Smooth Jazz Therapy

Atlantic Groove Society - Past & Present

Trumpeter Alexander Hartgers and keyboard player Raymond Kaitjily aka Atlantic Groove Society have just released the album ‘Past & Present’ which with nine original compositions and one choice cover is a cool mixture of chilled out lounge music and smooth jazz that is worthy of some attention.

In fact Hartgers from Los Angeles and Kaitjily from Holland have been musical friends for over twenty years and ‘Past & Present’ is a reflection of the music that over time has emanated from this long-standing collaboration.

California Funk Machine - Volume 1

California Funk Machine is not just another tribute band. California Funk Machine is not just a collection of music. California Funk Machine is a concept, a style, a coming together of like minded musical brethren to breath new life into some of the hottest funk, disco, soul and jazz funk classics of the 70’s and 80’s.

The driving force behind what is envisaged to be a series of volumes is none other than Billboard chart topping artist, Platinum producer and multi instrumentalist Emmanuel “U-Nam” Abiteboul who, since moving to Los Angeles from his native Paris, France in 2008, his built a reputation for knowing funk like no one else knows funk.

Mindi Abair - Forever

It is fair to say that the career of Mindi Abair has not always followed what might be referred to as conventional lines.  Sure, her earlier albums such as ‘Always And Never The Same’, ‘It Just Happens That Way’ and ‘Come As You Are’ were all top-notch smooth jazz collections but then, along the way, something happened.

Maybe it was her appearances as the sax player on American Idol, the fact she toured with rock band Aerosmith or that she shared the stage with Bruce Springsteen but Mindi began to emerge from her contemporary jazz cocoon as something of a rock chick.  This was underlined with her 2014 project ‘Wild Heart’ and now eight years later she is back with her eleventh studio recording, ‘Forever’, that will be released March 18, 2022 on her own Pretty Good For A Girl Records.

Ryan La Valette - Let It Flow

New Zealand bred and based, multi instrumentalist Ryan La Valette looks to be on the cusp of something rather special.  His highly anticipated Trippin’ N Rhythm debut ‘New Beginnings’ is expected sometime in 2022 while the lead single, the sumptuously Benson-esque ‘Let It Flow’ will be released today, Valentines Day.

For ‘New Beginnings’ Ryan is working with three of the genre’s top producers and keyboard players, Nicholas Cole, Greg Manning and Chris “Big Dog” Davis, with the aim of showcasing his prowess both as a song writer and performer on guitar, bass and saxophone.

Check out ‘Let It Flow’ right here right now.

 

 

Norman Brown - Back At Ya

Following on from guitarist Norman Brown’s 2020 project ‘Heart To Heart’ comes the highly anticipated  ‘Lets Get Away’, a fine amalgam of jazz, R&B, pop and blues all delivered with the sort of style that has become Brown’s calling card.  ‘Let’s Get Away’ opens with the exquisite ‘Back At Ya’ that is also the first single to be serviced to the airwaves.  Co-written with Lew Laing, David Torkanowsky and Paul Brown (who plays percussion on the track). Norman’s crisp and buttery riffs are a delight and with subtle sax from Greg Vail this has radio ready written all over it.

Check back here soon for a complete review of ‘Lets Get Away’.

Julian Vaughn - Amore

With Valentines Day very much on the horizon thoughts should be turning to all things romance in this respect it is difficult to look beyond ‘Amore’, the new radio single from bass player Julian Vaughn. It’s from his current album, the 2021 released ‘Chapters Of Love’ and follows ‘Sway’ that found its way to radio back in April of last year and which featured sax-man Donald Hayes.

For Vaughn this is turning out to be quite a ride.  He burst onto the scene in 2012 with the appropriately titled ‘Breakthrough’ and while fending off obvious comparisons between his own playing style and that of the late Wayman Tisdale, he quickly emerged as very much his own man.  A string of crucially acclaimed albums followed including the 2015 ‘Limitless’, the 2017 ‘Bona Fide’, and ‘Supreme’ which hit the streets in 2019.

Check it out.

 

 

Michael J Thomas - The OG Bounce

Ahead of the brand new 5-track EP ‘Outside the Door’ from sax-man Michael J Thomas comes ‘The OG Bounce’, a brass driven spectacular that really has a Parliament, Funkadelic, Tower Of Power thing going on.  It’s a vibe that owes much to a horn section comprising Steve Patrick on trumpets, Barry Green on trombone plus Mark Douthit on alto, tenor and baritone saxes while with Thomas’s ‘go to’ backing band of drummer Louis K Newsom, keyboard player Trammell Starks, guitarist Chris Blackwell and Sam Sims on bass all around to lend a hand what you have is a sparkling concoction that is bound to do well.

As for ‘Outside the Door’, it is rumored to feature guest performances by Chieli Minucci of Special EFX, Randy Brecker, and Vince Gill. It will include new twists on Stevie Wonder’s ‘I Wish’ and the Tears for Fears classic ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’ and Thomas will also find space for a reprise of his recent holiday single  ‘It’s Christmas’ with vocals from Maysa.