In this edition of the occasional ‘Archives’ series we look back to 1994 and the release in the UK of the compilation album ‘JazzFusions One’ on the Beechwood Music label. At that time, and despite its meteoric rise in the USA, ‘smooth jazz’ had, in England, hardly been heard of yet this release, together with companion releases that followed, did much to promote the smooth jazz genre on the ‘other side’ of the Atlantic.
Quite simply ‘JazzFusions One’ was and is an outstanding compilation and, as the first of the set, a real ground breaker.
Interestingly enough the words ‘smooth jazz’ cannot be found on either the sleeve or the notes yet there is little doubt that over fourteen well chosen and, at times, brilliantly sequenced tracks this is the music that the collection represents.