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Noah and Joshua Thompson, who record under the name of Roman Street made their mark back in 2012 with the CD ‘Caravan’ from which the title track registered a highly commendable number 24 on Billboard's countdown of smooth jazz songs for that year. The band’s stock in trade is guitar driven Latin infused contemporary jazz of the smooth (and at times not so smooth) variety and a fine example of the former is the wonderful single ‘Two Step’ that is heading to radio right now.
Feel good in the extreme, and with a distinctly ‘Peter White’ thing going on, this is a real winner.
Vocal tracks that fit comfortably into the smooth jazz genre don’t come along everyday so when one does it immediately becomes noteworthy. This is very much the case with ‘You Better Know It’, the debut single from Taylor Sorice (aka Sorice) that finds her teaming with award winning smooth jazz flautist Ragan Whiteside for a track that captures to perfection the essence of soul tinged contemporary jazz.
Written by Sorice and veteran producer/arranger Dennis Johnson (who also happens to be Whiteside's husband) this is definitely one to watch.
Since the release of ‘Moonlighting’ in 1987, and with a reliability that is breathtaking, The Rippingtons have maintained a level of excellence that has kept them within the highest echelons of smooth jazz. Foundedby guitarist and composer Russ Freeman in 1985 the group has, under Freeman's guidance, released twenty-two albums. They have all, without exception, attained top five Billboard status with five of them reaching the number one spot and now, brand new for 2019, the band is back with the highly anticipated ‘Open Road’ from which the single ‘Silver Arrows’ is taken.
Constructed upon a deep bass groove that proves to be the perfect foil for Freeman’s spirited acoustic guitar this is hallmark Rippingtons and then some.
‘Beautiful Day’ from the ubiquitous Michael Paulo is a fine collection of familiar favourites, jazz classics and original compositions that, not surprisingly for an artist who has been on the scene for almost thirty five years, includes stellar performances by many of his smooth jazz friends. The latest single to be selected from it is ‘Back With The Funk’ that is mixed by hit maker Paul Brown and features Paul Jackson Jr. Jr. on guitar plus Freddie Washington on bass, Brian Simpson on keys and Michael White on drums.
This swaggering number is a real winner and a great showcase for Paulo’s tight playing on sax.
Sometimes the making of music can be uplifting. At other times it can simply be entertaining. Yet in the case of ‘Future Love’, the brand new release from writer, producer and guitarist extraordinaire Emmanuel “U-Nam” Abiteboul the activity has been nothing short of cathartic.
From the debris of a complicated divorce that occurred in Autumn of 2018, this musical trendsetter with nine top 30 Billboard hits to his name has used the creative process to purge the emotions and relieve the tensions that for a while hung heavily upon him. Not only that, with the title ‘Future Love’ he is making a bold statement as to what might come next, a message that particularly resonates through the zesty title cut which also happens to be the first single serviced to radio.