Smooth Jazz Therapy

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.

Mattias Roos - It Goes On And On

‘It Goes On And On’ is the title and ‘It Goes On And On’ is certainly the sentiment as Swedish keyboard player Mattias Roos comes roaring back with this stunning ten track collection that once again finds him at the top of his creative game.  Written, arranged and produced by Roos throughout, ‘It Goes On And On’ is released on the Skytown Records label and follows his 2017 project ‘Movin’ Up’.  In common with this earlier effort it demonstrates to perfection the penchant he undoubtedly has for sublimely fusing smooth jazz grooves with an authentic old school vibe.

As well as being a solo artist and a ‘go-to’ keyboard player for several top-flight Swedish performers, many will know Roos as a founding member of the band Soweco that he formed in 2011 with drummer Peter Gustavsson.  Roos has carried some of that distinctive Soweco sound into what is now a burgeoning solo career but in doing so has fashioned an identity that is very much his own.

The Philippe Saisse Trio - The Body And Soul Sessions

Back in 2006, that classy collective The Philippe Saisse Trio had its own crack at delivering a covers album to end all cover albums.  The resultant ‘TheBody And Soul Sessions’ was an eclectic collection of pop, R&B and jazz covers with four of them being released as singles.  These included the  #1 hits ‘Do It Again’ and ‘September’ that fizzed along courtesy of Saisse's nimble piano, Fender Rhodes and keyboards, David Finck's bouncy acoustic bass, and Scooter Warner's crackling drum and percussion rhythms.

Thirteen years on and Saisse has called upon the Grammy-winning mastering engineer Colin Leonard to re-master ‘The Body And Soul Sessions’.  The re-mastered album, available for the very first time on vinyl, will be released June 21 on the Bandar Log Music label from which it will also be offered as a CD and in digital form.

A fun, party record then and a fun party record now. It should do well.

Norman Brown - The Highest Act Of Love

Often compared to George Benson, the always-excellent Norman Brown has been effortlessly fusing the finer elements of jazz, R & B, pop and blues for the past twenty years. In so doing he has created his own instantly identifiable musicology that has just been added to by the sensational ‘The Highest Act Of Love’ which was released February 22 on the Shanachie Entertainment label.

U-Nam - Future Love

Sometimes the making of music can be uplifting.  At other times it can simply be entertaining.  Yet in the case of ‘Future Love’, the brand new release from writer, producer and guitarist extraordinaire Emmanuel “U-Nam” Abiteboul the activity has been nothing short of cathartic.

From the debris of a complicated divorce that occurred in Autumn of 2018, this musical trendsetter with nine top 30 Billboard hits to his name has used the creative process to purge the emotions and relieve the tensions that for a while hung heavily upon him.  Not only that, with the title ‘Future Love’ he is making a bold statement as to what might come next, a message that particularly resonates through the zesty title cut which also happens to be the first single serviced to radio.

Jamie Bonk - Who Said It Was Easy?

A long time in the making and more than justifying its title, ‘Who Said It Was Easy?’ from Vancouver based guitarist Jamie Bonk finds him in predominately reflective mood for a collection that is so evocative that it might just take your breath away.  It marks a change of style for Jamie who with a string of smooth jazz orientated projects has earned inclusion in these pages and then some but although this latest venture doesn’t really fit the genre it has merits that are many, varied and totally compelling.

In a lot of ways ‘Who Said It Was Easy?’ can be summed up as fourteen self penned numbers all of which are in search of a movie score.  They are heartfelt and emotional; they evoke love, life, loss and longing yet despite Jamie being Canadian they could equally provide the backdrop to a commentary on the American mid-west, a soundtrack to small town USA.

Particularly so in this respect is the stunningly beautiful ‘You And Me’, the similarly inclined  ‘For This One Time’ and the magical ‘Let’s Go Home’ yet truth to tell the charm of ‘Who Said It Was Easy?’ does not come in the isolation of any single track but rather in the collective splendor of the entire set.

Whatever your musical preference this is an album that is well worth checking out.

Fabio Mignola - Encantado

Brand new from Swiss born guitarist Fabio Mignola comes the delicious ‘Encantado’.  It is an excellent addition to a discography which includes ‘Flyin Away’, ‘Luna Rossa’ and ‘Take Me Higher’ which, at the time of its release, I described as being “a showcase for Mignola’s wide raging musical talents that extend not only to delivering eleven self penned tracks but also to engineering and producing throughout.”

Of course students of the language will know that ‘Encantado’ translates to ‘charmed’ and the chances are that listeners will be exactly that with this mellifluous collection which again finds Fabio pulling the strings on eleven of his own sumptuous compositions for a musical journey that is very much on the Latin side.