Smooth Jazz Therapy

Peter White Off The Top

Smooth jazz radio top thirty most played for the seven days ending October 16, 2006. Well, it had to happen sometime and Peter White, whose ‘What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)’ had previously clocked up 17 consecutive weeks as most played on smooth jazz radio, has been deposed. He is down two at 3 and the new number one is ‘Free As the Wind’ by Paul Hardcastle’s The Jazzmasters. Ironically, before Whites record breaking stay at the top, it was Hardcastle himself who had previously enjoyed that accolade. Back in 1995 he was at the top for fifteen consecutive weeks. ‘The Total Experience’ from Boney James and George Duke climbs one to 2 and ‘Morning’ by George Benson with Al Jarreau is strong at 5. ‘The Heart Of The Matter’ from India Arie’s latest CD ‘Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship’ is upwardly mobile at 14 while Rippingtons founder member Gregg Karukas powers on to 18 with ‘Lady In The Red Dress’.

Quintin Gerard W - Perseverance

When I reviewed Quintin Gerard W’s debut album ‘Fnkysax’ in 2005 I described it as having an urban slant that Boney James would be proud of and a sensuality that makes more than a nod in the direction of Kenny G. Inexplicably ‘Fnkysax’ did not make Quintin an overnight success but now he is back with his follow up CD and the ten ultra tight tracks that make up ‘Perseverance’ again leave me wondering why this guy is not already a star. Quintin Gerard W grew up in Norco, Louisiana but it was when he relocated to Los Angeles, California in 1989 that he began to meet and play with many of the top names in Smooth Jazz. He has performed live with the likes of Jeff Lorber (on the ‘Worth Waiting For’ tour), Kenny Garrett, Najee, Dave Koz, Ron Brown, and Hollis Gentry III. Quintin Gerard W.'s other saxophone friends include Jay Beckentstein from Spyro Gyra, Jeff Kashiwa of The Rippingtons and Kirk Whalum. ‘Perseverance’ unlocks the door on another chance for solo stardom yet the moody opening rap ‘Kickin’ It Real’ betrays, in part, his obvious frustrations in not having secured a deal with a major label and the lack of radio play that has, to date, inhibited his exposure.

The Terry Disley Experience - Across The Pond

When I reviewed Terry Disley’s excellent CD ‘Experience’ I described him as being, in every respect, the epitome of the Englishman abroad. Now, with his band The Terry Disley Experience, he is back and the title of his latest project ‘Across The Pond’ is again indicative of an artist who remains faithful to his English roots and to his accent but who nevertheless is finding heightened success in his adopted home of San Francisco. In fact 2006 is turning out to be quite a year for Disley who, as well as releasing the new album, has enjoyed a renewed association with smooth jazz super group Acoustic Alchemy. Terry Disley worked with Acoustic Alchemy for an extended period during the nineties and appeared on their ‘Reference Point’, ‘Back On The Case’, ‘New Edge’ and ‘Against The Grain’ albums before returning to guest on ‘Beautiful Game’ in 2000. Teaming up with the band as they played in trio (plus one) format during the 2006 Warren Hill Smooth Jazz Cruise he has since toured extensively with them throughout North America and at selected venues in the United Kingdom. However his energies are now being directed to establishing his band and promoting ‘Across The Pond’. It’s a release that will strike an instant chord with his growing fan base and enhance the reputation he has been steadily building as a ‘must see’ live performer in the Bay Area.

Burt Brion - Say The Word

For the past fifteen years the sounds of Burt Brion’s keyboards and vocals have been heard at private parties, weddings and congregations throughout the San Diego area. Now he is cutting loose and breaking free with his debut contemporary jazz CD that has the thread of quality running right through it. All eleven tracks have been written by Brion and, with production from Allan Phillips that is a cut above, this is music to be taken seriously. The collection starts as it means to continue with ‘Lets Get It Going’, a pleasingly melodic example of good smooth jazz. Brion makes an early impression on keys, John Rekevics is outstanding on sax and the late injection of scat vocals from Deborah Flores proves to be a production master stroke. It’s the combination of Brion and Rekevics that is again working to great effect on the dreamy and romantic ‘Its Your Turn’. Becoming a little edgy before drifting back to tranquillity, it is evocative of Mike Post in his ‘Hill Street Blues’ phase. Also in theme music territory is the tight yet melodic ‘Sunrise Serenade’ and reflective melody is certainly a huge part of what Burt Brion does best.

