• Soul Seduction brings on the passion of smooth jazz

  • Singer Aysha Webb is a very smooth jazz operator. A real multitasker.
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    • Aysha Webb
      With: JJ Sansaverino, Will Donato, Tony Moore, Darryl Williams, Monty Seward
      When: 6 p.m. Sunday
      Where: University Plaza Waterfront Hotel, 110 W. Fremont St., Stockton
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      Aysha Webb

      When: 6 p.m. Sunday


      Tickets: $25-$30

      Information: (209) 482-8754
    From dee-jaying on Internet radio in 137 countries to operating Aysha Enterprises, singing in Dubai - even owning a gym - the Woodland Hills-based entertainer is an energetic entrepreneur.
    "It feels like I'm the mother hen," said Webb, who sings a soul-based version of smooth jazz as Aysha. "I'm one of the organizers."
    That refers to the Soul Seduction Tour, her latest enterprise. She brings it to Stockton's University Plaza Waterfront Hotel on Sunday.
    The tour is indicative of the proactive, multifaceted arc of her 15-year career in music. Webb is supported by six guys who play in other groups and headline themselves.
    "What we have is rare," said Webb, who organized the lineup with Dion Julian Lattimore, a Beverly Hills fashion designer. "The way we put it together, it's like a family. We have a really good time. There are no egos in this band. There could be, because we all have our own solo projects."
    They are Temecula's Darryl Williams (Bass) and Monty Seward (keyboards); New York guitarist JJ Sansaverino, who backed Maxi Priest for 15 years; La Quinta saxophonist Will Donato; and L.A. drummer Tony Moore.
    She, Sansaverino and Donato conceived the idea.
    " 'Why not tour with everyone?' " said Webb, who road-tested the concept Feb. 15 at H.O.M.E. in Beverly Hills. " 'An all-star group.' We've been involved in each other's solo projects. This would feature everybody. It was a new chemistry. 'God, you have no idea how incredible it would be.' We launched it that very day."
    Webb anchors a weekly Internet show - "Smooth Saturdays with Aysha" - on Lakewood-based Urban Soul Radio (urbansoulradio.fm). It reaches 70,000 global listeners after beginning with 4,000.
    "It's free, believe it or not," she said. "You can listen pretty much wherever you are."
    Webb owns her own record label (KLW), for which she's preparing a third album ("Released"); incorporates her varied activities (music, fitness, design and "threads") under Aysha Enterprises; and is a graphic artist.
    "Anything that helps get more exposure," said Webb, 50. "It's about enhancing relationships. Social media is such a blessing. A way to stay visible."
    She's not a smooth-jazz purist - in her vocal style or deejay decisions. Webb grew up listening to Earth, Wind and Fire, the O'Jays and War, developing a vocal approach inspired by Phyllis Hyman, Sade, Chante Moore and Rachelle Ferrell - "all for various reasons."
    As a deejay, Webb cyberspaces "urban soul but with a jazzy feel. Contemporary R&B. The 'quiet storm.' I really want to fit into the smooth-jazz community."
    Born in San Jose, Webb was adopted when she was six weeks old by Patricia and Robert Burk, a mechanical engineer for General Motors. They moved to Santa Barbara, Augsburg, Germany, and Utica, Mich., before returning to Santa Barbara, where Webb grew up.
    "I always wanted to be a singer," she said. "But my friends discouraged me." At 18, she was "dating a drummer, but still thought, 'Oh, I don't know if I could do it.' My best friend told me I could and I actually sang at her wedding."
    She also was a swimmer, a member of the outrigger canoe team, a rock-climber and triathlon competitor.
    "I've done a lot of different sports, for sure," Webb said. "Maybe that helped my lung capacity."
    After high school, Webb studied physical education and art at Santa Barbara City College. While working at a bank (Far West Savings), she pursued music "on the side ... as a rock-star by night," singing in a 1994 all-woman battle-of-the-bands winner.
    A talent scout "pulled me aside," encouraging Webb to do her own thing. She moved to L.A. in 1995 and made her first demonstration recording ("I was so naive") in 1998. Webb's proposed solo project collapsed with the record company.
    Frustrated yet determined, she started studying graphic design at Platt College in Alhambra, developing skills that help her maximize the Internet as an independent musician.
    Her marriage to a gymnasium owner didn't last, though Webb did interact musically with Lisa Williams, Keith Washington. Monty Stewart and others.
    Record company executives said they were taking "no unsolicited material." Webb said. "So, I kinda stopped for a while. I had no money to get my way in. But I couldn't stay away. I just had a passion inside."
    A new manager gave her the "fire to really get after it. I couldn't wait try to make it happen."
    Webb's 2006 debut CD "Love Is a Rock," "for not having any marketing or promotion did really well." "Stay With Me" followed in 2010, winning a Los Angeles Music Award as best jazz album.
    She spent nine days in the United Arab Emirates while performing at the Dubai Jazz Festival in February 2013 and has performed in England, where "Stay With Me" ranked No. 6 on the jazz charts..
    Music's her motivation. Her lyrical topics are love and relationships. Pro and con.
    "Music always has gotten me through rough times," said Webb, whose daughter Keyana, 16, plays in a steel-drum band in Oceanside. "It's kinda like therapy for me. When I was going through my divorce, music got me through that.
    "Even karaoke puts me in a good place. I've always been one to listen to the words. It's always been a big part of my life. Even if it doesn't get the head moving right away, I like the passion. If it doesn't, I'll just listen to the next song."
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