Smooth Jazz Instrument

Forget about the title of this release, it is an excellent compilation of music from the early seventies right up to the present day. Unfortunately record companies ( and critics ! ) seem to have the need to put music into categories, possibly to attract the purchaser, but, as in the case of this disc, it could quite conceivably have the opposite outcome. I do not feel that this selection has any more connection with Summer than with any other time of the year. I also feel that the term " smooth " is derogatory in its concept to most of the tracks here.

There was a strong jazz vibe running through some of Philip Bailey's sides with Earth, Wind & Fire. On Soul on Jazz, his second release for Heads Up International, co-producer Bailey remakes several jazz standards, some with new lyrics by his son, Sir Bailey. The foray is most successful on Thelonious Monk's "Ruby My Dear," a percussive take on Gene McDaniels' "Compared to What," and Joe Zawinul's "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy." R&B and jazz stylishly intersect on the smooth airy ballad "Unrestrained." Bailey redoes the EWF classic "Keep Your Head to the Sky," giving it a mellow sheen that's close to one of his past cuts, "Children of the Ghetto." On that and his dusky cover of Herbie Hancock's "Tell Me a Bedtime Story" and the loopy "Bop-Skip-Doodle," Bailey flexes his legendary falsetto. More jazz-oriented than Dreams, Soul on Jazz benefits from the sharing of production chores with Myron McKinley, Bob Belden, and Scott Kinsey. The album is definitely on track.

It's an amusing little slice of the pop culture times that veteran bassist Sekou Bunch is better known to the American public as the first eliminated contestant from Survivor: Cook Islands (2006, the thirteenth season of the show) than for his incredible all-star resume featuring everyone from Quincy Jones and Luther Vandross to Michael Jackson, Ray Charles, the Winans, and Stevie Wonder. His experience on the show probably made him impervious to the odds of a new name (this was his first solo effort since the early '90s) breaking through the smooth jazz format when this was released. The success of Wayman Tisdale aside, another obstacle was the fact that he's an ace bassist, not the most radio-friendly instrument in the genre. All that said, The Next Level is a solid, coolly funky, and supermelodic date, on par with and even surpassing the catchy and grooving joy that Tisdale was famous for.

Hailing from Kansas City bass player Julian Vaughn already presents with Chapters of Love his sixth album on the precious label Trippin N’ Rhythm Records. The album came out just before Valentine's Day and how could it be otherwise, the whole album revolves around the theme of love.

At the age of 25, Jonathan Fritzén has already made a mark in the music scene, as the first pianist from Sweden to release a "smooth jazz" album. His debut CD Love Birds features eleven original songs, ranging from silky smooth ballads to funky urban beats. Although piano is his main instrument, Fritzén has also written, arranged, recorded, mixed and produced the album, and plays all the instruments himself, including piano, keyboards, guitar, bass, flute, percussion, drums and vocals.

A prolific electronic producer and keyboardist from London, Paul Hardcastle has enjoyed over three decades of popularity with his varied dance-, R&B-, and jazz-influenced albums. Although often associated with the smooth jazz genre, Hardcastle's synth-based style is more akin to instrumental dance music and electro-R&B with the occasional vocal and saxophone flourishes. Initially emerging with his breakthrough single "19" off 1985's Hardcastle, he gained wider success with the launch of his crossover Jazzmasters album in 1993, which hit number one on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz chart. Over the years, he has continued to diversify his offerings, issuing regular volumes across several series including Top 20-charting albums like 2002's Hardcastle 3, 2013's The Chill Lounge, Vol. 2, and 2014's Movin & Groovin.