By now you’ve probably heard, The Prime Smokehouse is one of the nation’s top destinations for jazz, entertainment and great food.

If you are an agent, promoter or touring jazz, smooth jazz, blues or R&B musician or vocalist who is interested in performing at The Prime Smokehouse, please send your nonreturnable promotional materials to: The Prime Smokehouse, 2800 Rock Quarry Road, Raleigh, N.C., 27610; or electronic media kit or inquiries to Attention: House Booker at  primesmokehouse@yahoo.com. Please understand that we receive hundreds of inquiries each week, so we cannot always respond immediately.

In the mean time, just look at what The Prime Smokehouse has going on over the next couple months!

James “Saxsmo” Gates is back by popular demand. Whether he’s playing smooth jazz or bebop, he forces you to take notice of what he’s delivering. His sound ranges from fierce to mellow, depending on what’s required. The Berklee College of Music grad is a contemporary of such stellar musicians as Billy Kilson, Terri Lynn Carrington, Walter Beasley, Alex Bugnon, Branford Marsalis, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Marvin Smitty Smith, Wallace Roney, Billy Hart, Omar Hakim, Lailah Hathaway, Kevin Eubanks, Robin Eubanks and Donald Harrison. Joining him at the Smokehouse are  Thomas Taylor on drums, Ryan Hanesler on piano and  Jason Foureman on bass. Shows begin at 9 p.m. both nights. The cover is $10.

If you recharge with live music, Mike Gillispie’s flute sparks with jazz — from airy ballads to gritty blues. His fresh approach is inspired by his love for America’s only classical music and his work with great artists who helped form the tradition of the music we enjoy today.

Trained in European classical music at an early age, his interests turned almost immediately to jazz, and by the time he graduated from high school he was gigging several times each week. His study of the music, its history and culture led him to combine his work as a photographer with his love for music. During photo shoots, performances and recording sessions he has been able to photograph, play with and spend quality time with many of the of the world’s leading musicians.  Showtimes are 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday. Cover is $7.50.

He is the chairman of fine arts and director of the BB King Recording Studio at Mississippi Valley State University, where he is involved in archiving the music of Delta musicians. He presents music workshops and lectures, educating audiences on the culture of blues and jazz music.  His recent recording is “Mississippi Influences.”

Showtimes: 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. both Friday and Saturday night. The cover is $10.

Smooth jazz giants Stanley Baird and Bob Baldwin are using their celebrity to draw attention to a rare autoimmune disease that recently claimed the life of Daniele Cooley, a 30-year-old Fayetteville mother of two young children.

“I learned about Daniele and her condition through a friend,” says Grammy-nominated keyboardist Baldwin, who wrote a song for Cooley, titled Every Breath is a Gift. “One thing led to another, and I felt it was important to do the benefit. I also felt it was important to raise awareness, so that people know what she went through. I’d like for the condition that Daniele had to get exposure.”

Last year, Baldwin was joined by saxophonist Mike Phillips in Atlanta for a benefit concert to help raise awareness and funding for Daniele to fight her disease. Unfortunately, on Jan. 20 Daniele lost her battle with mixed connective tissue disorder, the autoimmune disease that robbed her of three-quarters of her lungs’ breathing capacity.

On Sunday, March 11, Baldwin and nationally renowned saxophonist Stanley Baird and his band will co-host a concert in her honor at The Prime Smokehouse. Proceeds will go toward a scholarship fund for Daniele’s children, Aniyah, 4, and 7-year-old Darrion Elijah.

Tickets, $20, are available at www.helpdaniele.eventbrite.com. Those wishing to donate may also do so by visiting www.indiegogo.com/Help-Daniele-Project.

“Oftentimes death brings about awareness,” says Ivye Wright Arnold of Ivye League Entertainment. “While this world lost a wonderful young lady in Daniele, she would want us to spread the word about this disease and seek ways to prevent it in the future.  We also want to make sure that we remember her children, who suddenly lost the mother who provided for their every need.”

What is Mixed Connective Tissue Disease?

The perplexing thing about mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) is that nobody knows what causes it, and there are no unique signs or symptoms. What doctors do know is that the disorder usually attacks women in their 20s and 30s, and occasionally children. MCTD often masquerades as other maladies, portraying symptoms of lupus, scleroderma, polymyositis and rheumatoid arthritis. It is an autoimmune disease, which means that the body’s defense system targets healthy cells rather than the bad ones. Gradually, your body becomes weak and, as in the case of Daniele, too weak to recover.

