Hot Sauce Cookbook4

A cleverly-themed album marked by rootsy Bayou accents, the Jazz Crusaders' Louisiana Hot Sauce (Music for all Kitchens) can be a rollicking good time. Swirling concoctions like the dobro and slide guitar-spiced "Red Beans and Rice" are edgier than normal Crusaders' fare, tapping gleefully into the duo's roots. Trombonist Wayne Henderson in particular benefits from sweaty workouts on tracks like the zydeco-tinged "File Mystique," and wailing "Crawdaddy." Henderson's soulful trombone also serves as the album connector to concept-stretchers like "Sweet Praline (When You're So Far Away)," which is a pretty, typically Crusader-ish mid-tempo ballad (sung by Dionne Warwick), simply re-titled to fit the album's culinary New Orleans theme.

In four short years, contemporary/smooth jazz tenor saxophonist Jessica Arellano (Jessy J) has made quite a splash. Hot Sauce, her Heads Up International debut – and fourth album overall – was produced by Paul Brown, and includes guest appearances from heavyweights Joe Sample, drummer Harvey Mason, guitarist Ray Parker Jr., and vocalist Saunders Sermons. Arellano wrote or co-wrote eight of the album's ten compositions.