Smooth Jazz Therapy

BPM - Seriously

It seems like only five minutes since I was welcoming The 3 Keys as the latest contemporary jazz ‘super group’. Typically constructed around a coming together of established and talented solo artists, this subgenre has created the likes of ‘Sax Pack’, (Steve Cole – Kim Waters – Jeff Kashawa), ‘Jazz Funk Soul’ (Jeff Lorber – Everette Harp – Paul Jackson Jr) and even ‘Fourplay (Bob James – Nathan East – Harvey Mason – Lee Ritenour). Of course in the case of Fourplay, Ritenour gave way first to Larry Carlton and then Chuck Loeb (a founder member of Jazz Funk Soul) who sadly passed away in 2017 but now we have another hot collective on scene, BPM.

BPM is in fact Grammy-nominated and hit-making bassist Brian Bromberg, two-time Grammy- winning guitarist and producer Paul Brown and show-stopping and chart-topping saxophone sensation Michael Paulo. They have joined forces for the first time with the result being the album ‘Seriously’ which will be released on the Shanachie Entertainment September 27. If the title track (and first single) is anything to go they are about to deliver a body of work that will sit very much at the ‘high end’ of smooth jazz.

Check it out.

 

 

Boney James - Butterfly

Currently tickling the musical taste buds ahead of his up coming ‘Slow Burn’ project, Boney James is very much on point with his version of the Herbie Hancock classic ‘Butterfly’.

The track originates from Hancock’s seminal 1974 album ‘Thrust’ and is a perfect example of the brand of jazz-fusion around at the time and which arguably never got old. Hancock’s use of the Fender Rhodes was inspirational while Paul Jackson on bass added just the right amount of funk.

In fact it is not an overstatement to say that ‘Butterfly’ became the bedrock of jazz-fusion of the time and when, two decades later, Hancock revisited the track for his ‘Dis is da Drum’ CD gone was the Fender Rhodes and in its place the key components of 1990s acid jazz.

‘Slow Burn’ will be released October 18 on the Concord label. It will be James’ nineteenth studio album and in addition to ‘All I Want Is You’ and ‘Butterfly’, the album includes an impressive list of guest collaborators including legendary bass player Marcus Miller who lends a hand on both ‘Arcadia’ and ‘Butterfly’. Also around is multi-instrumentalist Jairus Mozee who has worked with the likes of Anderson Paak, Anthony Hamilton and Nikki Minaj.

 

Sugar Hill Gang - Rappers Delight

Old School Cool is an occasional feature that, for those of a certain age, retraces the journeys of a musical lifetime in a way that keeps the memories flooding back. This time it’s the 1979 debut single from American hip-hop trio The Sugar Hill Gang, ‘Rapper’s Delight’, that despite being credited for introducing hip hop to a wider audience was not without controversy in that a dispute over the use of a sample of 'Good Times' by Chic was only resolved when both Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards were added to the song’s writing credits.

Not only that, and staying with ‘samples’ before the ‘Good Times’ background begins, the intro to the recording is a snippet of ‘Here Comes That Sound Again’ by the British group Love De-Luxe’.

In 2010 ‘Rapper's Delight’ was ranked at number 251 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the ‘500 Greatest Songs Of All Time’ and number 2 on the VH1 ‘100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs’. It is also included on the NPR list of the 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century.

The track reached the top forty in the USA, the top three in the UK and topped the chart in Canada. Amongst its many accolades, the track was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014.

I am indebted to Ian Phillips for coming up with the idea for this feature on ‘Rapper’s Delight’. Ian writes some great music related Twitter posts and is well worth a follow.

 

Richard Elliot - Very Delicious

Scottish-born, LA raised and San Diego based, sax man supreme Richard Elliot will release his twenty first album, September 6, 2024, on the Shanachie Entertainment label.

Titled ‘Straight Up Down’ it is a sumptuous nine-track collection replete with Elliot’s signature soulful sound and a case in point is the first single to be serviced to radio, the aptly named ‘Very Delicious’. The song was provided to him by genre heavyweight Jeff Carruthers who also arranges the track and plays guitar. In fact Carruthers is not the only contributor with an undisputed smooth jazz pedigree. Ricky Peterson plays organ, Tracy Carter is on keys, Cornelius Mims provides bass and to top it all off Dan Needham is on drums and renowned percussionist Lenny Castro adds his own kind of magic.

