Jazz Articles
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Paul Hardcastle: X (The Eclipse)
by La-Faithia White
British composer, writer, and multi instrumentalist Paul Hardcastle is smoother than ever after four decades with his tenth studio album Hardcastle X (The Eclipse). Known for his successes with the 1984 instrumental dance track “Rainforest" and his work with the “Jazzmasters" series. Hardcastle X features collaborations with both his daughter, international DJ/singer/producer Maxine Hardcastle, and son Paul Hardcastle Jr., who has built a reputation as a world class and much sought after saxophonist, percussionist and DJ. “Wavelength" is ...
read moreThe Jazzmasters: The Jazzmasters VII
by Jeff Winbush
Jazz: noun, often attributive \'jaz\ a type of American music with lively rhythms and melodies that are often made up by musicians as they play Jazz. Say the word. J-A-Z-Z. Paul Hardcastle calls his side project “The Jazzmasters." If he means he plays instrumentals, it is. If he means truly understanding the idiom, it's not. The not-so Secret Sauce of Hardcastle's success is his music is designed, calculated, formulated and manufactured so as not to deviate ...
read moreCindy Bradley: Bliss
by Jeff Winbush
Everything you need to know about Cindy Bradley's new album Bliss is right there on the CD jacket photo. Her blonde hair is coiffed, she strikes a stern, yet accommodating stance with no smile, but a hint of cleavage, her right thumb hooked around a belt loop and her left grasping her trumpet. Looks matter in music and Bradley's good looks are part of the packaging of her for smooth jazz stardom, but what about the music?
read moreLin Rountree: Serendipitous
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by Jeff Winbush
When a musician goes into the studio the opportunity always exists for something special to come out. They can really go for it and go in a bold, fresh, new direction and see if something innovative and exciting is the result.Or they can just make the doughnuts. Serendipitous is the sound of Detroit-based trumpeter Lin Rountree making doughnuts.The problem is Nate Harasim's pedestrian production and arrangements which are stock and unimaginative. Rountree is a competent trumpeter, ...
read morePaul Hardcastle: VII
by Jeff Winbush
Paul Hardcastle's greatest strength? Consistency. Paul Hardcastle's greatest weakness? Also consistency. Before you applaud or boo Hardcastle you must admit this: the man knows what he does best and he is not about to stop doing it based on what critics say when his global audience tells him that's exactly the way they like it.There is essentially no difference between Hardcastle's solo and his Jazzmasters releases. The same musicians appear on both. The music is interchangeable as well. ...
read moreJulian Vaughn: Breakthough
by Jeff Winbush
Within the first 30 seconds of the stomping “On Your Feet," the lead-off track on Breakthrough, it's hard not to think, “Darned if this guy doesn't sound just like Wayman Tisdale." Hopefully Julian Vaughn will take the comparison as a compliment because his “lead bass" playing style is eerily reminiscent of Tisdale, who passed away in 2009.The publicity notes for Vaughn's third album say he “doesn't try to be any other bassist than who he is." That's nice ...
read moreMichael Lington: Pure
by Jeff Winbush
Here is a disclaimer: Michael Lington plays alto and tenor saxophone, and the saxophone is the dominant instrument of the smooth jazz genre, every bit as much the electric guitar is the dominant instrument of rock 'n' roll. This means Lington is trying to stand out in an extremely crowded field.So what is it about Lington that makes him distinctive and unique compared to Eric Marienthal, Euge Groove, Marion Meadows, Kim Waters, Jeff Kashiwa, Boney James, Dave Koz, ...
read moreCindy Bradley: Unscripted
by Jeff Winbush
Every now and then a musician gets bold and breaks the mold. Cindy Bradley's Unscripted is the sound of an artist just going for it. The nearly eight-minute “Prelude/Massive Transit/Interlude" suite that kicks off the album is like a rush of cool air to the face on a hot summer day. It's fast, furious and funky, with Bradley blowing the hell out of her trumpet as she dukes it out with producer Michael Broening's keyboards and Tim Veder's sax solos.
read moreJazzmasters: Jazzmasters VI
by Jeff Winbush
To understand why Paul Hardcastle's latest Jazzmasters album is such a tedious drag it's first necessary to understand that the multi-instrumentalist has taken an unfortunate interest in a subdivision of smooth jazz, called Chill.Chill relies on ambient sounds, airy vocals, quietly tinkling keyboards, and the occasional alto sax bubbling away in the mix. It's so smoothed-out and laidback that it's nearly comatose. Chill is less ambitious than smooth jazz but not quite as lightweight as New Age. Take ...
read moreBob Baldwin: Never Can Say Goodbye: A Tribute to Michael Jackson
by Jeff Winbush
The connection between Michael Jackson and jazz seems tentative to non-existent until it's factored in he reached his greatest heights as an artist when collaborating with producer/arranger extraordinaire Quincy Jones. The unlikely pairing of Jackson and Jones brought out a degree of professionalism, maturity and poise in the late King of Pop that did not fully emerge when he was the precocious young boy performing with his brothers in the Jackson Five. Had the Jackson Five worked with Jones, Jackson ...
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