Smooth Jazz Therapy

Dreaming In Colour - Cruising The Boulevard

I first became acquainted with the hip cutting edge vibe of contemporary, instrumental jazz group Dreaming In Colour in 2012 and it’s debut CD, ‘The Dream Merchant’.

Constructed around the band’s core members of Kevin Ellis and Chris Noonan the line-up has often, over the years, been complemented by some of the genre’s top artists and this is particularly so with the band’s latest single, ‘Cruising The Boulevard’.  It features Smooth Jazz Therapy favorite Nelson Rangell (who, on soprano sax, contributed hugely to the title track of ‘The Dream Merchant’) and who here is backed by the rhythmic duo of Ellis on bass Noonan on drums.

 

Spyro Gyra keyboard player Tom Schuman is also around to lend a hand, as is Tom Byrne on guitar while a piano solo from Michael Scherer adds an undulating flow to this melodic masterpiece.

Add in a cool string arrangement by Trammel Starks and what we have is an incredibly uplifting slice of top-notch contemporary jazz.

Check it out.

Mark Jaimes - Hear At Last

 

Out now on Trippin ‘N’ Rhythm, ‘Hear At Last’ from UK based guitarist Mark Jaimes is a project that has been very much worth the wait.   In fact it was Rick Braun who originally suggested that Jaimes should record a solo album so now, several years later, it is appropriate that a nice ‘closing of the circle’ has occurred with Jaimes inviting Braun to appear on one of the collection’s outstanding tunes, the horn-drenched track ‘Heads Up’.  It is a real winner and much the same can be said of the first single to be serviced to radio, the mid tempo  ‘Evenin’ that includes a piano solo from Oli Silk and bass from Dwayne Smitty Smith.

Julian Vaughn - Sunset Station

If you are looking for smoothing ultra cool then why not check out the deliciously mid tempo ‘Sunset Station’ from that ultra cool bass player Julian Vaughn.  Featuring man of the moment Adam Hawley on guitar this is the third radio single from Vaughn’s 2019 CD ‘Supreme’ and in this respect follows the infectious ‘Afro Calypso’ and the extremely zesty ‘Afternoon Delight’ that features Elan Trotman on sax.

‘Supreme’ is Vaughn’s sixth album release and follows a whole line of radio ready collections that began to form on the Trippin n Rhythm label in 2012 with the appropriately titled ‘Breakthrough’.  He was back in 2015 with ‘Limitless’ while ‘Bona Fide’ followed two years later.

 

 

Euge Groove - Say I Won't

New on radio from July 16 ‘Say I Won’t’ from the superb Euge Groove is the latest single to be lifted from his critically acclaimed 2020 collection ‘Sing My Song’.  Indeed from the very first note this is a track that has that distinctive Euge Groove sound running right through it. 

Check it out and let EG transport you to a very happy place.

 

 

Hil St. Soul - Blessed

A former winner of Blues & Soul magazine’s best newcomer of the year award Hilary Mwelwa, aka Hil St. Soul, was born in Lusaka Zambia and at the age of five relocated with her family to London, England.  Growing up, hers was a home filled with the iconic sounds of Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder to name but a few so it was no surprise that as a vocation she chose music.  Hilary’s breakthrough came in 2000 when, partnered with Victor Redwood-Sawyer and recording under the name of Hil St Soul, she announced her arrival with the album ‘Soul Organic’ which was followed four years later by ‘Copasetik & Cool’.  Garnering a top 20 placing on the Urban Adult Contemporary Charts with the song ‘Pieces’ it paved the way for more of the silky same, first with the runaway hit CD ‘Soulidified’ that Blues & Soul described as being “as good as it gets” and then in 2008 with ‘Black Rose’ which included classics in the making such as ‘Wash Away’ and ‘Gravity’.

It also cemented what had evolved into a long term relationship with the Shanachie label, an association that endures to this day and which has been responsible for the launch of her brand new single, a sumptuous duet with Noel Gourdin, ‘Blessed’.

 

All in all, with underground soul hits like ‘Smile’, ‘Pieces’ and ‘Strictly A Vibe Thing’ to more commercial numbers such as Aretha’s ‘Until You Come Back To Me’, the Isley Brother’s ‘For The Love Of You’ and a cool reworking of the Ohio Players smash ‘Heaven Must Be Like This’, Hil St Soul continues to be a shining beacon of the UK urban scene.

Kayla Waters - Open Portals

With classy collections such as her 2017 debut recording ‘Apogee’ and ‘CoEvolve’ that followed one-year later keyboard player, vocalist and composer Kayla Waters has been establishing herself as a performer very much on the quality end of the smooth jazz spectrum.

Her latest musical adventure comes in the form of the excellent new single ‘Open Portals’ that will be released to radio on July 12.  This sparkling track with a decidedly feel good vibe is a real winner and looks all set to do well.

Kayla is the daughter of sax-man Kim Waters and was classically trained at Howard University from where she graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance.

Make no mistake; Kayla Waters is very much the real musical deal.

Lin Rountree - Fluid

Following on from the success he enjoyed in 2018 with the album ‘Stronger Still’, trumpet and flugelhorn player Lin Rountree is back with his latest Trippin N Rhythm release ‘Fluid’. 

‘Fluid’ is quickly up and running with the sultry ‘Release’ that incidentally was the first single to be released to the airwaves and another track that has enjoyed early radio success is the extremely easy on the ear title cut that marks Rountree out as a leading purveyor of groove drenched urban jazz.

 

Brian Simpson - All That Matters

Pianist, composer and producer Brian Simpson is back and on fire with his latest CD, ‘All That Matters’, that was released June 25 on the Shanachie record label.

In every respect ‘All That Matters’ is a milestone recording.  Not only is it Simpson’s tenth album as a solo artist but is also heavily influenced by the global pandemic.   Forced into quarantine and without the musician’s lifeblood of touring and performing Simpson chose instead to focus solely on the creative process.

With Steve Oliver, Nicholas Cole and Oliver Wendell also on board this cool collective began by working virtually before, as restrictions eased, moving to ‘face to face’ collaborations.  The result is ten original choice tunes that find Simpson at the very top of his musical game.

 

‘All That Matters’ is also notable for the quality of the backing musicians that Simpson has assembled for the project.  Sax players Jim Pisano and Steve Alanis, flautist Najee, trumpeter Ron King, drummers Michael White and Tony Moore, bass players Dwayne “Smitty” Smith, Alex Al and Roberto Vally, percussionist Brain Kilgore and guitarists Ray Fuller and Yarone Levy are all variously around to lend a hand and it is White, Kilgore, Al and Fuller who support Simpson on the sumptuous ‘So Many Ways’ that also happens to be the first single to be selected for radio.