Paula Atherton

New York based sax player/vocalist and songwriter Paula Atherton has shared the stage with such contemporary jazz notables as The Rippingtons, Nick Colionne, Chuck Loeb, Cindy Bradley, Brian Simpson, Four80East, David Sanborn, Bob James, Marc Antoine, Hiroshima, Gerald Albright and Chieli Minucci. Paula has also worked in the traditional jazz field; one of the notable performances being a week long engagement at the Blue Note NYC with pianist and jazz legend, Hank Jones. Paula also performed with Grammy award winning singer Dee Dee Bridgewater at the Annenberg Theater, for the Palm Springs Women’s Jazz Festival. Some past tour dates include the Seabreeze Jazz Festival, The Bishop Arts Theater in Dallas, The Empire Theater in San Antonio, The John Ruffin Theater in Chicago, Jazz in the Park in Birmingham, AL, Smooth Jazz Festival in Atlanta, Palm Springs Women’s Jazz Fest in CA, Las Vegas Jazz Festival, Capital Jazz fest and Low Country Jazz fest with Jazz in Pink, Smooth Jazz at Sunset in MI (opening for Marc Antoine), Southern Tier Jazz festival in Elmira (opening for Rick Braun), Lake Arbor Jazz Festival in MD, the Hub City Fest in NJ (4 years in a row) the Pensacola Jazz Festival, the Gulf Coast Jazz festival, Berks Jazz Festival ( 3 times), Greater Hartford Jazz Festival, as well as the Norfolk Waterfront Jazz Festival with Cindy Bradley (as the Fabulous Blondes). Paula performed at the Hot Smooth Jazz festival in Madrid, Spain, in April 2019 at Maria Guerrero theater. Other performances include Jacksonville Beach Jazz series, Dauphin County Jazz Fest, Potomac Jazz Festival, Brass City, Grand Rapids, and Legacy Jazz Festival. In May 2023, Paula played the Algarve Smooth Jazz Festival, part of the lineup that included Gerald Albright, Everett Harp, Michael Paulo, Andy Snitzer, Paul Brown, Jeff Lorber, and many others. Paula released the 1st single from her 6th release, entitled “Can You Feel It in 2020. It was produced by Greg Manning, and written by Paula and Greg. “Can You Feel It”, was #1 on Mediabase, #1 on the Smooth Jazz Network, (for 4 weeks) and was #1 on Billboard for 3 weeks. Another single from “Can You Feel it,” “Summer Song,” was #1 on Billboard for 2 weeks, #1 on the Smooth Jazz Network, and #1 on Mediabase as of August 2021. Summer Song was #14 on Billboards’ 2021 year end chart and #7 on the Smooth Jazz Network 2021 year end chart. Paula has enjoyed 14 Billboard Top 30 charting singles. They are “Can You Feel it,” “Let’s Talk,” “Moonlight Drive,” (which reached #2 on the SJN, #4 on Mediabase and #7 on Billboard), Sassy Strut,” “Herbie,” “Between You & Me,” “My Song For You,” “Into the Night, “New Color,” “Just Can’t Stop,” ”Summer Song,” “Ready or Not,” “Keep it Comin’” (which hit #4 on Billboard, and #1 on Mediabase, and was the #3 Song of 2022 on Billboard), “Open Road,” (#6 on Billboard and #15 for 2023), “Dancin’ Shoes,” (which hit #9 on Billboard). Atherton was also featured on Cindy Bradleys’ single, “Girl Talk,” which hit #2 on Billboard. Paula was the #3 Airplay Artist of the year on Billboards’ year end 2022 chart and was nominated “Best Artist of the year” in 2020 by the Smooth Jazz Network, as well in 2023 and 2024. Atherton’s sixth release, Can You Feel It includes music from a few different producers. Including Greg Manning, Paul Brown, Nate Mitchell, Matt Godina, Schuyler Deale (who produced “Herbie” and “Low Rider” on previous releases), and Lou Gimenez, who has produced the majority of Atherton’s music. Paula released her 7th full length album, “Dancin’ Shoes,” April 19th, 2024. This release has 4 top ten singles on it, and 7 previously unreleased songs. Paula endorses Sax Dakota saxophones, and does jazz workshops for them across the country. Paula also does some music therapy type work for a wonderful organization called “Music that Heals,” which brings music to autistic children, cancer patients, people in hospice, and other populations. Paula is also on the board of the F2F Foundation in Houston, TX, which promotes jazz workshops, performances, and jazz education. F2F also helps get instruments to students whose families can’t afford them.