Smooth Jazz Therapy

Jackiem Joyner - Dance Again

After almost fifteen years as a recording artist sax-man Jackiem Joyner continues to entertain and delight.  His seventh solo album, ‘Touch’ was released in 2019 and now, ahead of a tour that gets started September 25 in Las Vegas, he is all set to release his brand new single ‘Dance Again’.

It’s the sort of silky smooth number that we have come to identify him with and well worth checking out.

 

 

Roberto Restuccia - Love Crazy

Taken from his 2021 release ‘With Every Turn’, ‘Love Crazy’ by UK guitarist and composer Roberto Restuccia is the sort of easy grooving cut that he is rapidly becoming known for.   It is the second single to be lifted from ‘With Every Turn’ and follows the outrageously moody ‘Arrival’, which made the statement that here is a star in the making.

In fact Restuccia made his debut in 2016 with the album ‘Exposure’.  ‘When The Smoke Clears’ followed a year later and included input from Paul Hardcastle’s ‘go-to’ sax-man Rock Hendricks.

Check out ‘Love Crazy’ right here right now.

 

 

Cindy Bradley - Stockholm Summer

Taken from her 2019 project ‘The Little Things’, comes the wonderfully mellifluous ‘Stockholm Summer’ by Trippin & Rhythm recording artist Cindy Bradley.  Having already provided the sophisticated radio single ‘Wind Chill Factor’, ‘The Little Things’ is proving to be a worthy to successor to her 2017 CD ‘Natural’ with which Cindy enjoyed unbridled success.

Extremely nice track.

 

 

Gary Honor - Summer Cool

Back in February of 2020, during what might be described as the quiet before the COVID storm, Australian sax-man Gary Honor hit the scene with the Latin flavoured ‘The Pulse’.  With featured guitar from Cheili Minucci and production credits by Skinny Hightower it seemed, at the time, to be laying a platform for more new releases to follow later that year.

Then came the pandemic and everything stopped.

That said, just over twelve months later, Gary was back with his follow up single ‘Bang Bang Bang’.  This hard driving number, which was written and produced by serial hit-maker Michael Broening, gave Honor the inertia he was looking for and this momentum has carried him into the summer and the appropriately titled ‘Summer Cool’.

Check it out.

 

 

U-Nam - Perfect Match

One of the musical highlights of 2021 has been ‘Love In Motion’ from writer, producer and guitarist Emmanuel “U-Nam” Abiteboul.  Subtitled ‘Future Love Part 3’ it builds on the theme that U-Nam sensationally brought to market in 2019 with ‘Future Love’. 

The ‘Future Love’ concept is simple yet profound as U-Nam continues to use the creative process to purge the emotions and relieve the tensions that, from the debris of a complicated divorce, had threatened to engulf him.  But ‘Love In Motion’ is far from being a work of self-indulgence.  He remains totally focussed on the detail that invariably makes U-Nam’s music special and with a glittering array of supporting artists seems intent on making ‘Part 3’ the best yet.

The latest track from it to be offered to radio is ‘Perfect Match’ which, complete with an enticing feel good vibe, is not only the perfect showcase for U-Nam’s wide ranging talents but also beauty personified.

Check it out.

 

 

Paul Hardcastle - Tropicool

Very few artists can successfully walk the tightrope between smooth jazz and chill in the way that Paul Hardcastle does.  Indeed this has never been better demonstrated than with the stunning ‘Tropicool’ (from his 2020 Trippin N Rhythm recording ‘Hardcastle IX’) that was released to radio July 26.

With the album version spanning a stunning six minutes and twenty-two seconds the way this track builds is sensational and helped in no small measure by shimmering trumpet from Gary Winters.  This latest radio edit shaves two minutes from the epic album version but in doing so looses none of the magic that Hardcastle invariably delivers.

Check it out.

 

 

Dreaming In Colour - Cruising The Boulevard

I first became acquainted with the hip cutting edge vibe of contemporary, instrumental jazz group Dreaming In Colour in 2012 and it’s debut CD, ‘The Dream Merchant’.

Constructed around the band’s core members of Kevin Ellis and Chris Noonan the line-up has often, over the years, been complemented by some of the genre’s top artists and this is particularly so with the band’s latest single, ‘Cruising The Boulevard’.  It features Smooth Jazz Therapy favorite Nelson Rangell (who, on soprano sax, contributed hugely to the title track of ‘The Dream Merchant’) and who here is backed by the rhythmic duo of Ellis on bass Noonan on drums.

