Michael Lington

Michael Lington is a contemporary jazz saxophonist, composer, producer, bandleader, and first call sideman. After emigrating from his native Denmark to Los Angeles in 1990, he worked with Bobby Caldwell for several years, then released an eponymous album in 1997. 2000′s Drift featured a guest spot by Randy Crawford. Canadian jazzman Brian Culbertson produced 2002′s Everything Must Change. Following the release of Heat in 2008, Lington set up Copenhagen Music. The label issued four charting albums between 2012′s Soul Appeal and 2019′s A Foreign Affair Christmas. During the pandemic, Lington streamed live concerts from his studio. He eventually enlisted collaborators and recorded Alone Together (The Duets), a covers set recorded via digital technology during quarantine. Among his many included saxophonist Boney James and neo-soul singer Sy Smith. Released in 2021, it was followed by the five-track Looking Ahead EP two years later.
Lington was born in 1969 in Copenhagen. The grandson of well-known Danish bandleader Otto Lington — an early proponent of jazz in Scandinavia — the youngster began his music studies in pre school, and at a very young age became a performing member of the world-renowned Tivoli Boys Guard. His involvement with the prestigious orchestra earned him a musical education that he later pursued in college. At 15, he fell so far under the influences of saxophonists David Sanborn and King Curtis, and recordings of American soul artists including Sam Cooke, Wilson Pickett and Ray Charles; their inspiration provided the impetus necessary to make the saxophone his instrument of choice. After completing his degree, he started his own recording studio while touring throughout Europe as a sideman. Lington emigrated to Southern California in 1990, where — with the assistance of musician/producer Mark Schulman — he became heavily involved with the contemporary jazz scene, soon performing regularly with vocalist Bobby Caldwell.
Lington’s eponymous debut album was released on NuGroove Records. Caldwell appeared on a stellar cover of the Aaron Neville hit, “Tell It Like It Is. “Vivid followed in 2000 on Gold Circle Records. The set netted two charting singles, “Twice In A Lifetime, “and “Sunset (Por Do Sol).” It also included a reading of the Burt Bacharach/Hal David classic, “Message To Michael,” sung by Randy Crawford.
2002′s Everything Must Change also netted a pair of charting R&B singles in “Still Thinking Of You,“and “Off The Hook.” During these years, Lington worked in the studio and on the road with Dan Siegel, Doc Powell and Jay Soto among others. Stay with Me in 2004 was the first of two albums for Rendezvous Entertainment. It offered a star studded guest list that included vocalists Michael Sembello and Wendy Moten, as well as guitarists Paul Jackson Jr. and Chuck Loeb. He followed the release with a world tour. A Song for You, his secnd offering for the label appeared in 2006. Co-produced by the artist by Randy Waldman (who also did the arranging), the 11 track set offered covers and originals performed by a crack studio band — guitarist Dean Parks, bassist Brian Bromberg, and drummer Vinnia Colaiuta — strings and woodwinds.
Following a tour and session work with Bromberg, Lington returned to NuGroove for 2008′s Heat. The ten-song set offered seven written or co-composed by Lington. Bassist Nathan East and Culbertson appeared on a cover of Gerry Rafferty’s “Baker Street,” while Aaron Neville guested as lead vocalist on Claude Kelly’s “That’s When You Save Me.” The album received airplay in North America and Europe, sold well, and was nominated for instrumentalist of the year at the 2009 Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards. That same year he appeqared on Brian Culbertson: Live From the Inside, and on Brazilian guitarist Torcuato Mariano’s (one of Lington’s steadiest sidemen) So Far From Home. A year later he added his horn to drummer Jonathan Blake’s So Strong.
In 2012, the saxophonist returned with the charting Pure on UK indie Trippin 'N' Rhythm Records. Lington’s studio cast on the date included more than a dozen musicians, among them Michael Bolton, Lee Ritenour, Jeff Golub, and Ray Parker Jr.
Lington formed Copenhagen Music label in 2013 to release his recordings, and the following year issued Soul Appeal. Produced and arranged by Barry Eastmond — with whom the artist co-composed the lion’s share of the album — it paid tribute to the Memphis soul tradition. Lington covered Bobby Womack’s and King Curtis’s “In The Pocket,” and the latter’s “Memphis Soul Stew.” Singer Kenny Lattimore appeared on (and wrote lyrics for) “Gonna Love You Tonight.”
His second Copenhagen album was 2016′s Second Nature. Also produced by Eastmond, it offered appearances from Booker T. Jones, Sy Smith, and Taylor Dayne. Lington toured North America and appeared on albums by Jackson Jr. and Adam Hawley. The Eastmond-produced Silver Lining arrived in 2018 on Copenhagen. Almost completely co-composed by artist and producer, the charting set included guests Dave Stewart (Eurythmics), Jack Ashford (Funk Brothers), Parker, Jr., William Bell, and more. Lington issued Foreign Affairs Christmas as the fourth for Copenhagen. Offering modern and traditional fare, its studio cast included Marc Antoine, Dave Koz, Rick Braun, Luis Conte and others.
In 2020, Lington planned two tours, one with saxophone stars Vincent Ingala and Paul Taylor as Sax to the Max, as well as a solo tour of select numerous European dates. The COVID-19 pandemic scuttled those plans. Lington knew he had to continue making music, quarantined or not. He began playing virtual concerts from his studio via StageIt. After a handful of concerts, he started inviting guests to perform with him. Since technology wasn’t allowing for “live” duets, they played and recorded shows, literally “alone together” from different locations. It provided a template for the saxophonist to produce state of the art audio and video concerts for fans ussing StageIT.
In March 2021, Lington released Alone Together for Peak Records. Consisting of covers –some he’d recorded once before — he enlisted a studio band for his cast of singers — including Sy Smith, Javier Colon, Lattimore, Nick Colionne, Dorian Holley, Billy Dean and Chris Walker, with featured instrumentalists Boney James, Koz, and Culbertson. Lington took a number of singers and players on the road. In 2023, Lington returned to Copenhagen Music to issue the five track Looking Ahead EP. Inspired by his recent marriage, the set consisted entirely of originals, led by the single “Moon Godess,” a tribute nod to Ramsey Lewis’s “Sun Goddess.” ~ Thom Jurek, Matt Collar