Vincent Ingala - Driving With Dave Koz

This week I chauffeur Vincent Ingala around town. Uber and/or Lyft won’t be rushing to hire me, but at least I get my passengers where they need to go, and mostly on time. It’s a whole lot of fun...jump into the Tesla with me and Vincent!

Ingala was born in Prospect, Connecticut to Italian parents. At age four, he started playing the drums when his parents bought him a drum set; as he got older he learned to play the guitar (he took lessons for about 9 months) and later the saxophone. As a teenager, he played at local restaurants and clubs. His father was a disc jockey, and so Vincent was introduced to many different styles of music, including music from the 1950s and also smooth jazz.

His debut album North End Soul, released in 2010, featured smooth jazz and R&B tracks played on the saxophone, guitar, and piano. At seventeen years old, Ingala did the recording, composing and producing for the album. The song "It Is What It Is" peaked at No. 14 on Billboard's Smooth Jazz Songs.

Ingala's second album Can't Stop Now (released 2012) features keyboardist Gregg Karukas and pianist Jonathan Fritzén. He wrote or co-wrote seven of the album's tracks, and programmed and composed the album. Can't Stop Now peaked at No. 28 on the Billboard Jazz Albums. It also reached No. 15 on SmoothJazz.com's Year End 2014 Top 50 Albums, and had 5 songs place in the top 10 on Billboard's Smooth Jazz Songs, including "Wish I Was There" at No. 1.

His next release was Coast to Coast (released 2015). The album name reflects his move from the east coast (Connecticut) to the west coast (Long Beach, California). Ingala did the programming, composing, producing and vocals for the album. The album peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Jazz Albums, and placed at No. 5 on the SmoothJazz.com's 2015 Top 50 Year End Chart. "When I'm With You" and "Coast To Coast" both peaked at No. 1 on Billboard's Smooth Jazz Songs.

His fourth album was Christmas, released in 2016. Guest artists of the album include Ariana Savalas and Steve Oliver. It features smooth jazz renditions of several Christmas songs played on the saxophone, piano and guitar. Ingala performs the majority of the vocals.

Ingala's most recent album, released in 2018, is Personal Touch. This is his first release on the Shanachie label. Ingala performed all instruments for all 10 tracks on the album, and wrote all but 2 of them.

Ingala has performed in several countries including Canada, Mexico, Indonesia, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, the USA and multiple islands in the Caribbean. He also plans to tour in Germany in 2018. In the past, he has opened for Chris Botti, Jonathan Butler, Dave Koz, and Kim Waters, among others. He has also played at the Spaghettini & Dave Koz Lounge in Beverly Hills, California.

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