 

Spyro Gyra keyboard player Tom Schuman is also around to lend a hand, as is Tom Byrne on guitar while a piano solo from Michael Scherer adds an undulating flow to this melodic masterpiece.

Add in a cool string arrangement by Trammel Starks and what we have is an incredibly uplifting slice of top-notch contemporary jazz.

Check it out.

Julian Vaughn - Sunset Station

If you are looking for smoothing ultra cool then why not check out the deliciously mid tempo ‘Sunset Station’ from that ultra cool bass player Julian Vaughn.  Featuring man of the moment Adam Hawley on guitar this is the third radio single from Vaughn’s 2019 CD ‘Supreme’ and in this respect follows the infectious ‘Afro Calypso’ and the extremely zesty ‘Afternoon Delight’ that features Elan Trotman on sax.

‘Supreme’ is Vaughn’s sixth album release and follows a whole line of radio ready collections that began to form on the Trippin n Rhythm label in 2012 with the appropriately titled ‘Breakthrough’.  He was back in 2015 with ‘Limitless’ while ‘Bona Fide’ followed two years later.

 

 

Euge Groove - Say I Won't

New on radio from July 16 ‘Say I Won’t’ from the superb Euge Groove is the latest single to be lifted from his critically acclaimed 2020 collection ‘Sing My Song’.  Indeed from the very first note this is a track that has that distinctive Euge Groove sound running right through it. 

Check it out and let EG transport you to a very happy place.

 

 

Hil St. Soul - Blessed

A former winner of Blues & Soul magazine’s best newcomer of the year award Hilary Mwelwa, aka Hil St. Soul, was born in Lusaka Zambia and at the age of five relocated with her family to London, England.  Growing up, hers was a home filled with the iconic sounds of Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder to name but a few so it was no surprise that as a vocation she chose music.  Hilary’s breakthrough came in 2000 when, partnered with Victor Redwood-Sawyer and recording under the name of Hil St Soul, she announced her arrival with the album ‘Soul Organic’ which was followed four years later by ‘Copasetik & Cool’.  Garnering a top 20 placing on the Urban Adult Contemporary Charts with the song ‘Pieces’ it paved the way for more of the silky same, first with the runaway hit CD ‘Soulidified’ that Blues & Soul described as being “as good as it gets” and then in 2008 with ‘Black Rose’ which included classics in the making such as ‘Wash Away’ and ‘Gravity’.

It also cemented what had evolved into a long term relationship with the Shanachie label, an association that endures to this day and which has been responsible for the launch of her brand new single, a sumptuous duet with Noel Gourdin, ‘Blessed’.

 

All in all, with underground soul hits like ‘Smile’, ‘Pieces’ and ‘Strictly A Vibe Thing’ to more commercial numbers such as Aretha’s ‘Until You Come Back To Me’, the Isley Brother’s ‘For The Love Of You’ and a cool reworking of the Ohio Players smash ‘Heaven Must Be Like This’, Hil St Soul continues to be a shining beacon of the UK urban scene.

Nick Colionne - Right Around The Corner

Although it has been around since April 2020, ‘Finger Painting’ from serial chart topper Nick Colionne continues to dazzle.  Without doubt Colionne remains one of the brightest stars in the Trippin N Rhythm constellation and the latest move by the label to keep ‘Finger Painting’ on everyone’s radar is to release the single ‘Right Around The Corner’ to radio.

This lusciously jazzy number shows off a different side to Colionne’s musical persona.  In fact it is an understated delight while with regard to  ‘Finger Painting’ it is worth pointing out that Colionne has enlisted the help of long-time collaborators and producers Chris ‘Big Dog’ Davis, James Lloyd (from Pieces of a Dream) and John Blasucci.

It is a quality collection.

