« October 2017 | Main | December 2017 »
After several years in the legal business, guitarist Allen Carman has returned to his musical roots for the exciting new venture The Allen Carman Project. It finds him teaming with contemporary jazz heavyweights Philippe Saisse, Gumbi Ortiz, Luis Alicea and Andy Snitzer for the soon to be released ‘Carmanology’ from which the single ‘Hearsay’ has been taken.
Feisty and up-tempo this is a great way for Carman to announce his arrival on the scene.
With the release of Brian Culbertson’s eighteenth album, ‘Colors Of Love’ Valentines Day 2018 promises to be something special. This all original thirteen track collection has been inspired by Culbertson’s twentieth wedding anniversary that occurred in October of this year and could not be more different than his 2016 project ‘Funk!’ that was supported by a full band and featured several vocal cuts. This time around it will be instrumental only, built around the sound of his acoustic piano and, deliberately, without either saxophone or guitar as lead instruments.
Skytown Records recording artist Mattias Roos has already had an incredible 2017. His album ‘Movin’ Up’, a tight ten-track collection that he composed, arranged and produced throughout, proved to be a glittering showcase for his multiplicity of talents while ‘Keep On’, from his band Soweco, also garnered instant critical acclaim.
If that wasn’t enough, his brand new Christmas EP ‘Driving Home For Christmas’ is all set to hit the streets and with a cool instrumental take on Chris Rea’s seminal seasonal hit at its center this one just can’t go wrong.
Lovely track.
Within a genre that is characterised by its aging demographic, sax-man Just Young, if not exactly youthful, remains one of the new breed of musicians tasked with the responsibility of bringing smooth jazz to a younger audience. Yet it was ten years ago when he first burst onto the scene with the excellent ‘On The Way’ that was mixed by Paul Brown and featured Tom Schuman, Tim Bowman and Gail Jhonson. A residency at the Seal Beach jazz hotspot Spaghettini followed as did the CD ‘Nothin’ But Love’ and now he is back with the outstanding ‘Blue Soul’.
Now for something really special - ‘Who Can Tell the Heart (Groove LTD. Mix)’ is the latest single from the top forty charting album ‘Song, Soul & Spirit’ by producer and songwriter extraordinaire James Day. It is being offered to radio as the original album track and also as a hot new ‘Groove Ltd’ version remixed by none other than Billboard chart topping artist and multi-platinum producer U-Nam who is currently riding high on the charts with his latest project ‘The Essential Collection’.
Of course the U-Nam connection does not end there. His Groove Ltd partnership with saxophonist Shannon Kennedy has already delivered the hot album ‘First Class’ that made its debut at #1 on the Amazon US chart of smooth jazz best selling albums and here, with ‘Who Can Tell the Heart (Groove LTD. Mix), Kennedy’s playing is, as always, top-notch.
The song is further enhanced by the vocal performance of Tony Terry, who is best known for his #1 hit ‘When I'm with You’.
Creating a niche for themselves in that space somewhere between acoustic smooth jazz and what might be termed new age, the band New Latitude has just release its second CD, the extremely soothing ‘Vantage Point’. It follows the 2012 excursion ‘The Space Below’ which at the time I described as being a mellifluous gathering of all original music that invites comparisons with Acoustic Alchemy. Indeed New Latitude has all the attributes necessary for such comparisons to be made. First there is the band’s distinctive sound that flows from of the acoustic guitars of Dave Erickson and Jim Carr. Then there is the wonderful support provided by Robert Strickland on bass and Deon Kuhl on drums and percussion. Finally there is the writing talent of Erickson (who penned eight of the tunes) and Jim Carr who provided the remaining three. Add it all together and what you have is a body of work that serves as the perfect antidote to the troubled, stressful, angry times in which we currently live.
Some things epitomize Christmas like no other. Perhaps it is watching ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’; maybe it is kissing under the mistletoe. Then again it might just be the legendary Dave Koz and Friends Christmas tour. Well it is the 20th anniversary of this smooth jazz phenomenon that has stood the test of time and enriched the holiday season for those lucky enough to see it. To mark this special milestone Koz has reassembled his original holiday line-up – pianist David Benoit, trumpeter Rick Braun and guitarist Peter White for the making of ‘Dave Koz & Friends 20th Anniversary Christmas’, an album that features brand new recordings of classic Christmas songs.
The opening track is the holiday staple ‘Winter Wonderland’ that features the whole line-up with everyone playing the melody and everyone being handed a solo.
Sounds like the perfect way to get the season started.