Currents
April 2009 By Brian Soergel
Moving Forward
Reform
Bernie Williams joins Wayman Tisdale in a pretty small fraternity: former pro sports players who turn to smooth-jazz after hanging up the cleats/sneakers. The New York Yankees may not want him anymore (the former all-star has said he could still play), but...
April 2009 By Brian Soergel
Hot Buttered Jazz: Celebrating the Genius of Isaac Hayes
Although it’s packaged with a typically cheesy title and gratuitous cover image, Hot Buttered Jazz: Celebrating the Genius of Isaac Hayes is a mighty enjoyable CD from saxophonist Kim Waters, who is known for his production of the Streetwize series of smooth...
January/February 2009 By Brian Soergel
Jazz for Peanuts: A Retrospective of the Charlie Brown Television Themes
Peak Records
If you like good ol’ Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang, you will absolutely dig pianist David Benoit’s latest project. Benoit, as you may know, composed music for Peanuts TV specials for more than a decade and has produced several albums of...
January/February 2009 By Brian Soergel
Free Your Mind
Heads Up
Giving an instrumental tune a title can be a head-scratcher. Saxophonist Walter Beasley, whose vocals show remarkable maturity, doesn’t have that concern with “Love Calls,” a silky ballad with Lynne Fiddmont supplying background vocals. For the rest of the...
January/February 2009 By Brian Soergel
London Underground
Disleyworld
Pianist Terry Disley, an integral member of Acoustic Alchemy in the 1990s, is a U.K. expat who now gigs around the San Francisco Bay Area. London Underground, his followup to Across the Pond, is an acoustic workout that struts around with the percussive...
January/February 2009 By Brian Soergel
Listening Pleasure
JEA
Fortysomething saxophonist Eldredge Jackson breaks out on his solo debut with a big assist from basketball-pro-turned-smooth-jazz-star Wayman Tisdale. It was only natural that Tisdale would produce Listening Pleasure. He’s been Jackson’s friend since middle...
January/February 2009 By Brian Soergel
Lay It Back
Branch
Poor Paul Jackson Jr. He may be the most famous face in the smooth jazz scene that no one’s heard before. He’s the guitarist who gets plenty of face time on American Idol, sometimes sharing the spotlight with soon-to-be-famous warblers. But that’s the way...
January/February 2009 By Brian Soergel
Music Speaks Louder Than Words
Gateway
Single of the year honors have to include a shout-out to guitarist Lars Fabiansen and keyboardist Peter Michael, the duo behind the smooth-and-lounge of Jamhunters. They find plenty of sweet jam on “The Pier,” a swaying bossa-nova confection with Fabiansen’s...
January/February 2009 By Brian Soergel
Promises Made
E1 Music
A cover album of some of the greatest songs from the ’60s and ’70s recorded by a few of today’s greatest jazz stars? And it all goes toward a good cause? It wouldn’t mean much, of course, if Promises Made were bland instrumental music with no bite. But there’s...
January/February 2009 By Brian Soergel
When Katie Smiles
Penton
Fresh-faced students at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music call him Mr. Pensyl. Kim Pensyl is, after all, an assistant professor of jazz studies. But many of us may recall Pensyl from earlier days, especially his three-CD Pensyl...