 

 

Richard Elliot - Right On Time

Out now on the Shanachie Entertainment label, ‘Authentic Life’ from Grammy nominated sax-man Richard Elliot features the kind of all-star lineup that bears testimony to the respect and admiration Elliot has garnered from his peers over a solo career that has now spanned thirty five years.  The album’s first radio single was the ballsy and extremely jazzy ‘Snapshot’ that Elliott co-wrote with Jeff Lorber and which featured Lorber alongside trumpeter Rick Braun and saxophonists Dave Koz and David Mann while now the latest track to find its way to the airwaves is the stunningly melodic ‘Right On Time’.  Proving to be a cool collaboration with Braun and keyboard player Chris “Big Dog” Davis this is as good a track as you will hear this year.

 

 

Brian Bromberg - A Little Driving Music

Since 1985, acclaimed bassist and producer Brian Bromberg has been confounding the music industry with an ever increasing catalogue of straight ahead and contemporary jazz offerings that are often driven by specific sounds and themes.  His 2002 ‘Wood’ was built around acoustic bass, ‘Metal’ had electric bass as its centrepiece and with ‘Jaco’ Bromberg celebrated the artistry of fretless bass pioneer Jaco Pastorius.

Over subsequent years he has been nothing other than prolific and this has extended right into the pandemic with ‘A Little Driving Music’ a thirteen track tour de force that in a very vibrant and funky way captures the spirit of the open road.  He is helped in his endeavour by a gathering of all-star socially distanced musicians including Dave Koz, Marion Meadows, Elan Trotman, Everette Harp, Gary Meek and Nick Colionne.

 

In fact it is Koz who partners with Bromberg for a tasty reimagining of the Katrina And The Waves 1985 hit ‘Walking On Sunshine’ while elsewhere it will take very little effort for the feisty title cut to transport the listener to Highway 1 where driving with the top down is a given.

Steve Cole - Wayman

Out June 18, ‘Smoke and Mirrors’ is the latest album from the always-excellent Steve Cole whose full on sax sound has captivated smooth jazz fans everywhere since 1998 and his debut release, the Brian Culbertson produced, ‘Stay Awhile’.

 Free of trickery or sleight of hand ‘Smoke and Mirrors’ is Cole’s way of offering up a glimpse of his true musical self.  It has already garnered two radio singles, the magnificent ‘Living Out Loud’ and ‘Wayman’ with which Cole tips a hat to former NBA player turned smooth jazz icon Wayman Tisdale who succumbed to cancer on May 15, 2009.

 

Lindsey Webster - Only You

‘Only You’ by songstress Lindsey Webster is taken from her 2020 album ‘A Woman Like Me’ and is the sort of smooth sophisticated number that, as well as marking her out as a star of the future, is rapidly making Lindsey a ‘go to’ vocalist for a whole range of contemporary jazz a-listers.

Check it out.

 

 

Matt Willard - Por la Orrilla del Mar

A long way from his Virginia home, sax-man Matt Willard entered a Nashville recording studio with some of the city’s finest contemporary jazz musicians to record his debut single.  The result is his own composition, the uplifting ‘Por la Orrilla del Mar’, that is the first of a series of tracks and videos designed to pave the way to his debut album later this year.

Nice track.

 

 

Skinny Hightower - Now Or Never

‘Blue Moon’ is the fourth album release from Trippin n Rhythm recording artist and multi instrumentalist Skinny Hightower.  It follows his 2016 debut recording ‘Cloud Nine’, ‘Emotions’ that arrived a year later and ‘Retrospect’ from which came the single ‘One Way Street’.

‘Blue Moon’ is a modern day rarity in that it is a ‘two CD’ double album and was heralded in early in 2020 with the intensely rhythmic ‘Bittersweet’.  By the middle of that year the moody and sultrily hypnotic title cut had also found its way to radio while the latest single from this twenty four track extravaganza is the easy grooving piano driven ‘Now Or Never’ that, in every respect, is a top notch slice of contemporary jazz.

 

 

Julian Vaughn - Sway

Back in 2012 smooth jazz bass player Julian Vaughn burst on to the scene with his appropriately titled ‘Breakthrough’.  Fending off obvious comparisons between his own playing style and that of the late Wayman Tisdale, Vaughn quickly emerged as very much his own man.  A string of crucially acclaimed albums followed including the 2015 ‘Limitless’, the 2017 ‘Bona Fide’, ‘Supreme’ in 2019 and his latest project ‘Chapters Of Love’.

Taken from it is the track ‘Sway’ that has recently been serviced to radio and features sax-man Donald Hayes.

Nice one.