Smooth Jazz Therapy

Paul Hardcastle - Hardcastle VIII

Just when you thought that Paul Hardcastle had run out of musical creativity, along he comes with ‘Hardcastle VIII’, a collection that finds him doing what he does best while throwing in a few surprises along the way.  In fact it was two years ago with ‘The History of Paul Hardcastle 1984-2016’ that he offered up the chance to get reacquainted with his not inconsiderable discography yet with this latest project Hardcastle is confirming how, thirty four years into a hit strewn career, he is still looking to the future as well as never being afraid to take a glance at what has gone before. 

Greg Manning - Top Down

Born in Nigeria and brought up in Switzerland, composer, producer and keyboard player Greg Manning moved to Los Angeles in the nineties.  Since then he has been building a niche position within the annals of contemporary jazz and, as well as collaborating with Mindi Abair on her 2003 project ‘It Just Happens This Way’, also worked as musical director for Jonathan Butler with whom he co-wrote the radio hit ‘Back To Love’.  As a solo artist his 2010 CD ‘The Calling’ quickly got the ball rolling and he followed up four years later with the excellent ‘Dance With You’. 

His 2016 project ‘Sugar & Spice’ garnered the title cut that blazed an unstoppable a trail to radio and now, ahead of his brand new album that is expected early in 2019, comes the sensational ‘Top Down’ that seems certain to make it all the way to my Top Twenty Tracks of the year. 

Brilliant!!

Ron King - You Move Me

Smooth, silky and evocative in the extreme, the latest single from world-renowned trumpet and flugelhorn player Ron King is titled ‘You Move Me’.  With understated sax from Darren Rahn and production by none other than Paul Brown this is a track with all the credentials necessary to take the contemporary jazz world by storm yet this Grammy nominated soloist has flown under the radar for way too long. 

For example just how many music fans are aware that King has attained gold records for his work with artists such as George Benson, Ricki Lee Jones and Marvin Gaye?  He has also performed on The Tonight Showwith both Johnny Carson and Jay Leno, the Jimmy Kimmel Liveshow and ABC-TV's The Next Best Thing as well as recording withFrank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Johnny Mathis.  If that all wasn’t enough, he has played with The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and featured on the Grammy Awards. 

Check him out.

Cindy Bradley - Natural

Trippin & Rhythm A-lister Cindy Bradley is currently enjoying unbridled success with the CD ‘Natural’.  Including luscious tracks such as the appropriately titled ‘Girl Talk’ with Paula Atherton, the funkalicious ‘Category A’ featuring guitarist Chris Standring, the latest single to be offered to radio is the jazzy title cut.

‘Natural’ is a collection that promotes Bradley’s tenure as one of the genre’s leading trumpet players and, with horn arrangements from the always excellent David Mann, one might well ask “what’s not to like”!

Philippe Saisse Trio - Marienbad

Lovers of sophisticated contemporary jazz everywhere will have luxuriated in ‘On The Level’, the excellent 2017 release from the constantly good Philippe Saisse Trio.  In fact, in this case, the description ‘Trio’ is something of a misnomer as the line-up, as well as comprising acoustic bass player David Fink, drummer Scooter Warner and percussionist Gumbi Ortiz, is supplemented from time to time by the sizzling horns of the Nashville ensemble Tim Akers & The Smoking Section.

Now, stretching that trio label yet further, the latest single to be lifted from ‘On The Level’ is the fiercely Latin ‘Marienbad’ that Marc Antoine on guitar.

Nice track.

 

Dave Koz And Friends - Keep That Same Old Feeling

Five years on from the release of his ‘Summer Horns’ project that featured Mindi Abair, Gerald Albright and Richard Elliot, Dave Koz is demonstrating that this was no flash in the pan.  ‘Summer Horns II From A to Z’, that hit the streets June 22 on Concord Records, is a stunning set of eleven timeless tunes for which Koz is joined by returnees Albright and Elliot plus new additions trumpeter Rick Braun and trombone player and vocalist Aubrey Logan.  Not only that, Dave has enlisted the input of a who’s who of arrangers including the legendary Tom Scott, Greg Adams and the GRAMMY award winning Gordon Goodwin. 

Showcasing the collection was ‘This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)’ that was a top ten hit for Natalie Cole in 1975 and now, hot on its heels, comes the Crusaders 1976 classic ‘Keep That Same Old Feeling’. 

For those who let this one slip through their musical net ‘Summer Horns II From A to Z’ is amust for those who grew up listening to bands such as Tower of Power and retain a hankering for the ‘horn-centric’ blockbusters of their youth. 

Splendid album.

Johnny Britt - So Hot

Contemporary jazz fans will know singer, songwriter, producer, trumpeter and arranger Johnny Britt for his contributions to the classic Boney JamesCD, ‘Contact’.  Others may recall his work with the likes of Josh Groban, David Bowie, Jennifer Lopez, The Temptations, Maxwell, Peabo Bryson, Quincy Jones, Luther Vandross, Dionne Warwick, Norman Conners, Aaron Neville, Harvey Mason Jr. and Marcus Miller while film buffs are likely to remember his name in connection with blockbusters such as Ides Of March, The Lion King, Forest Gump and Spiderman 3. 

Britt’s latest single ‘So Hot’ features Paul Brown on guitar.  It benefits from a brassy ‘big band’ veneer and is a moody track of the sort for which Britt has become well known. 

Nice one.