‘Straight Up Down’ is mixed and produced by none other than Euge Groove who shares with Elliot the distinction of being one time members of that legendary horn driven collective Tower Of Power.

 

Euge Groove - Please Mr Groove

Lifted from his 2023 album ‘Comfort Zone’, ‘Please Mr Groove’ from celebrated saxophonist, composer and producer Euge Groove is a song that is loosely based on a cover of a dance club groove from the 80’s by the group One Way. The original featured a Vocoder hook that this time round is picked up and played by Richard Elliot (who incidentally will be back September 9 with his own new long player ‘Straight Up Down’.)

Also, a breakdown section in the song includes a Maceo Parker style sax line which here is replicated by none other than Candy Dulfer who leaps at the chance to pay her own tribute to the music of Parker.

‘Comfort Zone’ is really turning out to be a gift that keeps on giving. As well as ‘Please Mr Groove’ other tracks to hit the airwaves include the title cut (which proves to be the perfect showcase for all that’s good about Euge’s signature sound) and the soulfully rhythmic ‘Junior’ for which Euge goes full on ‘Junior Walker’ and then some.

 

Oli Silk - Grass Fed Funk

Featuring funky sax-man Marcus Anderson, the appropriately titled ‘Grass Fed Funk’ from Smooth Jazz Therapy favourite Oli Silk is the latest radio single from Silk’s current album ‘In Real Life’ that, since its release earlier this year, has been making significant waves.

Given the quality of the music on offer that isn’t surprising with cases in point being the wonderfully ‘in the pocket’ ‘Dare To Dream’, ‘Looking Glass’ (that Oli shares with up and coming vocalist Rebecca Jade) and the moody ‘Actually Actually’ with Kim Scott on flute.

Equally compelling is ‘New Horizons’ for which Ilya Serov adds muted trumpet while maybe best of all is the up tempo ‘A Lil Pick Me Up’ where Carl Cox on sax really blows the doors off.

All in all ‘In Real Life’ is everything we have come to expect from this consummate purveyor of high end contemporary jazz and is as ready radio as can be.

 

Marcus Anderson - Anyway You Want It

Saxman Marcus Anderson blends his time as a top-notch studio and stage performer with running his own coffee business from where he promotes his own brand of coffee “AND Coffee”.

Indeed, with fifteen studio albums to his name and five Billboard number ones, his reputation has opened doors for him to perform for such luminaries as Barack Obama, Jesse Jackson and Hillary Clinton plus on stage collaborations with Sheila E., Anthony Hamilton, Stevie Wonder, CeeLo Green, Lailah Hathaway, Eric Benet and Brian Culbertson.

Anderson’s latest album is ‘The Vibe’ with the latest radio single from it being the up tempo ‘Anyway You Want It’ which is right up there with the best that ‘The Vibe’ has to offer and in the good company of another Smooth Jazz Therapy’ favourite, the simmering ‘The Farewell’ for which input from fellow saxophonist Donald Hayes proves to be the icing on an extremely jazzy cake.

 

The 3 Keys - Into The New

Contemporary jazz is no stranger to the concept of the ‘super group’. Constructed around a coming together of established and talented solo artists, it has created the likes of ‘Sax Pack’, (Steve Cole – Kim Waters – Jeff Kashawa), ‘Jazz Funk Soul’ (Jeff Lorber – Everette Harp – Paul Jackson Jr) and even ‘Fourplay (Bob James – Nathan East – Harvey Mason – Lee Ritenour).

Of course in the case of Fourplay, Ritenour gave way first to Larry Carlton and then Chuck Loeb (a founder member of Jazz Funk Soul) who sadly passed away in 2017.

In 2023, and for the first time ever, the genre was blessed by an all keyboard super group’, the aptly named ‘The 3 Keys’ that comprises Bob Baldwin, Gail Jhonson and Phil Davis