Smooth Jazz Therapy

U-Nam - U-Nam Goes Big Band

There are only a few established artists who are capable of reinventing themselves and jazz guitarist and Billboard chart-topper U-Nam is certainly one of them.  As if to prove it he will release the genre busting ‘U-Nam Goes Big Band’, March 27, 2020, on the Skytown Records label.

Coming off the back of a scintillating 2019 that saw him enjoy huge chart success with his sensational ‘Future Love Parts 1 and 2’ (that reached #20 on the Top 25 Billboard Jazz Best Selling Album chart and #8 in the Contemporary Jazz category) this is an exciting new direction for U-Nam to take but, with nine top 30 Billboard hits already to his name and an approach recognised as always innovative and often daring, his reputation for shaking the musical world to its core is already firmly in place.

‘U-Nam Goes Big Band’, a sumptuous eleven track rendering of sophisticated mood jazz, is made even more enticing by the amazing back-story that first put it on U-Nam’s radar.  A phone call to his Los Angeles studio from Estonian producer Mikk Targo is all it took.  Targo, CEO and Founder of the Estonian Author Society EAU had, for the past several years, been working with a panel of music industry experts to select from what was generally regarded as the best one hundred songs Estonia has ever produced.  As they did so a body of work emerged that was not only a glimpse into the nation’s musical heritage but also an outstanding showcase for the renowned Lutz Krajenski Big Band.

Under The Lake - Your Horizons Too

Contemporary jazz collective Under The Lake is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Jayson Tipp and after a stop start, evolving line-up, kind of existence the band is back with ‘Your Horizon Too’ that will be released April 3 on the Mind In Overdrive label.

For Under The Lake it all got started in San Diego with the 1993 debut recording ‘Dive In’ and ‘Up For Air’ that followed three years later.  A ten-year hiatus, during which Tipp took time out to raise a family, ensued before the critically acclaimed ‘People Together’ hit the streets.  At the time I described it as being an amalgam of upbeat, joyful melodies and grooving hooks yet when Tipp returned to the studio in 2018 with ‘Jazz Groove & Attitude’ he did so with completely different personnel.

For ‘Your Horizon Too’ Tipp has reconnected with long time collaborators Richard Sellers on drums and Nathan Brown on bass while adding ‘new boy’ guitarist Patrick Yandall to the mix.  Steeped in the laid back musical confines of San Diego, Yandall is a player that has rhythm and melody pumping through every vein of his body and completing the quartet is another Smooth Jazz Therapy favorite, sax man Quintin Gerard W.

Chris Standring - Real Life

Arguably England’s most successful smooth jazz export, Chris Standring has, with a succession of attention grabbing releases, carved out a unique place in the annals of contemporary jazz. Often soulful, always compelling and disposed from time to time to weave orchestral tapestries into his guitar driven melodies he is a performer who never disappoints.  Consequently it should be no surprise that ‘Real Life’, even at this early stage, seems destined to become one of the best recordings of 2020.

Vincent Ingala - Echoes Of The Heart

When, back in 2018, I reviewed ‘Personal Touch’ by writer, producer and multi instrumentalist Vincent Ingala I described him as being the breath of fresh air that smooth jazz fans had long been craving.  Now, with a street date of February 21, he is back with the excellent ‘Echoes Of The Heart’.  This ten-track tour de force includes nine original compositions plus one carefully crafted cover and with guest performances from David Benoit and Steve Oliver is the sort of project that will continue Ingala’s fast track progress toward the upper echelons of the genre.

Konstantin Klashtorni - 7 x 7

Konstantin Klashtorni has done more than most in extending the global reach of smooth jazz.  Originally from the Ukraine and now domiciled in Germany this fine multi instrumentalist has been building an extensive discography for the last sixteen years and is all set to add to it with the February 14 release of the superb ‘7 x 7’.  The date is significant in that it coincides with Klashtorni’s 49^thbirthday, a milestone that he has used to bestow the album with its title.

‘7 x 7’ isa sumptuous eleven track collection of gentle rhythms and compelling melodies that draws on all Klashtorni’s experiences as solo artist, master of chill and king of cool.

Ronnie Smith - Raise The Roof

The fact guitarist Ronny Smith grew up listening to Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass, and George Benson does much to explain the tight melodic style that categorizes his playing. It is a style that he began to develop while still in junior high school and the time he subsequently spent performing, first with various bands at University then later in the armed forces, expanded both his musical and geographic horizons.  More importantly it led him to a career as a sought after backing musician. Collaborations with artists as diverse as the Marvellettes, Melba Moore and jazz drummer Bobby Durham all added to Smith’s reputation while as a solo artist he has been steadily building a significant body of work.   This commenced in 2001 with ‘Long Time Comin’ and continued with ‘Laid Back’, ‘Got Groove’, ‘Simply Stated’, ‘Just Groovin’ and his highly acclaimed 2013 project ‘Can’t Stop Now’.  ‘Shake It Up’ followed four years later and now, signed to the highly rated Skytown Records label; he is about to expand his discography yet further with ‘Raise The Roof’ that will be released January 27, 2020.

