Smooth Jazz Therapy

Jazz Funk Soul - Forecast

The title cut from super-group Jazz Funk Soul’s current CD ‘Forecast’ is going for radio play right now.

Aka Jeff Lorber, Everette Harp and Paul Jackson Jr, Jazz Funk Soul operates very much at the ‘high end’ of contemporary jazz, a fact born out by the uplifting ten-track ‘Forecast’ that opens with the album’s first single. ‘Hustle’, an original Jeff Lorber composition that not only finds him blowing the doors off on Hammond B3 but also combining with Harp and Jackson Jr. for some truly outstanding interplay.  With the addition of long time collaborators Gary Novak on drums, bass player Mono Neon and sax-man David Mann this is a number that gets ‘Forecast’ started in a way in which it means to carry on.

Much the same can be said of the title track that luxuriates in a stunning brass veneer that proves to be the perfect backdrop for more vintage Lorber on keys.

 

 

Skinny Hightower - Groove Factor

Short of new music since his 2020 Trippin n Rhythm album ‘Blue Moon’ that groove drenched keyboard player Skinny Hightower is finally back on the scene with his latest single the appropriately titled ‘Groove Factor’.

Jazzy and sophisticated it sits extremely well with standout tracks from ‘Blue Moon’ such as the intensely rhythmic ‘Rain’, the similarly disposed ‘Bittersweet’ and the altogether more chilled out title cut.

 

 

Steve Oliver - Skyway

For guitarist Steve Oliver 2022 was quite a year.  Having whetted the collective appetites of his myriad of fans with singles such as ‘Morning Touch’ and ‘New Heights’ he released the album ‘Sojourn’ to critical acclaim. Best known for his use of synthesized guitar to conjure up a whole range of instrumental and orchestral sounds, ‘Sojourn’ was something of a departure in that it delivered up an exquisite range of guitar solos. 

Now he is back with the sumptuous single ‘Skyway’ that finds him at his understated best.

Check it out.

 

 

Keb' Mo' - Taking Me Higher

Featured on the original soundtrack for the motion picture ‘Sweetwater’ which is directed by Martin Guigui and tells the story of Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton who, in the fall of 1950, was the first African American player to sign a contract with the NBA comes the track ‘Taking Me Higher’ from five time GRAMMY winner Keb’ Mo’.

Last year, Keb’ Mo’ released the critically acclaimed ‘Good To Be…’ that was nominated for Best Americana Album at the 2023 GRAMMY Awards. It was his 12th total nomination and followed his 2020 GRAMMY win in the same category with ‘Oklahoma’.

 

 

Jackeim Joyner - Missing You

Brand new from smooth jazz sax-man Jackiem Joyner comes the wonderful ‘Missing You’, an infectious, rhythmic and totally compelling single that is sure to lay siege to the radio play charts for some time to come.

It is another notable number in a sequence of post pandemic successes that started out in 2021 with the cool five track EP titled ‘Journey Of Passion’ and continued with the hit singles ‘Dance Again’ and ‘Say What’.

Check it out.

 

 

Michael Lington - Moon Goddess

Blazing a trail for his new EP ‘Looking Ahead’, the mellifluous yet edgy  ‘Moon Goddess’ from Danish born sax-man Michael Lington certainty checks all the smooth jazz boxes.  The track represents a first-time collaboration with fellow saxophonist David Mann, who he first met back in 1998 towards the tail end of his years touring with the late Bobby Caldwell.

Due to hit the streets May 12, ‘Looking Ahead’ is Lington’s first collection of original songs since 2018 and ‘Silver Lining’. His holiday album ‘A Foreign Affair Christmas’ came along a year later while his 2021 compilation ‘Alone Together (The Duets)’, featured audio recordings taken from performances with various genre superstars all streamed live over the StageIt platform during the pandemic.

Not only that ‘Looking Ahead’ luxuriates in the plethora of the life changes that Lington has recently gone through.  A move to San Diego County after 32 years in Los Angeles, his marriage to wife Keri, being a devoted stepfather to her young daughter Lauren and (at age 50) becoming a first time dad have all combined to spark this fresh burst of creativity.

 Since releasing his self-titled debut in 1997, his 2000 breakthrough album ‘Vivid’ and its hit single ‘Twice in a Lifetime’ his output as an artist has been prolific and although he can look back to those days with huge satisfaction there is little doubt he is now very much looking ahead.

 

 

Lemek - Groove Central

Time was when Smooth Jazz Therapy was all over the music if of sax-man Quentin Gerard W so it is particularly special to feature his son, Lemek , who, from his base in New Orleans, is forging a career as a contemporary jazz guitarist.

Signed to the Trippin N Rhythm label Lemek’s latest single is the hugely infectious ‘Groove Central’ that features label mate Ryan La Valette on sax.

Make no mistake; this is one to look out for.

 

 

Mark Jaimes - Midnight Rendezvous

Taken from his 2021 Trippin ‘N’ Rhythm CD ‘Hear At Last’, UK based guitarist Mark Jaimes is headed to radio with Rod Temperton’s ‘Midnight Rendezvous’.  It is a number that reflects Jaimes’ classic R&B sensibilities and which pairs his slick work on guitar with a soaring vocal hook by the great Patti Austin

It is right up there with the best that ‘Hear At Last’ has to offer.