Coming off the back of a scintillating 2019 that saw him enjoy huge chart success with his 2 sensational albums “Future Love Parts 1 and 2” (that reached #20 on the Top25 Billboard Jazz Best Selling Album Chart and #8 in the Contemporary Jazz category) this is an exciting new direction for U-Nam to take but, with nine Top30 Billboard radio hits already to his name and an approach recognised as always innovative and often daring, his reputation for shaking the musical world to its core is already firmly in place.
“U-Nam Goes Big Band”, a sumptuous eleven track rendering of sophisticated mood jazz, is made even more enticing by the amazing back-story that first put it on U-Nam’s radar. A phone call to his Los Angeles studio from Estonian producer Mikk Targo is all it took. Targo, CEO and Founder of the Estonian Author Society EAU had, for the past several years, been working with a panel of music industry experts to select from what was generally regarded as the best one hundred songs Estonia has ever produced. As they did so a body of work emerged that was not only a glimpse into the nation’s musical heritage but also an outstanding showcase for the renowned Lutz Krajenski Big Band.
The resultant album was released in 2016 accompanied by a “behind the scenes” television documentary yet Targo knew that if the project was really going to be a global smash a different approach would be required. Having heard his music played extensively on radio Targo was already a huge fan of U-Nam’s work. When he explained his desire to transform what he already had into something altogether more jazzy, the prospect of creating Sinatra like, bossa nova tinged, big band driven music that crossed seamlessly over to instrumental jazz was, for U-Nam, just too good to miss. In addition it offered him an avenue to get back to why he had got into music in the first place.
To understand why this recording could not happen sooner, or what prevented songs of such potential from finding their way to the world’s best artists; one has to understand the political landscape of the time where the all-pervasive Soviet regime excluded any such possibilities.
All that changed in 1991 when the country was finally recognized by the USSR as an independent state. Artistic freedom was restored and as part of that the first tentative steps were taken to bring some of Estonia’s best songs to the notice of a worldwide listening public.
The musical magnificence of U-Nam is epitomized by the opening number, the luxurious “Something Right” where his interplay on guitar with the immaculate seventeen-piece big band lays down a marker that is replicated throughout. This is particularly so with “Beautiful, Beautiful” that finds U-Nam at his finest and again with the ultra smoky “Dance” that glides along on a delicious mid tempo beat.
The sultry “Each Day’s a Gift” is delivered first as an exciting instrumental then later with vocals from the inaugural winner of the X-Factor UK TV Show Steve Brookstein. It is one of two vocal tracks with the other being “The Dance Must Go On” where Susanna Aleksandra evokes the aura of a New York supper club circa 1946. In every respect it is a musical extravaganza and much the same can be said of the warmly inviting “When You Fall In Love” that begins with musical sparring between Lutz Krajenski on piano and U-Nam on guitar.
It ensures a romantic opening to an otherwise upbeat track while elsewhere the dramatic first bars of “The One” lays a path to a Latin groove that U-Nam generates with his trademark playing style.
When the rhythm eases and the mood becomes relaxed the consequence is the wonderful “Saaremaa” and although the whimsical “In the Blink of an Eye” really swings it is the easy grooving “The World to Me”, fuelled as it is by a picture perfect and understated brass section, that impeccably encapsulates what “U-Nam Goes Big Band” is all about.
Since moving to the USA from Paris, France in 2007, U-Nam’s stature has skyrocketed. Now, as the founder and owner of the niche label Skytown Records, he is reshaping the many complexions of jazz in a way that makes him stand out from the crowd. His sophomore album “Back from the 80’s” included the #1 hit “Street Life” which stayed in the top three on the US Billboard chart for three months and in the top ten chart for an entire year.
By 2014, when the critically acclaimed “C’est Le Funk” hit the streets, his standing as a purveyor of high-octane guitar driven smooth jazz was well and truly established. A real landmark moment in U-Nam’s illustrious career came when he undertook the ambitious venture of creating the first ever tribute to the great George Benson.
Featuring jazz and r&b legends such as George Duke, Marcus Miller, Ronnie Foster, Patrice Rushen, Wah Wah Watson, Phil Perry, Stokley Williams and Paul Jackson Jr to name but a few, the album was endorsed by Benson and included liner notes written by him. “Weekend in LA – A Tribute to George Benson” reached #1 on iTunes Japan for Jazz, #1 on Amazon US for Neo-Soul, #1 on Amazon US for Smooth Jazz and also received Grammy consideration with 10 entries over 6 categories in 2012.
All this seems a far cry from when the then 16 year old U-Nam attended the C.I.M, 1st European Jazz School in Paris, where for three years he got to hang out and play with a whole raft of future jazz superstars including Angelique Kidjo, Andre Manga and Armand and Felix Sabal-Lecco as well as established jazz legends such as André Ceccarelli, Pierre Cullaz and Tal Farlow. Yet it was these experiences and influences that, in part, have perfectly equipped him for the challenges of “U-Nam Goes Big Band”.
As Mikk Targo describes it, “U-Nam is not only a phenomenal guitarist with his roots deep into jazz, he is also the consummate professional and a great musical story teller too.
Start with Benson-esque guitar skills, add just a hint of Sinatra’s smile, a touch of Buble’s sophisticated swagger and a real big band playing real jazz with a real swing and what you have is magic, what you have is ”U-Nam Goes Big Band”.
The first radio single “Dance” and the album, “U-Nam Goes Big Band” will go for adds on 03/30/2020.
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