The Best Smooth Jazz Ever

Throughout the 1970s, Chuck Mangione was a celebrity. His purposely lightweight music was melodic pop that was upbeat, optimistic, and sometimes uplifting…

Julia Fordham has rarely found a song that her voice didn't capture and own. Herein lies a best-of collection of 15 tracks, including some new versions of her classics, a remix of "I Thought It Was You," and two new tracks confirming this assertion. Although other fan favorites are missing, such as "The Comfort of Strangers" and "I Want to Call You Baby," this assemblage of quality music is very well put together. A near-classic collection from an artist in a class all her own.

Nina Simone was a singular artist, and she went where she pleased, leaving behind a recorded legacy that is passionate, political, defiant, and delicate by turns, no matter what strain of folk, blues, jazz, or gospel she was dipping into, and she did it all with dignity, grace, and intelligence…

Keiko Matsui is usually classified as a jazz musician, which tends to mean that she doesn't get very good reviews, since she is reviewed by jazz critics, while her music actually is best described as a hybrid consisting of equal parts pop, jazz, and new age. Matsui can be an impressive keyboard soloist at times, but her recordings consist of textured tracks that find her featured playing set within a soundscape characterized by synthesized drums and strings. Whisper From the Mirror, her 11th album, is typical of her work, consisting of a series of four- and five-minute instrumental pieces full of shimmering, sustained sounds that pillow Matsui's delicate single-note runs and stately chord patterns. Derek Nakamoto's arrangements are occasionally stirring, but never frantic, and usually they emphasize flow over rhythm, just as the keyboardist shows more interest in sustaining moods than demonstrating her chops…

17 track compilation CD featuring the best in soul & smooth jazz from the Warner group of labels. Nice comp.

A virtuoso on the alto, soprano, and tenor saxophones, as well as the unique EWI breath controller, Jaared is an internationally acclaimed recording artist. He is also an accomplished singer, who often brings the house down with his vocals.

Harvey Mason's 2014 effort, Chameleon, is an expansive and funky album that finds the journeyman jazz drummer exploring the space between the '70s post-bop/fusion albums that marked his early career and the contemporary smooth jazz work that has defined the latter half of his career. Having started out playing with the masterful pianist Erroll Garner, Mason eventually join Herbie Hancock's legendary Headhunters ensemble, with whom he recorded the original version of this album's title track. And while he went on to a successful career working with a bevy of artists including Lee Ritenour, George Benson, and others, it is primarily his work with Hancock that is Mason's focus here.