Videohive Colors Of Twirls

As if keyboardist/pianist/producer/composer Brian Culbertson hasn’t already done enough to cement himself in the hearts, minds, and souls of more fans than I even care to estimate, the music wiz goes a step further with his latest release, which is dedicated to his wife Michelle with whom he’s just celebrated two decades of marriage. The album, released on Valentine’s Day, appropriately is entitled Colors of Love and features some of the sweetest soul-stirring acoustic melodies you could ever imagine. Mind you, while his piano lines are acoustic, he still offers his usual heavy and powerful trademark funk (albeit in a slower or more mid-tempo cadence), turning to synth bass, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Hammond B3 organ, drum programming, and more. So, you get the best of both BC worlds here.

There may never be a setting as beautiful or a locale as ideal as a breathtaking ocean view complete with the sounds of beautiful Latin jazz floating over the ocean breeze. The fifth CD in the Colors of Latin Jazz series sets the scene for a collection of contemporary, smooth jazz peppered with Latin rhythms and percussion. This CD is a musical hybrid that's at once cool and smooth, yet hot and spicy! Up first is Jeff Linsky's beauty "Up Late," originally issued on Up Late by Concord Picante. His dynamic colors beckon the listener to "Come With Me," the second track sung and scatted by the inimitable Tania Maria on a cool samba just right for a hot day or night. Another smooth scorcher, "San Sabastian" by Ed Calle with special guest Arturo Sandoval is some of Sandoval's most melodic sax work bordered on all sides by the beauty of Spanish guitar, brass, and strings.

Colors of a Dream is the sixth HighNote Records album by trumpeter-composer Tom Harrell, featuring two basses played by Ugonna Okegwo and Esperanza Spalding, with the latter doubling on vocal, Jaleel Shaw on alto saxophone, Wayne Escoffery on tenor saxophone, and Johnathan Blake on drums. According to JazzTimes, this album deviates from Harrell's previous works. The use of piano is absent, and the three horns often play in block-chord formation. There are hints of Latin jazz, R&B and indie-rock. According to the review, "Colors of a Dream may deviate, but it never disappoints."