Smooth Jazz Therapy

Arno Haas - New Single 'Chick Flick' - Available For Airplay April 3

With intuitive creativity and a flair for melodic improvisation sax-man Arno Haas is rapidly gaining a reputation for music that is sometimes jazzy but always engaging. Take for example the easy grooving ‘Chick Flick’, from his current CD ‘Back To You’, that is officially going for adds on April 3, 2017. 

Written by Haas and Tom Saviano, who also produces and contributes on Fender Rhodes, this mellifluous masterpiece checks every contemporary jazz box imaginable. Not only that, with the added bonus of a sumptuous piano solo from Randy Waldman, this is a track that is sure to catch the attention of smooth jazz fans everywhere. 

Paul Hardcastle - Straight Ahead

Regular visitors to this page will know it is an extremely Paul Hardcastle friendly zone. We miss no opportunity to showcase the music of the United Kingdom's finest smooth jazz export and are doing just that with this tune, the sublime ‘Straight Ahead’. 

It originates from Hardcastle’s 2005 CD ‘Hardcastle 4’, a collection that boasts superb tracks such as ‘Smooth Jazz is Bumpin’, ‘Serene’, ‘Where Are You Now’, ‘Was It Love’ and ‘Eastern Winds’. 

Check it out.

 

 

Jeff Lorber Fusion - Prototype

It was in 2010, with the CD ‘Now Is The Time’, that Jeff Lorber revisited the sound that he had helped to pioneer. This return to jazz-fusion was heralded with critical acclaim to the extent that the follow-up, ‘Galaxy’, was released in 2011 and ‘Hacienda’ followed three years later. 

The Jeff Lorber Fusion is typified by its inherent funk driven energy and how the core protagonists of Lorber and Jimmy Haslip are often supplemented by a veritable who’s who of jazz talent. This is certainly the case with the collective’s latest project, the high octane ‘Prototype’ where the likes of Nathan East, Andy Snitzer, Paul Jackson Jr., Chuck Loeb, Dave Mann, Michael Thompson, Larry Koonse and Gary Novak are all variously around to lend a hand. 

Eric Cawalla - 222 South

The Smooth Jazz Therapy radar first picked up singer and saxophonist Erich Cawalla in 2010 as leader of one of the most versatile live acts in the northeast, the Philadelphia based Uptown Band. The band’s ‘Waiting For Her’ CD and ‘Heart Soul Body & Mind’ which followed in 2014 marked them out as having the ability to interpret an eclectic range of music and now, brand new for 2017, Cawalla is going solo with the contemporary jazz instrumental ‘222 South’. 

With a glittering array of musicians, such as Pieces Of A Dream drummer Curtis Harmon, guitarist Forrest Brown and Jimmy Towles on Rhodes Piano, to support him this really could be the start of something big.

 

Roberto Sol - Can Not Forget You

Lifted from the album ‘Chilled Mind Volume 1’, the track ‘Can Not Forget You’ from renowned chill and lounge music producer Roberto Sol features German soul singer Mic Donet. For those, me included, who regard chill as a guilty pleasure, this one is right on the money.

 

 

Selina Albright - Eat Something

When, in 2013, Selina Albright rocked the world of contemporary jazz with ‘Brighter’, her five track debut EP, I described it as a sensational collection that marked her out as one of the brightest new stars in that crossover galaxy somewhere between contemporary jazz and R & B.

Now she is back with her first full-length album, ‘Conversations’, that will be released March 17 on the Golden Rays Music label. The lead single is titled ‘Eat Something’ and, for some, the buzz surrounding it will be all about the message the lyrics convey that it really is OK to pack on a few extra pounds. However, more relevant is the fact that here is a shimmering slice of vocal urban jazz that carries with it the bonus of a featured performance by guitarist Kay-Ta. 

Nice track.

Paul Brown - Hush

From a musical family and modest beginnings as a drummer, legendary smooth jazz producer and guitarist Paul Brown has a resume that most would die for. This two time Grammy winner has been responsible for more the sixty number one radio airplay hits while as a performer he has delivered a sequence of outstanding albums starting out with the debut ‘Up Front’ in 2004 right up until his present project ‘One Way Back’. Not surprisingly it has already sent a thunderbolt through the airwaves with the compelling ‘Put It Where You Want It’ and is all set to do so again with the latest radio single ‘Hush’. This gritty streetwise number shimmers with wonderful production touches, Brown’s distinct playing and is, in every respect, a sure fire winner. Check it out.