Round.

In 2004, Dee Lucas's entrepreneur skills had surfaced, and his newly-formed record label, Mo Better Recordings, was conceived. His debut solo CD, Remembrance, was released and independently distributed in 2005. Adding consistency to his young but surprising start, Dee released his sophomore CD, Something to Ride 2, in 2007, which peaked at #10 on the Smoothjazz.com's Top 50 Indie Charts. With this record, the saxman wanted to further develop his own distinctive sound as a solo artist.

His style, from a horn perspective, is different from that of many traditional smooth jazz artists in terms of melodic phrasing. Lucas mentioned, "I like taking off on an uncharted path in music and Something to Ride 2 is a representation of the journey that I take each time I pick up the sax." Also in 2007, Dee was runner-up in the Capital Jazz Festival Competition.

In 2010, Dee Lucas released Standing Room Only which was composed and produced by several talented producers including Grammy winner Phil Davis. The CD peaked at #26 on the Smoothjazz.com's Top 50 Indie Charts and #29 on the Billboard jazz charts. In 2012, Rebirth of the Smooth was released as a compilation of Dee's first 3 solo recordings to celebrate what he has accomplished in his steadily rising career, as well as his direction in contemporary jazz. It offered a wide array of styles coming from various producers pushing the envelope in this already competitive genre of jazz.

In 2014 with The Smooth Factor, Lucas continued to season his contemporary jazz with R&B, and featured the work of such producing heavyweights as LA-based Lew Laing, Jr., and Atlanta-based and Grammy-Award winning Phil Davis.

The journey continued with the release of Going Deeper in 2016 which debuted and peaked at #30 on the Billboard jazz charts. The album included producers Phil Davis, Joel Del Rosario, Lew Laing, Jr., former Cameo member TC Campbell, and Philly-based producer/guitarist David P. Stevens.

In 2017, Dee Lucas continued to evolve with fresh ideas and an ‘out-of-the-box’ business approach. He currently merged his previous music catalog with his new parent company Dee Lucas Enterprises which is home of his brand new record label ODL Music. The new label released The EP Collection....Volume 1: The Sweet Spot, which is produced by legendary pianist Bob Baldwin. As a result, the radio single ‘Road Warrior’ made Billboard's Top 100 Smooth Jazz charts for over 8 weeks.

In September 2018, “Going Left” (distributed by Universal Music Group) was released which generated respectable success on several smooth jazz charts.

“The Time Is Now” marked his 9th worldwide release and was arguably considered his best work at that time. It featured some of the brightest producers and special guest artists in Adam Hawley, Blake Aaron, Darryl Williams, David P. Stevens, Lew Laing, Jr., Gino Rosaria, & George Freeman. “The Time Is Now” was positioned on several music charts including the Billboard Top 20 Smooth Jazz charts with the hit single ‘Full Tilt’. It also was nominated for the Indie Soul Smooth Jazz Album of the Year award.

In 2023, “No Boundaries” marked his 10th release to date. Prior to the album release, Lucas released two singles as preludes to the album release titled ‘Hot Ice’ featuring keyboardist Gino Rosaria and ‘Sir Dee’ (a musical salute to legendary Stevie Wonder). Both singles hit #1 on several smooth jazz charts and has become an instant fan favorites. These two hits are on his 10th album “No Boundaries” that was released on March 10, 2023. Since then, four more singles were successfully released. ‘Stay Strong’ features the talented bassist Blair Bryant who is currently the musical director for the legendary saxophonist Najee. ‘Love Is Enough’ which features the amazing vocal stylings of Selina Albright was released (5/5/23) on the R&B format. This single garnered the attention of several markets in the UK and recently peaked at #9 on the indie R&B charts. It was recently nominated for an Indie Soul Award as ‘Jazz Vocal Single of the Year’. ‘Just a Vibe’ (6/19/23) features four-time #1 Billboard artist Ragan Whiteside. And ‘On the Verge’ (9/11/23), which is produced by Bob Baldwin, is the last the single from the album to ride the smooth jazz charts.

Over the years, Dee Lucas has co-billed or headlined on an extensive number of concerts and festivals across the U.S. He will hit the both nationally and internationally with his “Twenty Tour” celebrating 20 years as a solo recording artist.

This album contains no booklet.