Jonathan Scott Organ

Summer Horns is the first studio album from Dave Koz since 2010's Hello Tomorrow. That said, it's not solely billed to him. The "and Friends" on the bill refers to three other contemporary jazz saxophonists: Gerald Albright, Mindi Abair, and Richard Elliot. Produced by Paul Brown, this is a big up-front horn section record, full of jazz, funk, and R&B covers, alternately by Greg Adams, Tom Scott, Gordon Goodwin, and Albright. The four-sax line is augmented by brass in various places, too. While Brown's production sound stays within the genre of contemporary jazz – it's both clean and bright – the feel is all groove.

Julian Coryell began playing the guitar at the tender age of 5, & quickly exhibited a natural talent for the instrument (other instruments as well – piano, bass, & drums to name a few). Son of famed guitarist Larry Coryell, Julian’s musical gifts were nourished & he began writing music at a young age. The Coryell household was never lacking in musical visitors, & Julian was exposed to everyone from Miles Davis to James Taylor, each adding to the mix of influences from which Julian is inspired. Julian entered Berklee college of Music at 16 years old & was the youngest graduate a few years later when he was 18 years old. Since then, he has toured & recorded with numerous platinum artists & has released his own solo records on Universal, Sony, & GRP. Since his early years in Berklee College, Julian has been recording his own music as well as other artists.

Electric guitarist Joel Kipnis – or JK, as the smooth jazz world will know him – is an amazingly unselfish musician, not only including his keyboardist Dinky Bingham and featured vocalist Robyn Springer on the back cover of his Verve Forecast debut What's the Word, but deferring lead parts and solos to them as well as other bandmembers more often than not throughout the disc. Kipnis will establish a theme, then kick around in the background while Bingham sprouts a frenetic bluesy organ solo, Scott Kreitzer sparks some fancy improvisations on sax, and Jim Hynes eases in on trumpet, all in rapid succession. The tag eaming bears the most fruit on the funkiest cut "In the Pocket," where Bingham bubbles under JK's slick lines while Hynes waits for an open door to chime in a measure or two. While JK isn't always the one who stands out most on each cut, give him credit for aiming for solid ensemble vibes The few full-on instrumentals are a blast.