Chicago born and Atlanta bred; keyboard player Brian Clay has been a staple of that city’s vibrant music scene since the mid eighties. Over that time he has released a total of seven albums and has just made that eight with the tight, in the pocket, ‘This Is Me’. With a playing style that has been compared to that of Joe Sample, Bob James and George Duke it is fair to say that ‘This Is Me’ is everything smooth jazz aficionados would expect and none more so than the opening number, ’88 Likes’.
This easy grooving cut gets ‘This Is Me’ started in exactly the way it means to continue and continue it does with ‘Into The Deep’ that, despite a smoky sax driven intro, provides the perfect showcase for Clay’s artistry on keys.
The decidedly moody ‘Tiemo (Bahari Beach)’ is another track that is among the best that ‘This Is Me’ has to offer and in this respect it is in the good company of the deliciously mid tempo ‘Honey Grove Lane’ that is enhanced in no small measure by cool interjections of sax.
Later the sensational groove driven ‘Zoom’ perhaps gives just a quiet nod to the way we have all been communicating since March of 2020 while elsewhere ‘Whenever You Call Me’ cleverly intertwines a sample from the Spinners seminal 1973 song ‘I’ll B Around’.
Clay closes out ‘This Is Me’ with the mellifluous yet jazzy ‘Little Sunflower’ and although the vibrant ‘The Pocket’ provides a window into a different side of Clay’s musical persona the listener is left to reflect on a collection very much in tune with what, circa 2021, contemporary jazz should be all about.
Footnote – Brian is also a seasoned radio broadcaster and the creator of an internet radio station that can be found at www.jazzinspirations.com In addition he hosts a weekly syndicated radio program called ‘Jazzinpirations With Brian Clay’ that goes out in Atlanta on Smooth Jazz 101.1fm WJZA (Sundays from 7am-10am) and in Knoxville on Jammin’ 99.7fm WJBE (Sundays from 4pm-7pm).