Seasonal greetings from Smooth Jazz Therapy; The love of music is all about preference and since 2006 I have been sharing what I identified at the time as being my Top Twenty Tracks of the year. As I reported last year, the search for great new music becomes increasingly fraught with each passing year. Less albums and more singles are both contributory factors yet with an eye firmly on quality rather than quantity I am delighted to reveal, in no particular order, my Smooth Jazz Therapy Top Twenty Tracks of 2022.
‘Step Into Love’ by Brian Culbertson from the CD ‘White’. First there was red. Then came blue. Finally it was white and Brian Culbertson’s three-phase odyssey that tells of the ups and downs of a long-time relationship was complete. The first single from it was the sultry ‘Step Into Love’, which, with a killer beat and moody trumpet from the always-excellent Patches Stewart, was classic Culbertson and then some.
‘What You Do To Me’ by Nick Colionne. When, on News Day 2022, the death was announced of contemporary jazz guitarist Nick Colionne the smooth jazz community was shaken to its core. At the time of his sad demise Nick had just completed the recording of what turned out to be his final album and the first single from it proved to be ‘What You Do To Me’. A slice of sumptuous easy grooving contemporary jazz it instantly became a Smooth Jazz Therapy favourite.
‘Summer In Blue’ by writer, producer and keyboard player Michael Broening After two decades of making hits for a veritable who’s who of smooth jazz talent writer, producer and keyboard player Michael Broening is finally stepping out of the shadows. His debut album is expected in early 2023 and offering it some early publicity was the truly sensational ‘Summer In Blue’.
‘Too Close For Comfort’ by Chris Standring from the CD ‘Simple Things’. It is one thing to be hijacked by a pandemic that refused to go away and then by the small matter of a heart attack but Standring went through all of this and more before arriving at his latest recording ‘Simple Things’. The wonderful ‘Too Close For Comfort’ simply illustrated why the wait was more than worthwhile.
‘Dreamland’ by guitarist Blake Aaron. This was everything that smooth jazz circa 2022 should be. Aaron’s outrageously dexterous playing gelling to perfection with co-writer Adam Hawley on rhythm guitar and keyboards, Eric Valentine on drums, bass player Mel Brown, sax-man and horn arranger David Mann, plus trumpeter Trevor Neumann. The result was a scintillating summer smash of the highest order.
Read on for the remainder of this years top twenty and if you have your own list of favorites from 2022 why not e-mail it to me at [email protected]. Happy New Year!!