Latest News


ELEVATION...the new album.
Featuring an all-star ensemble recorded in Iran, Nepal, and the U.S.
Visit the new ELEVATION page for more info.

Lawson Rollins 


  • "Daybreak" - the first radio single from ELEVATION - is a certified Billboard and MediaBase top 30 jazz radio hit! It's spent several weeks on the Billboard chart in the top 25, and in the top 25 on the major MediaBase chart.

    Lawson Rollins 

    Lawson Rollins 

  • National Geographic chose the track "Persian Night" from ELEVATION as their 'Song of the Week'. See the write-up here.

    Lawson Rollins 


    Rave reviews of ELEVATION are coming in:

    Lawson Rollins 

  • Guitar Player Magazine (Feb. 2012 issue): "He possesses ungodly classical chops, with dazzling speed, uncanny accuracy, and a beautifully delicate touch...Lawson incorporates jazz, Brazilian, Latin, and world music influences into his complex musical stew, making for an intriguing listen." Full interview and review here.

  • Inside World Music: "Another astounding album of world fusion and avant-garde jazz...Rollins reaches new musical heights." Full review here.


  • Wandering Educators music critic Dr. Jessie Voigts: "Lawson has crafted a work of pure genius." Full review here.


  • Jazz review website Straight No Chaser: "Elevation, the latest CD from finger picking guitar whiz Lawson Rollins, is a true world music album." Full review here.


  • Midwest Record: "This is right in the center of the winner's circle of adult listening albums to come out this year... it doesn't get any better than this." Full review here.

  • Lawson Rollins 

  • Read the new interview Lawson did for GUITAR WORLD MAGAZINE here.


  • Don't miss the in-depth interview here with Music Web's guitar-guru Robert Silverstein, who described ELEVATION as "one of the great instrumental guitar albums of 2011...a masterpiece of high guitar art.".


  • MainlyPiano.com music critic Michael Debbage: "Rollins continues to elevate his game, making Elevation not only a great album title but a terrific way in effectively describing his musical attitude, altitude and aptitude." Full review here.


  • Radio Chart Action: "Daybreak", the first radio single from ELEVATION, is currently rising on the national jazz radio Billboard Chart, and MediaBase Chart, as well as the Top 50 Chart and the Indie Chart. Recent Adds: Sirius-XM Watercolors channel 66, WLFM Chicago, KILE Houston, KYSJ Coos Bay OR, WTCC Springfield MA, WVST Richmond, WGRV Melbourne FL, and KIHT St. Louis.


  • High Resolution Downloads! - All of Lawson's music - including ELEVATION - is now available in high resolution download format (24bit, 88.2kHz - more than twice the resolution of cds) through Linn Records. To hear every nuance of the music, discover the difference super high resolution sound quality makes. (Tip: to play back the 24bit, high-resolution 'studio master' files through your computer, simply download the easy-to-use, free player "VLC" here for Macs and here for Windows PC computers.)

     


  • Visit Facebook here for a free download of the song "Voyager's Tale" from the new album ELEVATION.

    ALBUM TEASER VIDEO:

    • Lawson was recently selected as one of TrueFire's "100+ Gifted Guitarists You Should Know." See the list here.

      Guitar Lessons





    • Updates on the 2010 album ESPIRITO:

    • Following the success of "Moonlight Samba" and "Havana Heat" on jazz radio over the past several months, the third radio single from the album ESPIRITO - entitled "Return to Rio" - soared on radio in the U.S. and Canada and spent 4 months in a row on the top 20 Indie Chart and the SmoothJazz.com Top 50 Chart. Also designated by Billboard radio as 'Most Added', 'New and Active' and 'Most Increased Plays' on the Billboard chart.


    • After the #1 hit "Moonlight Samba" set airwaves afire for the past 10 months on U.S. radio, "Havana Heat" - the second single from ESPIRITO - spent over 4 months in a row on the Billboard Indicator top 30 radio chart. View chart here.

    • #1 Billboard Radio Single: The first radio single from ESPIRITO entitled "Moonlight Samba" hit #1 on the Billboard Recurrent Chart, which tracks songs that have spent more than 20 weeks on the radio single charts. View chart here. "Moonlight Samba" also came in at #22 on the 2010 year-end Groove Jazz Top 50 Internet Chart.

    • "Moonlight Samba" debuted on radio back in January, 2010 as the #1 Most Added song on stations monitored by SmoothJazz.com and Nielsen. The single and album were highlighted here on Broadcast Architecture's industry standard Jazz Network website.

    • "Moonlight Samba" (from the album ESPIRITO) and "Infinita" (from the 2008 album INFINITA) are played regularly on the Sirius-XM "Watercolors" channel 71. Send in a request for the song here.

    • The songs "Return to Rio," "Havana Heat", "Blue Mountain Bolero", "Rumba del Sol" and "Footprints" off ESPIRITO were featured on National Public Radio's popular show Morning Edition. Playlists are here, here, and here.

    • Read the press releases about ESPIRITO here.

    Reviews of ESPIRITO are located here.





    Internet and TV video hits:

    • "Santa Ana Wind" has been broadcast to millions of viewers on television music channels across the United States and Canada...watch it here. Guitar tablature is also available. Purchase a high quality download of the video on iTunes. The audio track alone can also be purchased on iTunes or Amazon MP3.

      Lawson Rollins 
      "Santa Ana Wind" Watch here. 


    • By popular demand, the audio portion of “The Fire Cadenza” video is now available for purchase as a single on iTunes and Amazon MP3. Over 5 million views across the web to date. The video was posted by fans on countless websites and was featured on the homepage of Youtube, where it continues to attract thousands of viewers per day from around the world.  Purchase the guitar tablature here.

      Lawson Rollins 
      "The Fire Cadenza" Watch here. 





      Past News Highlights...

    • Top 50 Radio Single: "In Motion" -- the 3rd radio single from Lawson's album INFINITA -- spent 30 weeks in a row on the SmoothJazz.com top 50 Indie Chart. The single is a special edit of the track "In Motion", featuring guest saxophonist Praful, whose mega-hit song "Sigh" has been a recurrent favorite on jazz radio for years.

    • The radio single “Infinita” from the album INFINITA received radioplay across the U.S. for months on end, landing on the major Billboard top 30 Smooth Jazz Chart in August, 2008. The single also rose on the MediaBase top 50 smooth jazz chart, the R&R indicator chart (15 weeks in a row), the top 50 Smoothjazz.com chart and the top 10 SmoothJazz.com Indie Chart (8 months in a row). The single was also highlighted in Radio & Records Magazine.

    • The radio single “Cafe Jobim” from the album INFINITA landed on the top 30 Radio & Records indicator chart, the top 50 Smoothjazz.com chart, and top 10 SmoothJazz.com Indie Chart. “Cafe Jobim” was ranked one of the ‘Best of 2008′ by the Sounds of Brazil nationally syndicated radio show.

    • Music by Lawson Rollins is included on the recent compilation album Gypsy Spice – Best of New Flamenco alongside such bestselling artists as Ottmar Liebert, Jesse Cook, Benise, Armik, Govi, Shahin & Sepehr, and Young & Rollins.

    • INFINITA reached #2 on the Amazon.com Flamenco chart,
      #2 on Barnes and Noble’s Flamenco chart, #2 on the Emusic World chart, and #14 on the iTunes World Music chart.

    Reviews of INFINITA