Brian Simpson & Steve Oliver - Unified

Due out January 17 ‘Unified’ is the brand new album from Brian Simpson and Steve Oliver who have combined to create what was originally envisaged as being built around an electronic music concept but which over time has evolved into contemporary jazz project that nevertheless retains elements of electronica.

Also including contributions from ‘go to’ bass player Alex Al, drummer Eric Valentine and percussionist extraordinaire Ramon Yslas this is a CD that heralds in the latest in a long line of exciting smooth jazz pairings and one that could well be around for some time to come.

Bob James & Kirk Whalum - Joined At The Hip

The career of contemporary jazz pianist and keyboard player Bob James has been enriched by the part he played in some of the genre’s finest collaborations.  Among them have been projects with Earl Klugh, Boney James, David Sanborn and, perhaps most notably, the 1996 recording, ‘Joined At The Hip’, with saxophonist Kirk Whalum.

Although ultimately ‘Joined At The Hip’ did not triumph at that year’s Grammies, it did peak at number ten on the Billboard jazz albums chart and is widely regarded has having been an under-appreciated gem in the respective discographies of these two fine players.  But now, for all those who missed ‘Joined At The Hip’ the first time around, it has been remastered and reissued on the Evosound label.

1996 was a golden year in a golden decade of smooth jazz and then, as now, Bob James and Kirk Whalum were two of its brightest stars.   Released on the Warner Bros label and boasting a veritable bevy of backing musicians that included Jeff Golub, Chris Walker and Billy Kilson, ‘Joined At The Hip’ was a fine blend of original material and carefully crafted covers such as Maria Muldaur's 'Midnight At The Oasis' and Donny Hathaway's 'The Ghetto.'

Also, with track lengths never shorter than five minutes and sometimes in excess of ten, this was a collection unfettered by commercial considerations that refused to be shoe horned into conventional radio formats.  The result was a recording for the contemporary jazz purist with a relevance as strong today as when it was first released.

U-Nam - Future Love Parts 1 & 2

Now for some real Christmas cheer.  Much of the smooth jazz buzz for 2019 has been all about U-Nam and the release of his stunning project ‘Future Love’.

Little did he know when he recorded this chart buster that he was in fact unleashing a tsunami of music characterized by infectious grooves and unbridled depth.  Which tracks to leave out and which to allow in became a real dilemma and this depth became apparent when to celebrate the release of a very special Japanese edition of ‘Future Love’, Skytown Records made the previously unreleased  ‘Soul Walkin’, available as a bonus track.

It triggered U-Nam to revisit a whole raft of songs, unrecorded and hidden away in his extensive archives.  The result was ‘The Love Vault – Future Love Part 2‘ and now, for the very first time, both ‘Part 1’ and ‘Part 2’ are available together, two albums combined into one.

Not only that, this amalgamation includes a rare, exclusive and previously unreleased bonus track ‘Love’ written, produced and featuring the late Guitar Legend Wah Wah Watson.

‘Future Love Parts 1 &2’ is available now from all digital stores and, for the first time, is streaming, exclusively on Apple Music. 

 

Special EFX - All Stars

Due out February 14, 2020, ‘All Stars’ is the latest release from sophisticated super group Special EFX. Despite the frequent changes in personnel that have characterised the band’s evolution, the creative constant of Chilli Minucci remains front back and centre.  In fact Minucci co-founded Special EFX thirty-five years ago with the now deceased George Jinda and here, for the band’s twenty- first CD, he writes thirteen of the fourteen choice tunes with the only exception being the Jimi Hendrix number‘Little Wing’ for which soulful vocalistMaysa Leak knocks it out of the park.

With his New York City-based band members Jay Rowe on keys, Jerry Brooks on bass and Joel Rosenblatton drums at its core Minucci brings the title of the album to life by enlisting the help of a star studied ensemble of guest performers.

Violinist Regina Carter, sax-man Nelson Rangell, trumpeter Lin Rountree, multi-horn player David Mann, Spyro Gyra drummer Lionel Cordew, highly regarded bass player Gerald Veasley and keyboard player Lao Tizer are all involved from time to time as is fretless bassist and vocalist Fernando Saunders whose history with Special EFX dates back to the early days.

Najee - Centre Of The Heart

Well known for his classy virtuosity, Grammy nominated sax and flute player Najee has been one of the most influential figures in contemporary jazz for the past thirty plus years.  He enjoyed his first big break in 1983 when, with his brother Fareed, he toured with Chaka Khan.  This in turn brought him to the attention of producer Charles Huggins and it was through Huggins that Najee cut his debut long player for EMI, ‘Najees Theme’, in 1986.  The album went platinum and, as they say, the rest his history.  Since then Najee has added sixteen more releases plus one ‘best of’ collection. Now, on the Shanachie Entertainment label, he is back with his latest offering, ‘Center Of The Heart’.