About the Musicians

When Bob Baldwin is not living the harried life of an in-demand pianist, you can find him hosting the popular NewUrbanJazz Lounge, a radio program that recently expanded its reach to 20 stations (including Fayetteville, Wilkes-Barre and Greensboro) and 150,000 listeners weekly worldwide. (www.newurbanjazz.com). His latest recording is New Urban Jazz 2 / Re-Vibe.  In addition to recording artist, composer, producer and radio show host, he recently added author among his titles; his debut book is “You Better Ask Somebody, It’s the Friggin’ Music Business.” His charity work is also well known, including his help in raising tens of thousands of dollars for earth-quake stricken Haiti.

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An acclaimed musician, composer, educator and entertainer, Stanley Baird has performed with a copious list of other renowned musicians, including Gladys Knight, Kirk Whalum, Patti LaBelle, Najee, Brian McKnight, Regina Belle, The O’Jays and Donald Byrd, to name a few. He has recorded numerous CDs, the latest release being Traffic Jam, on Saxony Records. He created the STANLEY BAIRD YOUTH JAZZ FOUNDATION, believing that young people represent the hope for the future of America’s only true classical music, jazz. Baird’s philosophy is, “Listening to music is good for the soul and the mind; don’t do drugs; get your high on soothing, inspirational music.”

WOMEN WHO JAM! showcases talented women of all backgrounds, representing various genres of art and music. Shows are every third Thursday of the month.

The night promises to be entertaining! As you know, the dinners and desserts are delicious, so plan on enjoying a meal and drinks with the show. For reservations, call (919) 832-8685.

This event is sponsored by the N.C. Triad of the National Association of Black Female Executives in Music and Entertainment.

Are you interested in performing? If so, contact www.NABEFEMETRIAD.com.

What better way to celebrate the glorious annual Women’s Empowerment Weekend than to kick it with these hilarious Women of Comedy?

Nationally known comedienne B-Phlat headlines this all-star array of funny women. During her 16 years in the comedy game, she has been featured on numerous TV shows, including “Showtime at the Apollo” and “BET’s Comicview.” She has also been a writer for ESPN Magazine, hosting several celebrity events, such as the Russell Simmon’s Phat Farm Fashion Show & Def Comedy, “Comics Without Borders,” and Martin Lawrence Presents “1st Amendment Stand Up.”

Also appearing will be the gifted comedienne and impressionist Sylvia Traymore Morrison — known for her spot-on impersonations of such celebrities as Wendy Williams, Diana Ross, Mo’Nique, Whoopi Goldberg and First Lady Michelle Obama. Her first book is “Almost There, Almost … The Many Faces of Sylvia Traymore Morrison.“

Comedian Will Little will also be on hand. Little’s gut-splitting portrayal of “Ms. Mini” has afforded him the opportunity to perform with many gospel greats; he also opened for Grammy-Award-winning singer Natalie Cole. He says his mission is to bridge generational gaps with clean, wholesome comedy.

Seating is limited! Tickets, $20 advance, are available by CLICKING HERE!

Opening for the Women of Comedy will be R&B great Aaron Mills (of Cameo) and his band. Doors open at 7  p.m. both Friday and Saturday night. Music and dancing will also follow the comedy.

Enter Cincinnati trumpeter Mike “Shorty-Bop” Wade, the funky, brash brass man, who has honed his chops with everybody from Bobby Watson to Bootsie Collins. He will make his first appearance in Raleigh on Friday and Saturday, March 23-24, bringing along the excitement generally afforded musicians much longer in the tooth. Seatings are 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. both nights. The cover is $10.

“Mike Wade has secured his place among the legacy of great trumpeters … people get ready!” says Wilson. And, as Bailey chimes in, “Mike Wade is one of the most inspiring musicians of the new millennium. …He is a name not to forget, as well as a trumpet player not to miss.”

Wade started honing his craft before he was a teenager, and a few years later, while attending the Duke Ellington School of Arts in Washington, D.C., he earned a National Symphony Fellowship to study with symphony trumpeters, according to the Toedtman School of Music website.  After a year at Howard University he headed to Central State University equipped with a full scholarship. He would go on to get his bachelor’s in music education there. Founder and leader of the Standard Time Quintet, Mike Wade & The Jazz Mafia, and the Mike Wade Reality Band, Wade has begun to make some national noise. Jazziz magazine recently named him among the Top Ten unsigned brass players. Over the years, he has performed or worked David “Fathead” Newman, Clark Terry, Javon Jackson, Bobby Watson, Gary Bartz, Mulgrew Miller, Rene Marie, Don Braden, Steve Wilson, Othello Molineaux, Vincent Herring, Jon Hendricks & Annie Ross, Winard & Phillip Harper, Antoine Roney, Herb Jeffries, Craig Bailey, Billy Hart, Marc Cary, Bill Lee, Ricky Wellman, Bootsy Collins, Reggie Calloway, Teddy Pendergrass, The O’Jays, Earth, Wind and Fire, Tom Tom 84, and Experience Unlimited (E.U.), among others.