Smooth Jazz Therapy

Chris Standring - Wonderful World

As far back as 2010, and his genre busting tour de force ‘Blue Bolero’, guitarist, composer, and arranger Chris Standring has flirted with blending sumptuous string arrangements with his own impeccable style of contemporary jazz.  Yet in doing so he has always stopped short of employing a full orchestra.  That is up until now because on September 3 he will release his thirteenth studio album, ‘Wonderful World’ that, with a 19-piece orchestra, assistance from some of the world’s best jazz musicians and a set of sublime arrangements by Geoff Gascoyne, takes the listener on a guided tour of the Great American Songbook.

Cindy Bradley - Stockholm Summer

Taken from her 2019 project ‘The Little Things’, comes the wonderfully mellifluous ‘Stockholm Summer’ by Trippin & Rhythm recording artist Cindy Bradley.  Having already provided the sophisticated radio single ‘Wind Chill Factor’, ‘The Little Things’ is proving to be a worthy to successor to her 2017 CD ‘Natural’ with which Cindy enjoyed unbridled success.

Extremely nice track.

 

 

Gary Honor - Summer Cool

Back in February of 2020, during what might be described as the quiet before the COVID storm, Australian sax-man Gary Honor hit the scene with the Latin flavoured ‘The Pulse’.  With featured guitar from Cheili Minucci and production credits by Skinny Hightower it seemed, at the time, to be laying a platform for more new releases to follow later that year.

Then came the pandemic and everything stopped.

That said, just over twelve months later, Gary was back with his follow up single ‘Bang Bang Bang’.  This hard driving number, which was written and produced by serial hit-maker Michael Broening, gave Honor the inertia he was looking for and this momentum has carried him into the summer and the appropriately titled ‘Summer Cool’.

Check it out.

 

 

Vincent Ingala - Fire & Desire

Former Billboard Smooth Jazz Artist Of The Year Vincent Ingala knows all about making hit records. With eighteen top 10 smooth jazz radio singles and ten number one radio hits his stature simply goes from strength to strength and on September 17 will take another giant leap forward with the release of the highly anticipated ‘Fire & Desire’.

It will be Vincent’s seventh solo album, his third on the Shanachie Entertainment label, and the follow up to his excellent 2020 CD ‘Echoes Of The Heart’ which at the time I described as “being the sort of project that will continue Ingala’s fast track progress toward the upper echelons of the genre”.  This time around he plays every instrument, from saxophones and keyboards to drums, guitar and bass.  He also produces, records and mixes the entire set as well as writing all but one of the ten tasty tracks.

U-Nam - Perfect Match

One of the musical highlights of 2021 has been ‘Love In Motion’ from writer, producer and guitarist Emmanuel “U-Nam” Abiteboul.  Subtitled ‘Future Love Part 3’ it builds on the theme that U-Nam sensationally brought to market in 2019 with ‘Future Love’. 

The ‘Future Love’ concept is simple yet profound as U-Nam continues to use the creative process to purge the emotions and relieve the tensions that, from the debris of a complicated divorce, had threatened to engulf him.  But ‘Love In Motion’ is far from being a work of self-indulgence.  He remains totally focussed on the detail that invariably makes U-Nam’s music special and with a glittering array of supporting artists seems intent on making ‘Part 3’ the best yet.

The latest track from it to be offered to radio is ‘Perfect Match’ which, complete with an enticing feel good vibe, is not only the perfect showcase for U-Nam’s wide ranging talents but also beauty personified.

Check it out.

 

 

Greg Chambers - No Looking Back

Brand new from sax man Greg Chambers is the excellent ‘No Looking Back’.  With seven songs that place it somewhere between an EP and an LP, Chambers is revisiting a format that he last employed in 2013 with the seven track ‘After Hours’.  In doing so he is building on a discography that has been in the making since 2007 and his debut recording ‘City Lights’.

His quest for quality over quantity has often found him harnessing the talents of regular collaborators Matt Godina and Paul Brown while from time to time he has also tapped into a plethora of smooth jazz talent which this time around includes guitarists Adam Hawley, Nils, and Matthew Parris, bass players Mel Brown, Alex Al and Tyrone Coley, percussionist Ramon Ysalas, keyboard players Lew Laing Jr., Carnell Harrell and Judah Sealy, drummers Eric Valentine and Levi Bennett plus Russell Zimmer on muted trumpet.

Paul Hardcastle - Tropicool

Very few artists can successfully walk the tightrope between smooth jazz and chill in the way that Paul Hardcastle does.  Indeed this has never been better demonstrated than with the stunning ‘Tropicool’ (from his 2020 Trippin N Rhythm recording ‘Hardcastle IX’) that was released to radio July 26.

With the album version spanning a stunning six minutes and twenty-two seconds the way this track builds is sensational and helped in no small measure by shimmering trumpet from Gary Winters.  This latest radio edit shaves two minutes from the epic album version but in doing so looses none of the magic that Hardcastle invariably delivers.

Check it out.

 

 

Vincent Ingala - On The Move

Former Billboard Smooth Jazz Artist Of The Year Vincent Ingala knows all about making hit records. With eighteen top 10 smooth jazz radio singles and ten number one radio hits his stature simply goes from strength to strength and on September 17 will take another giant leap forward with the release of the highly anticipated ‘Fire & Desire’.

It will be Vincent’s seventh solo album, his third on the Shanachie Entertainment label, and the follow up to his excellent 2020 CD ‘Echoes Of The Heart’ which at the time I described as “being the sort of project that will continue Ingala’s fast track progress toward the upper echelons of the genre”.  This time around he plays every instrument, from saxophones and keyboards to drums, guitar and bass.  He also produces, records and mixes the entire set as well as writing all but one of the tracks.

Ahead of the release date, the first single to be serviced to radio is the high octane ‘On The Move’ which already seems destined to be one of the best smooth jazz numbers of the year.

Check back here soon for a complete review of ‘Fire & Desire’.