Peter White At The Cinnamon Club

October 8 2006. On route to Poland then London for his annual residency at the Pizza Express, Peter White blew into the Cinnamon Club, Altrincham for his two only gigs in the North West of England. With smooth jazz in the area cared for and nurtured by 100.4 Smooth FM DJ Steve Quirk (who also MC’d both shows) White found an engaged and appreciative audience at this small club setting in the southern suburbs of Manchester. Freshly reunited with some of his regular UK band members, and just off a flight from LA, if White was under rehearsed it didn’t show as he got the late gig started with ‘Promenade’ from the 1993 album of the same name. Following this up in fine style with ‘Autumn Day’, ‘Talkin’ Bout Love’ from ‘Confidential’ and the seminal ‘Caravan Of Dreams’ for which he drew a huge cheer from the enthusiastic crowd, it soon became apparent that something was different. Frank Felix was there as normal on bass, Mark Parnell proved a familiar sight on drums and Peter’s brother Danny played his tight and jazzy keys but his regular touring sax player, Jaared, was not around. This necessitated some changes to Whites well practiced arrangements but majoring on the connection he has with his band, and with his virtuosity shining through, the end product proved altogether pleasing.

Dan Siegel - Departure

Dan Siegel’s career is one of the most storied in contemporary jazz and the wonderful thing is that, much in common with that of Greg Adams who’s latest CD I reviewed here recently, it continues to flourish. With a discography that stretches back seventeen albums to 1980 Siegel set the standards for the early days of smooth jazz. His releases include ‘Going Home’, ‘Reflections’ and of course the 1987 ‘Northern Lights’ from which the still often played ‘Rhapsody’ is taken. Now partnered with Native Language, the label on which he released the 2004 ‘Inside Out’, he is back with ‘Departure’ a collection that has been described as the ultimate “Siegel Unplugged” experience. Although leaning toward the subtle Jazz trio approach the joint production technique of Siegel and Brian Bromberg, who also plays acoustic bass, is never shy to push out the boundaries should the artistic need arise. So, without synthesizer or electronics but very much with the musical genius of Siegel, Bromberg, Bob Sheppard on sax, Lenny Castro’s legendary percussion and Vinnie Colaiuta on drums, this is a collection of quality contemporary jazz that is worth checking out.

Smooth Jazz Chart Shows Little Change

Smooth jazz radio top thirty most played for the seven days ending September 25, 2006. After an absence of three weeks we resume this look at the US smooth jazz charts to find that everything is very much ‘as was’. The up and comer of the time, ‘The Heart Of The Matter’ from India Arie’s latest CD ‘Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship’ is up one at 20 while ‘The Total Experience’ from Boney James (shown here) and George Duke, although only seven weeks on the chart, is already up to 3. Quite fitting in this year when The Rippingtons celebrate twenty years in the business is that founder member Gregg Karukas is enjoying solo chart success with the track ‘Lady In The Red Dress’. It’s this weeks number 27.

Faldo's Toy - Twisted Pea Soup

Faldo’s Toy is a collective of four talented musicians who, together, have been plying their trade since 1995. They released their first album, ‘Icon’, in 1997 and in doing so made an early statement of their intention to fuse jazz, rock and funk with intriguing melodic themes and deep haunting grooves. Now this Oakland CA based outfit is back with its latest offering ‘Twisted Pea Soup’, a collection of ten self penned and eclectic cuts with fusion again very much on the agenda. Indeed the opening track, ‘Shorty’, which at just fewer than 90 seconds is something of a prelude, suggests that what is to come will be dominated by groove driven funk. In part that’s true and tunes such as ‘Mind Trap’ and ‘Twisted Peas’ may in fact be a little too raw for the majority of contemporary jazz fans. However when the band get to numbers like ‘Mr Potato Head’ and ‘Fire In The Hole’ they show that a balance is there to be struck between funk tinged rock and music that displays more than a passing appreciation for the work of The Rippingtons.

The Rippingtons - 20th Anniversary

The title of the latest album by The Rippingtons confirms that, for these pioneers of contemporary jazz, 2006 is their ‘20th Anniversary’. 16 albums, thousands of concert and festival performances and a veritable production line of top class musicians, many of whom have gone on to carve out stellar solo careers, bears testimony to the legacy that the band has provided. Now, with this latest CD, and the retrospective DVD that is packaged with it, they are looking back and reminiscing over those twenty magic years. Of course many bands would have used a milestone like this to bring out a ‘best of’ collection’ but The Rippingtons had already done that back in 1999. Great “Rippingtons live” projects had also featured in 1993 and 2003 so, this time around, Russ Freeman, who has been the driving force behind the band from the very beginning, has opted for new music with that Rippingtons classic feel and a bonus track that crams in snippets from some of the best that has gone before.