Smooth Jazz Therapy

Jazz In Pink Featuring Gail Jhonson - Joy

That revolving door of female musical excellence Jazz In Pink was founded twelve years ago by the first lady of smooth jazz Gail Jhonson together with flautist Althea Rene and promoter Kyna Hubbard.   Since then over fifty women have graced the stage with them, both as headline artists or side musicians, and now Jazz in Pink is making its Shanachie Entertainment debut with the CD ‘Joy’ that hits the streets today.   Yet make no mistake ‘Joy’ is very much the Gail Jhonson show.  With ten of her own impeccable compositions this long time Musical Director for Norman Brown produces and plays keyboards throughout. The fact she is joined in her endeavours by label mates Kim Waters. Marion Meadows and Paul Jackson Jr. serves simply as the icing on a particularly tasty cake, a fact that becomes obvious from as early as the opening track, the deliciously smooth ‘Joy Joy’, that incidentally was the first single to be serviced to radio.

Euge Groove - Gatito

 

Lifted from his current album ‘Sing My Song’, ‘Gatito’ is Euge Groove’s Latin infused tribute to the late great Leandro (aka Gato) Barbieri who through a lengthy career did much to further the cause of what back in the day was referred to as jazz-fusion.  Indeed what is often described as Barbieri’s highly emotional playing style not only helped expand the audience for Latin jazz but also influenced many contemporary jazz saxophonists of the seventies and eighties including Euge Groove.

Barbieri was born in Argentina in 1932. His music for the 1972 film ‘Last Tango in Paris’ won him a Grammy Award and as the decade rolled on and his music moved towards soul-jazz and jazz-pop he enjoyed some of his greatest commercial success with albums such as the 1976 ‘Caliente’ and ‘Ruby Ruby’ that followed a year later.

He died in New York in 2016 aged 83.

‘Gatito’ by Euge Groove will be released to radio on November 2.

Vincent Ingala - Supports Breast Cancer Charity

Sax-man Vincent Ingala has made his own special contribution to the Are You Dense, Inc. breast cancer foundation with a benefit concert, delivered as a socially distanced live-stream, that went out on August 27th, 2020.

This track taken from it, the silkily mid tempo ‘Maybe You Think’, can also be found on Vincent’s current CD, the excellent ‘Echoes Of The Heart’ that includes nine original compositions plus one carefully crafted cover.  With guest performances from David Benoit and Steve Oliver it is the sort of project that will continue Ingala’s fast track progress toward the upper echelons of smooth jazz.

 

 

Alexander Zonjic - Playing It Forward

 

Flautist Alexander Zonjic has been a shaper of the genre since the release of his self-titled debut CD in 1978.  Since then, and with a myriad of complementary musical activities, he has balanced his solo career with being a DJ and club owner in his adopted city of Detroit.

Yet by birth Zonjic is Canadian.  He grew up in Windsor, Ontario where at age 21, and after playing guitar as a teenager, he discovered the flute.  On leaving college Zonjic often played at jazz clubs in the Detroit area and one evening, jazz keyboardist Bob James happened to catch his act.  It led to an immediate invitation to join James’ band.  Recording sessions with Earl Klugh, Kirk Whalum, Harvey Mason, and Angela Bofill soon followed and as a guest soloist Zonjic appeared on Bob James’ ‘Ivory Coast’ project where he can be heard on the hit tune ‘Ashanti’.

Over the years his discography has expanded with a clutch of intriguing projects that, although jazz based, have also included seasonal and classical offerings.  Zonjic’s 2004 album ‘Seldom Blues’ (which featured Bob James, Kirk Whalum, Jeff Lorber and James K Lloyd) was received to critical acclaim and ‘Doin The D’ which came along five years later was equally well received.  His latest offering is the decidedly jazzy ‘Playing It Forward’, which with tracks written by Jeff Lorber, Bob James and James K Lloyd feels very much like a reunion of like-minded musical friends.

Streetwize - Ocean Eyes

The urban jazz collective Streetwize is about to cement its position as an ace purveyor of understated but sophisticated urban smooth jazz with the October 16 release of the album ‘Ocean Eyes’.  This choice re-imaging of R&B and hip-hop chart-toppers is memorable on many counts but in particular for the title cut, a cool interpretation of the Billy Ellish smash hit, that is rendered even more beautiful by guest saxophone from Kim Waters and input from rising star Justin Lee Schultz.

Check it out, right here right now.

 

 

Walter Beasley - House Of Sax

Widely known as he highest selling full-time Professor / Recording Artist in history, sax-man Walter Beasley has long mastered an exhilarating high-wire act that has balanced a successful career as a contemporary jazz recording artist with an equally thriving presence in the field of music education.  His latest album is ‘Going Home’ which he dedicates in loving memory of his mother June L Beasley and if the first track to be serviced to radio is anything to go by it is also a funky revisit to his musical roots.  Titled ‘House Of Sax’ this intense horn driven number is a serious slice smooth jazz that will appeal to connoisseurs of the genre.

Cindy Bradley - Exhale

‘The Little Things’ by Trippin & Rhythm recording artist Cindy Bradley hit the streets in 2019 and with the sophisticated ‘Wind Chill Factor’ immediately captured the imagination of the smooth jazz listening public.  The latest single from the album to be serviced to radio is the ultra smooth mega chilled ‘Exhale’ that is as classy as they come and a timely reminder of just how good an album ‘The Little Things’ is.

 

 

Eric Essix - Late Night Drive

With twenty-five albums spanning thirty years guitarist Eric Essix needs little introduction yet with his latest project, ‘Songs From The Deep’ he is providing a snapshot of the maturity and depth that, as a musician, a composer and songwriter, he routinely delivers.  In this respect there is none better than the first number from the album to be released to radio, the sublime ‘Late Night Drive’.  With an aura that evokes the kind of moody, deep soul vibe that the likes of Isaac Hayes built a career around this is one of the best tracks of 2020 so far.