Out now on the Innervision label, ‘Love and Rhythm’ is the latest CD from guitarist Blake Aaron. It is his seventh album release and the first since 2020 and the highly acclaimed ‘Color and Passion’. It finds him hitting the ground running in that the collection has already garnered four Billboard top 5 hits, ‘Feels So Right’, ‘Crush’, ‘Dreamland’ and the current single, ‘She’s The One’, which comes complete with a wonderfully brassy veneer that is difficult to resist.
In fact ‘Dreamland’, which I previously described as being possibly the most sunshine filled number of 2022, blends outrageously dexterous playing by Aaron with that of co-writer Adam Hawley. In fact it is everything great smooth jazz should be and with Eric Valentine on drums, Mel Brown on bass, David Mann on sax and horn arrangements plus trumpet from Trevor Neumann, the track offers another copper plated reason why ‘Love and Rhythm’ is without doubt one of the best smooth jazz releases of this year.
Other smooth jazz ‘a-listers’ to join Aaron for the project are Greg Manning (who co-produces all ten tunes with Aaron and Hawley), Tateng Katindig and Carnell Harrell (who contribute keyboards and piano), drummers Tony Moore and Will Kennedy plus bass players Alex Al and Hussain Jiffry. Add in a fulsome horn section comprising David Mann, Trevor Neumann, Donald Hayes, Michael Stever, Bob Mintzer, Jimmy Reid, Andrew Neu and Nick Lane and what you are left with is something that is wonderfully special.
Traversing Brazilian, contemporary and fusion jazz, plus stop offs at R&B and dance, ‘Love and Rhythm’ is well worth looking out for.