Smooth jazz star Nick Colionne to plays Jazz n' Ribs

Ask smooth jazz star Nick Colionne “what do you play?”

He’ll simply reply, “the guitar.”

The Chicago native, who headlines this weekend’s inaugural Jazz ’n’ Ribs Fest, part of the 13th annual Hampton Roads Juneteenth Festival at Chesapeake City Park, is known as an “urban jazz” ax-man. But, he warns, that’s not all the audience will hear from him tonight.

“I do a potpourri of everything I’ve played throughout my career,” Colionne said, recalling his days performing everything from jazz and soul to country-rock, pop, rock ’n’ roll, blues, funk and even heavy metal. “Yup, I even used to play head-banging music; I thought I was the new Steve Vai or Eddie Van Halen. Sometimes when I play people think I’m nuts: I’ll go from Wes (Montgomery) to Jimi (Hendrix), sometimes in the same song. It all depends on how I feel and how the audience reacts. I put it out there.”

The Koch Records artist is touring behind his latest release, “No Limits,” the successful follow-up to his chart-topping 2006 CD “Keepin’ It Cool.” He said his style has been influenced by Wes Montgomery, the Kings (B.B., Albert and Freddie) and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Colionne is known for headlining festivals, concerts and smooth-jazz cruises. His clean, sharp guitar style had Chicago’s WGN-TV/radio dub him “Wes with a new millennium twist.”

“I think I took off where he left off,” he explained. Montgomery “wasn’t so straight-ahead; he took it (jazz guitar) into new directions. I do modern-type music with a Wes Montgomery feel. But I add that big body sound with bite and fullness.”

Besides his sharp notes, Colionne is also noted for his sharp fashion sense, earning him an endorsement from men’s clothier Stacy Adams.

“When I embarked on a solo career, I wanted to evoke a clean-cut image, like the guys in the Temptations or Four Tops,” he said. “When people pay their money to see me, they don’t want to see someone who looks like a bricklayer.”

But when he performs Friday at the Bagley Outdoor Stage, Colionne vows to lay down some heavy sounds.

“How come jazz can’t have as much energy as a soul or rock concert?,” he mused. “I don’t like to lay it back. I like to push it right out front.”