Bringing a much-appreciated powerful infusion of raw, rootsy bona fide blues to smooth jazz, Paul Brown - one of the genre’s biggest hitmakers and influential artists and producers – has been on a creative and chart-topping tear lately. Four of his last five singles – including “Booglaoo,” the first from his 2018 album Uptown Blues- hit #1 on the Billboard charts, and his most recent single “Blues for Jeff,” went Top 5 on Billboard and topped the Mediabase and Smoothjazz.com

When Jason Harnell was six years old, his father, Grammy winning composer and arranger Joe Harnell, invited Louie Bellson to their house to hear the budding prodigy play. After playing a 15-minute solo, the legendary drummer handed the sticks to Jason and said, “Your turn.” When Jason finished, an impressed Bellson gave the boy his drum set – replacing the toy kits he had used up till that point. As a world-renowned jazz drummer, educator, composer and bandleader ensembling w

Usually the term “happy jazz” is used by folks who want to knock the mostly peppy and lighthearted smooth jazz vibe, but that phrase also perfectly fits the decidedly cheerful set list on veteran guitarist Mike Pachelli’s absolutely intoxicating, blues-rock-jazz influenced new album High Standards. This movin’, quick groovin’, deeply soulful jam took shape when Pachelli was on tour with fellow guitar great Phil Keaggy, drummer Jerry Marotta and legendary bassist Tony Levin. P

True to the name of their hypnotic, strange and mysterious yet utterly fascinating avant-garde trio Yimba Rudo – which translates to “Sing Love” in Zimbabwe’s Shona language –Kevin Norton (vibes/percussion), Steve LaSpina (bass) and Jim Pugliese (drums/percussion) all have mile long resumes creating a wide variety of mostly mainstream music on NYC’s classical and jazz scenes for years. Norton creates some beautifully thoughtful melodic moments on the vibes and LaSpina and Pug

Ah, sweet cacophony! The wild and wacky, breakneck sonic adventure Nothing but Time is the second offbeat offering by improvisational alto saxophonist Jeff Pearring and his NYC based collective Pearring Sound  – and sounds like a freewheeling musical expression of the bustling streets of Brooklyn where he’s based. The ensemble’s 2017 debut True Story featured Pearring jamming creating live concert audio with Ken Filano (double bass, effects), Carlo Costa (drums) and his late

Awarded Female Jazz Vocalist of the Year for 2018 by Los Angeles’ KKJZ, the country’s largest jazz station, interpreter extraordinaire Lyn Stanley’s heart and musical muse has been immersed in all things Julie London for the past year. As its unique title might indicate, on Favorite Takes London With a Twist Live at Bernie’s, she finds a fresh and innovative way to create “Part 2” of a tribute series that began earlier in 2019 with the release of the 17- song sultry and sass

Ideally, an artist’s debut album should offer some autobiographical details through song that tells us who they are, where they come from and why they’re sharing their souls with us. Rarely has an emerging jazz vocalist done this as effectively as Serbian born Jelena Jovovic, who exposes a multi-faceted musical soul with an artful blend of her passion for American jazz (including a spirited, otherworldly scatting ability) and thoughtful yet playful nods to the folk traditions

While carrying on the tradition of the 50’s West Coast Cool with verve and hipness over the past three-plus decades as a popular and prolific songwriter, recording artist and globally renowned performer, Mark Winkler has developed an enduring affinity for the great Bobby Troup. While perhaps best known for his spirited standard “Route 66,” the legendary singer, pianist, tunesmith and master lyricist – who passed away in 1999 - left behind a deep and wild treasure trove of qui

When it comes to a necessary shift of perspective, especially when it’s music that encourages the heavy shifting, sometimes timing is everything. Perhaps not so coincidentally, I started immersing in Compassion, the exquisite, soul enveloping and empowering fourth album by new age/classical crossover singer/songwriter Sangeeta Kaur, the day after its official release August 3. Everyone knows the details of what America and particularly the cities of El Paso and Dayton endured

The late Leonard Cohen once said, “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” Australian instrumental greats Rebecca Daniel and Fiona Joy Hawkins place this insightful nugget of wisdom on the back cover of The Lightness of Dark: An Album About Loss and Mourning to illuminate their collective creative and spiritual vision behind the project – their first official dual album after many years of dynamic live and in studio collaborations. Pushing the often-str

Combining the best in 70’s/80’s funk and sensual R&B with the era’s coolest and grooviest (literally and figuratively) blue-eyed soul, pop legends Michael McDonald and Chaka Khan – collective owners of an astounding 15 Grammys – conquered the Hollywood Bowl with a loose, fun-spirited and often scorching blend of Yacht Rock nostalgia and contemporary energy. There was a moment early on in Khan’s opening hour where she slyly said, “We’re gonna do the 70’s, the 80’s…and let’s le

In all the promotional materials swirling around the release of multi-instrumentalist and composer Holland Phillips’ eighth album A Presence of Three Minds, there is no mention of what the title means exactly, or the story behind it. Perhaps that’s just as well, because that lets our imagination stir and perhaps create our own visual narratives as we immerse our ears and souls into these 11 tracks and the artist’s wildly adventurous synthesis of acoustic, synth and symphonic