Mindi Abair may be a hardworking artist — but that doesn’t mean the process of creating music isn’t a whole lot of fun. With the release of her In Hi-Fi Stereo album, the sax diva is giving some insights into her songwriting process.  She told SmoothViews.com that, “For me writing is a social thing. I’ll call up a friend and go “Hey, wanna get breakfast and write a song?”… We get together and…write the song that is in our heads, we write the song that we’re feeling. We listen to old records for inspiration and kind of jam or just start playing… we’ll have a blast and see what comes out.”

What came out for In Hi-Fi Stereo was about 45 songs.  For Abair, paring down the list wasn’t easy: “It took a few weeks. I would put them up against each other and feel out which ones I loved and which ones I just liked. I thought about which ones go together and which ones don’t really fit in. I played them for friends to see what they thought. I’d play them in the car or on the plane and just see which songs I went back to.”

The first single from the album, “Be Beautiful,” originally appeared on United We Cure, a charity CD to raise money for breast cancer research.  It remains one of Abair’s favorites: “That is such a great anthem. It’s full or words people need to hear: believe, belong, be strong, be beautiful.”

Abair performs tomorrow night [July 30] in Honolulu.

Look for Mary J. Blige on the Home Shopping Network this weekend [July 31] as she unveils her brand new fragrance, “My Life.”

The Grammy-winner has spent the last seven months developing the scent.   She tells the AP, ”Me and a lot of my fans want to smell soft and a little fruity — but not too fruity with bees chasing us around - and also strong and beautiful… It’s all there.”  The scent is a blend of tuberose, jasmine and the aforementioned “fruity” notes.

Part of the development process was for Blige to wear the fragrance herself every day: “I knew exactly what I wanted it to smell like. I needed to love it and be able to live with it for years. I am not impressed with the hot thing.”

As for naming the perfume, Blige went with the title of her second album. “When I put myself out there with that album I was asking for help,” she says. “When my fans heard those songs, they told me they needed help too, and told me, ‘We’re going through this together,’… I’ve named the scent ‘My Life’ because it’s not what we are; it’s what we’ve shared… My life is my journey and I’ve always shared it through my music. I can’t wait to share my story with millions of women through HSN.”

For every sale of My Life perfume, $1 will be donated to Blige’s Foundation for the Advancement of Women Now organization.

Al Jarreau continues his recovery in France, and has announced he’ll resume his European tour on August 3. The 70-year old Grammy-winning singer had experienced breathing problems prior to a show last week and checked into a local hospital; he was later airlifted to a facility in Marseille where doctors performed a successful catheter ablation to treat an arrhythmia that had just developed.

Jarreau’s first concert back will be in Hanau, Germany.  Upon doctor’s recommendations, he’s had to cancel 3 shows, but is expected to complete the remainder of his tour.

For the second year in a row, Beyonce has topped the Forbes’ list of the “12 Best-Paid Celebrities Under 30.”

In a single year, the “Single Ladies” singer raked in over $87 million from her concerts, House of Dereon clothing line, and deals with Nintendo and L’Oreal.  And she’s only 28.  Following her on the list were Britney Spears and Lady Gaga.

That dough came in handy after being busted for texting-while-driving.   GossipOnThis.com reports that the diva was recently pulled over in New York after cops spotted her engaging in some illegal tweeting. A source reported, “Beyoncé was really embarrassed because she only recently got her driver’s license.  She tried to charm that cop and told him she had no idea that texting while driving was against the law. He had no idea who she was. He just slapped her with the ticket, which was worth more than $100!”

It had to happen:  a 30-year old woman is claiming that she is the love child of Michael Jackson and Diana Ross‘ sister, Barbara — and she wants a piece of Jackson’s estate.

Mocienne Petit Jackson has filed with the Los Angeles County Superior Court requesting the OK for a DNA test to prove her claims.  Petit Jackson, who lives in the Netherlands, says that the hitmaker impregnated her mother when he was 17.  She also accuses Jackson’s mother, Katherine, of plotting to abduct her when she was 9 and send her to Belgium in order to preserve Michael’s reputation.  In court papers, Petit Jackson says the plot failed and the “seven kidnappers” were later murdered.  She states that she’s coming forward now to “formally claim my part of my father’s inheritance.”

Additionally, Petit Jackson is asking for custody of the late superstar’s three children in order to “give them a more normal life.”  There’s been no comment from reps of either Ross or Jackson’s families.