Smooth Jazz Therapy

Larry Carlton & Paul Brown - Soul Searchin'

What do you get when two giants of the genre go head to head in the most sensational of ways?  The answer is ‘Soul Searchin’ the exciting new release from guitar greats Larry Carlton and Paul Brown that hit the streets September 24 on the Shanachie Entertainment label.

Carlton, who was a member of both The Crusaders and Fourplay is also a successful composer for television and film.  His writing credits include the theme music for ‘Hill Street Blues’ (with Mike Post), ‘Who’s The Boss’ and the film ‘Against All Odds’.  He first partnered with Paul Brown in 2000 when Brown produced several tracks for his ‘Fingerprints’ CD and although it has taken a while the idea of making an album together has been in the works for some time.

Collectively, Carlton and Brown have collaborated with everyone from Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan and Quincy Jones to George Benson, Patti Austin and Norman Brown, to name but a few.   It is a track record that cannot be denied and which with ‘Soul Searchin’ has just rocketed to another level.

Dee Brown - Deep Secrets

 

Those who have been with him for the long haul will recall Dee Brown’s 2007 debut recording ‘No Time To Waste’.  The follow-up, ‘A Little Elbow Room’ came along two years later while his 2014 project, the delicious ‘Brown Sugar, Honey-Coated Love’, included ‘I’m Here For You’ that he co-wrote with his then fiancée Shaunia who sadly passed away in 2016.   In fact he dedicated his appropriately titled 2018 outing ‘Remembering You’ to her but now, with an eye on the future, he is back with his third release for Innervision Records, the silky smooth ‘Deep Secrets’.

‘Deep Secrets’ has already tallied up a string of hit radio singles including the foot tapping ‘Tie The Knot’ that features trumpeter Lin Rowntree who here is in his best Tom Browne ‘Funking For Jamaica’ mode.  Just as good and also on radio is the extremely easy grooving ‘Smooth Talk’ that has Mike Partlett on sax and Valdez Brantley on keys.  Brantley also happens to co-write (with Brown) nine of the eleven choice tunes while the third track to be lifted from ‘Deep Secrets’ is the epitome of smooth jazz, ‘The Prize’.  Elsewhere Brown gives a nod to his spiritual roots with the uplifting ‘Praise Is What I Do’ and although ‘Surrender’ proves to be yet another easy on the ear cut it is ‘Make Up Your Mind’ (with Darryl Willams on bass and Tony Moore on drums) that takes center stage as a triumph of rhythm and melody.

Williams and Moore are also around to lend a hand with the funky yet rhythmic ‘Love You Too’ and it is Merlon Devine on soprano sax and flute who adds his own magic to the decidedly dreamy ‘Controlled Passion’.

Throughout ‘Deep Secrets’ Brown confirms himself as the perfect purveyor of a feel good vibe and this is particularly so with the breezy ‘Wake Up’.  When he ups the tempo for the dazzling title cut the result is just as good and talking of results that’s exactly what Brown gets with the sumptuous ‘Pretty Girl’ which, with Nate Harasim on keys, is right up there with the best that ‘Deep Secrets’ has to offer.

Brown recorded ‘Deep Secrets’ remotely during COVID-19 quarantine with his band and collaborators sending their tracks to him and Brantley by email. Production and mixing assistance was provided courtesy of heavy hitters Blake Aaron, Darren Rahn and Nate Harasim with the overall outcome being a high quality addition to the discography of Dee Brown.

Pieces Of A Dream - Fired Up

Ahead of the release of the album ‘Fired Up’ from perennial hit makers Pieces Of A Dream comes the title track and the first to be serviced to radio.  With the duo of James Lloyd and Curtis Harmon very much at its core, the story of Pieces Of A Dream is nothing short of remarkable.  It is well chronicled how Lloyd and Harmon at age 16 and 18 respectively released their first recording in 1981. Not long after that they hit the road performing in Grover Washington Jr.’s rhythm section and opening for him as Pieces Of A Dream.  Washington Jr. took Lloyd and Harmon under his wing and signed the band as the first group with his brand new production company.  They released three albums in quick succession, Pieces of a Dream (1981), We Are One (1982) and Imagine This (1983) and those recordings include some of their biggest early hits, including ‘Warm Weather’, ‘Mount Airy Groove’ and ‘Fo Fi Fo’.