Dave Koz - Gifts Of The Season

At the risk of being somewhat ‘Scrooge-like’ I have to confess a love hate relationship with smooth jazz at Christmas time.  Over the years it has been akin to a right of passage for smooth jazz artists to release their very own festive collections yet in doing so their ambitions have been in the main limited to regurgitating the same old seasonal tunes over and over again.  Of course there have been exceptions, the 2006 gem from Brian Culbertson, ‘Soulful Christmas’ or the equally good Boney James effort, ‘Christmas Present’, that followed a year later.  Perhaps best of all was James Taylor’s magical 2004 recording on the Hallmark label, ‘A Christmas Album’, that featured piano from Dave Grusin but all these were a long time ago and since then nothing too much has come along to challenge them.

One artist who has attempted (several times) to do so is Dave Koz who, twenty-two years after releasing his first Christmas CD, ‘December Makes Me Feel This Way’,has just released his latest Christmas present to his fans, ‘Gifts Of The Season’.  Produced, recorded and mixed by Darren Rahn this sharp 11-track collection features performances from Jonathan Butler, Melissa Manchester, Michael Lington and Chris Walker with half the tracks, being completely new to Koz with the other half comprising tunes he has recorded before.

Peter White - Music For Starlux Airlines

The incomparable Peter White has often been described as the hardest working performer in smooth jazz and his 2019 schedule has proved him to be all that and then some. Yet away from the cruises, the tours and the globetrotting his latest endeavour has been to write a collection of songs for Starlux Airlines, a new luxury airline based in Taiwan. Primarily intended to be played on the airline’s onboard entertainment systems the tracks turned out so well they have become a six-track album simply titled ‘Music for STARLUX Airlines’.

U-Nam - The Love Vault - Future Love Part 2

Little did writer, producer and guitarist extraordinaire Emmanuel “U-Nam” Abiteboulknow that when he recorded his chart busting album ‘Future Love’ he was in fact unleashing a tsunami of music characterized by infectious grooves and unbridled depth.  Which tracks to leave out and which to allow in became a real dilemma and this depth became apparent when to celebrate the release of a very special Japanese edition of ‘Future Love’, Skytown Records made the previously unreleased  ‘Soul Walkin’, available as a bonus track.

It triggered U-Nam to revisit a whole raft of songs, unrecorded and hidden away in his extensive archives, with the result being  ‘The Love Vault – Future Love Part 2‘ that will be released October 11, 2019 on the Skytown Records label.

David Benoit And Friends

For four decades pianist David Benoit has been creating a legacy that thrives very much at the high end of contemporary jazz and on August 23, 2019 he will make his Shanachie Entertainment debut with his thirty-sixth solo album, the outstanding ‘David Benoit And Friends’.  A heady mix of shifting moods, uplifting anthems, virtuosic playing and more than a few surprises, it is a magnificent blend of original compositions, head turning covers and tributes to some of the genre’s most iconic players all delivered as only David Benoit can.

Rick Braun - Crossroads

Chart-topping contemporary jazz pioneer Rick Braun releases his eighteenth solo album, ‘Crossroads’, August 16, 2019, on the Shanachie Entertainment label.  Totally in keeping with someone who has routinely played with the best in the business he is joined here by a cross-section of friends both old and new. Keyboard player Philippe Saisse, bass-man Nate Phillips, sax supremo Richard Elliot, drummer Eric Valentine and percussionist Richie Garcia are all around to lend a hand while he also welcomes first time collaborators Greg Phillinganes, Michael Thompson, and Gregg Bissonette for a collection that in the final analysis is bound to be among the best of the year.

Allen Carman Project - Carmanology

Although bass player Allen Carman shelved his musical aspirations twenty years ago it was a chance encounter with longtime friend and percussionist Gumbi Ortiz thatled to recording dates with keyboardist Philippe Saisse.  Then things began to get interesting.  Luis Alicea, Marc Antoine, Rick Braun, Andy Snitzer and Grammy-winning guitar legend Nile Rodgersall came on board to create what must be the most surprising super-group ever.

Testing the waters along the way with a series of radio singles that consistently hit the Billboard chart, this collective of musical soul mates morphed into the Allen Carman Project that has recently released it’s debut album, ‘Carmanology’.

Reza Khan - Next Train Home

Domiciled in New York but born in Bangladesh, jazz guitarist Reza Khan really began to make waves with the CD ‘A Simple Plan’.  It garnered the radio singles ‘Language Of Love’ and the equally good ‘Blue Dreams In Rio’ while the follow up, ‘Dreamwalker’, scored an instant success with the deliciously accessible title track.  Now he is back with his fifth album, the highly recommended ‘Next Train Home’, a project made all that more remarkable for the fact that he balances his musical career with a ‘day job’ of being a United NationsProgram Manager, a role that regularly takes him to Europe, Africa and the Middle East.  In fact Khan wrote the music for ‘Next Train Home’ in 2018 during a six-week UN trip.

Back in the recording studio in New York, Khan surrounded himself with a stunning array of guest musicians including Philippe Saisse and Andy Snitzer who had both featured on Khan’s ‘Dreamwalker’ project.  Also on board were sax-man Jeff Kashiwa, pianist Matt King, bass player Mark Egan, percussionist Gumbi Ortiz,David Mann on sax and flute plus drummers Mauricio Zottarelli and Graham Hawthorne.  The result is a stunning array of contemporary and straight-ahead jazz, world music and Brazilian rhythms.