Smooth Jazz Therapy

Tower Of Power - 50 Years Of Funk & Soul Live

Also vying for honours at the upcoming Grammy Award ceremony will be those powerhouse performers we know and love as Tower Of Power.

The bands 2021 celebratory collection ‘50 Years Of Funk & Soul: Live At The Fox Theater’ captures, in two terrific volumes, the essence of this iconic collective who, in the company of a few thousand friends and a lifetime of memories, converged on the Fox Theater, Oakland CA in June 2018 to play two outstanding shows and in so doing make a little history along the way.

Founded in 1968 by saxophonists Emilio Castillo and Stephen ‘Doc’ Kupka the band had a string of hit albums through the seventies.  Going forward the renowned Tower Of Power horn section remained in high demand and can be heard on recordings by Otis Redding, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Santana, Jefferson Starship and many, many others.   Indeed, apart from the Muscle Shoals rhythm section, they were the must-have session band of the era yet Tower Of Power never lost its appetite for touring.

Consequently, with 2018 marking its 50th anniversary, there was no better place to be than Oakland, CA, the city where it all began.

 

 

Jonathan Butler - Our Voices Matter

With the Grammy season almost upon us one contender in the ‘best R & B song’ category is ‘Our Voices Matter’ from smooth jazz guitarist and vocalist Jonathan Butler.

Written in response to the murder of George Floyd it is a track that speaks to the public as a call to action against racial injustice.  In doing so it encourages people to use their voices to make change in a peaceful and orderly manner.

With an all-star line-up that includes Maysa, Jeffrey Osborne, Marcus Miller, Rick Braun, Candy Dulfer, Arlington Jones and Ramon Yslas this is a gentle song with a powerful message.

 

 

Marion Meadows - Twice As Nice

‘Twice As Nice’, the sixteenth solo recording from sultry saxman Marion Meadows, was released April 23 on the Shanachie Entertainment label.  It includes a veritable who’s who of contemporary jazz talent such as Paul Brown, Joey Sommerville, Jeff Lorber, David Mann, Steve Oliver and Chris ‘Big Dog’ Davis.  The first single to be serviced to radio was the decidedly jazzy and blues infused title cut that Meadows co-wrote with long time collaborator Davis.

Another track on the jazzy side is ‘Lunchbox’.  With Jeff Lorber on keys and a top notch horn arrangement from the always reliable David Mann it is hardly surprising that it has now also hit the airwaves yet it is fair to say that this is an album with ‘radio ready’ written all over it.

 

Take for example the easy grooving ‘On The Uptown’ that was co-written and features bass player Robert Vally, keyboard player Leon Bisquera and the one and only Paul Brown.  With Meadows doubling on tenor and soprano plus Joey Sommerville weighing in on trumpet this one checks all the right boxes and when the tempo eases the result is ‘Yesterday Is Gone’ that showcases the penchant Meadows has for sublimely blending R&B and contemporary jazz. With fabulous vocals from Donnelly Smallwood this is another number co-written by Chris ‘Big Dog’ Davis as is the laid back ‘The Thrill Of Rain’ that Meadows uses to close out the collection.

Arguably Meadows is at his soulful best when traveling a more sensuous route and this is particularly so with the sumptuously hypnotic ‘Don’t Wait Up’ and again with the understatedly Latin ‘Kaleidoscope’.  Here Meadows’ interplay with both ‘Big Dog’ on keys and Steve Oliver on guitar is nothing short of magical while the album’s only cover is a steamy rendition of the Read and Shamblin penned ‘I Can't Make You Love Me’ that can be found on Bonnie Raitt’s 1991 CD ‘Luck Of The Draw.

In terms of personal favourites the Paul Brown, Lew Laing, Marion Meadows composition ‘Step To This’ is where smooth jazz meets ‘steppin’ in the most wonderful of ways yet all things considered the Smooth Jazz Therapy top track is ‘Pandora’.  Written by Meadows, Paul Brown and keyboard player Gerald McCauley, this is a near perfect example of what smooth jazz circa 2021 should be all about.

Norman Brown - Heart To Heart

Released on August 7, 2020, ‘Heart To Heart’ was Norman Brown’s twelfth album and his third on the Shanachie Entertainment label.  Now, with the servicing to radio of the exquisite title cut, it seems totally appropriate to revisit what, over the fourteen months since its release, has turned out to be an extremely understated gem.

 

U-Nam - Juicy Smile

 ‘Juicy Smile’ is the hot new single from multi instrumentalist Emmanuel “U-Nam” Abiteboul and is the kind of track to underscore the fact that here is an artist at the very top of his creative game.  Indeed with an approach that is both innovative and daring he has been consistently fearless in the way he routinely shakes the world of smooth jazz to its core and with ‘Juicy Smile’ U-Nam has the perfect platform from which to show off his myriad of talents.

As well as writing, producing, arranging and mixing throughout, U-Nam also plays lead and rhythm guitars, bass, keyboards and drums.  In addition, his production know-how finds a place for Larry Salzmann on percussion and a powerhouse live horn section that comes courtesy of Christian Martinez on trumpet and Joabe Reis on trombone.

The combination delivers a thumping dance floor filler that, as well as sounding brand new, is cram packed with old school attitude.

Certainly ‘Juicy Smile’ is the perfect way to invigorate even the most tired of dancing feet and given it will go for adds on October 25, just two days before U-Nam’s birthday, there is much to smile about.  Chances are it will be a very ‘Juicy Smile’.

Pieces Of A Dream - Fired Up

 

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).  Those recordings included some of their biggest early hits, including ‘Warm Weather’, ‘Mount Airy Groove’ and ‘Fo Fi Fo’.  The band recorded its Shanachie debut, ‘In The Moment’, in 2013, followed by 2015’s ‘All In’, ‘Just Funkin Around’ from 2017 and ‘On Another Note’ in 2019.

Steve Oliver - Slingshot

 

Hot on the heels of his best selling 2020 collaboration with Brian Simpson, ‘Unified’, guitarist, composer and producer Steve Oliver is back with his fresh new single ‘Slingshot’.  It is Steve’s first solo material since his 2018 project ‘Illuminate’ and features his unmistakable guitar melodies with a modern twist of electronics, bass, and drums.  Mixed and mastered by Euge Groove this one is sure to do well.

Brian Culbertson - The Trilogy Part 1: Red

When, in the midst of lockdown and using his weekly YouTube Live ‘The Hang’ sessions as ‘fan feedback’, Brian Culbertson began creating a collection of songs that he quickly found arranged themselves into three distinct groups.

Some were clearly all about passion and love. Others were melancholy, sad and really made the listener think introspection. The third group of songs was more fun, happy and hopeful.  It was a trilogy and one that mirrored the arc of a typical relationship, the steamy beginning, the often-rocky middle and finally the transition to living happily ever after.

Not only that, Culbertson began to identify the parts of the Trilogy by color and, as a consequence, ‘Red’, ‘Blue’ and ‘White’ were born.