up I9n Smoke

The Blues Project is a band from the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City that was formed in 1965 and originally split up in 1967. Their songs drew from a wide array of musical styles. They are most remembered as one of the most artful practitioners of pop music, influenced as it was by folk, blues, rhythm & blues, jazz and the pop music of the day…

With an unusual amount of time on his hands during a year of lockdown, saxophonist/composer Steve Cole found himself pondering the difference between our authentic selves and the illusions we project to others. On his new album, Smoke and Mirrors, Cole offers up an intimately personal reflection of his own true self, free of trickery or sleight of hand.

Lee Ritenour - Smoke ‘N’ Mirrors (2006)
MP3 320 kbps | 44.1 Khz | No Covers | 65 min 30 sec | 155.2 mb
Genre: Jazz | Label: Peak Records | Year Of Release: August 22, 2006

As comfortable as guitarist Lee Ritenour has always been in the smooth jazz format, he has strived to go beyond it with his embrace of world music and serious jazz stylists including Wes Montgomery. Smoke 'N' Mirrors is a characteristic production in gathering up a sizable cast of contemporary cronies including Patrice Rushen, Dave Grusin, Richard Bona and Abraham Laboriel, but Ritenour's involvement in South African and Brazilian music and his emphasis on acoustic guitar give it a fresh identity. The wistful "Blue Days (Dias Azuis)," written and arranged by Daniel Jobim, son of Antonio Carlos, and featuring the singer Joyce, is one of the album's highlights. The young South African vocalist Zamajobe, featured on three songs, is a real discovery. You may wish Ritenour had stayed on ethnic turf and saved the more familiar, keyboard-sweetened fare for another album. Or you may enjoy the variety of Smoke 'N' Mirrors, which ranges percussively from Sheila E.'s congas to Satnam Ramgotra's Indian tablas. –Lloyd Sachs