As for ‘Fired Up’ it is everything we have come to expect from these true masters of contemporary jazz, upbeat, uplifting and, with splashes of sax from Tony Watson Jr., totally on the money.

Check back here soon for a complete review of ‘Fired Up’.

Mattias Roos - You Might Need Somebody

Paving the way for his latest album that will be released early in 2022 on the Skytown Records label, Swedish keyboard player Mattias Roos is back with a decidedly sultry instrumental interpretation of the Randy Crawford classic ‘You Might Needs Somebody’ that can be found on her 1981 recording  ‘Secret Combination’.

It goes for adds September 27 and following as it does the radio single ‘Commercial Free’, which proved to be a cool collaboration with hit maker, guitarist and double Grammy winner Paul Brown, is the second single to be lifted from what is already a highly anticipated new project.

Much like most things that Roos touches both tracks serve to demonstrate the penchant he has for sublimely fusing smooth jazz grooves with an authentic old school vibe.  This first emerged in 2011 with the band Soweto that he formed with drummer Peter Gustavsson and gathered momentum in 2017 with his Skytown debut, the critically acclaimed album ‘Movin’ Up’.  The equally good ‘It Goes On And On’ followed two years later yet that wasn’t quite the end of the ‘It Goes On And On’ story.  In 2020 it was released as a deluxe version with four additional tracks and an outstanding reworking of ‘Bring It On’ that this time featured Michael Lington on sax and proved to be a runaway chart success.

You might need somebody, maybe.  You might need contemporary jazz from Mattias Roos, most definitely.

Jackiem Joyner - Dance Again

After almost fifteen years as a recording artist sax-man Jackiem Joyner continues to entertain and delight.  His seventh solo album, ‘Touch’ was released in 2019 and now, ahead of a tour that gets started September 25 in Las Vegas, he is all set to release his brand new single ‘Dance Again’.

It’s the sort of silky smooth number that we have come to identify him with and well worth checking out.

 

 

Roberto Restuccia - Love Crazy

Taken from his 2021 release ‘With Every Turn’, ‘Love Crazy’ by UK guitarist and composer Roberto Restuccia is the sort of easy grooving cut that he is rapidly becoming known for.   It is the second single to be lifted from ‘With Every Turn’ and follows the outrageously moody ‘Arrival’, which made the statement that here is a star in the making.

In fact Restuccia made his debut in 2016 with the album ‘Exposure’.  ‘When The Smoke Clears’ followed a year later and included input from Paul Hardcastle’s ‘go-to’ sax-man Rock Hendricks.

Check out ‘Love Crazy’ right here right now.

 

 

Larry Carlton & Paul Brown - Miles And Miles To Go

 

What do you get when two contemporary jazz titans go head to head in the most sensational of ways?  The answer is ‘Soul Searchin’ the exciting new release from guitar greats Larry Carlton and Paul Brown that is due out September 24 on the Shanachie Entertainment label.

With ten original compositions ‘Soul Searchin’ promises much, a fact that is reinforced by the radio single ‘Miles And Miles To Go’.  Not only does it open the album but also demonstrates to perfection the magical interplay that these two fine players routinely generate.

Carlton, who was a member of both The Crusaders and Fourplay is also a successful composer for television and film.  His writing credits include the theme music for ‘Hill Street Blues’ (with Mike Post), ‘Who’s The Boss’ and the film ‘Against All Odds’.

He first collaborated with Paul Brown in 2000 when Brown produced several tracks for his ‘Fingerprints’ CD and although it has taken a while the idea of making an album together has been in the works for some time.

Collectively, Carlton and Brown have collaborated with everyone from Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan and Quincy Jones to George Benson, Patti Austin and Norman Brown, to name but a few.   It is a track record that cannot be denied and which with ‘Soul Searchin’ is about to go to another level.

 

Check back here soon for a complete review of ‘Soul Searchin’.