If you enjoy your Smooth Jazz with exciting touches of African exotica, Earnest Walker, Jr’s Ifatoba (meaning “the king has arrived” in an ancient West African language) is your gateway to multi-cultural adventure. The versatile saxophonist blends fast paced funk, deep, soulful slo-jams and intoxicating ethnic vibes with cool musical and spoken word interludes to paint a narrative celebrating glorious family bonds and the foundational culture and rhythms of his African heritage. The lighthearted joy he brings to the mix is the perfect way to convey his belief that the best of this universe is expressed through dance and music. ~ smoothjazz.com
The cover looks a lot like the front of the legendary Funhouse album by The Stooges – and that comparison is there for a reason – as this crazy instrumental trio serve up some really wild versions of their music! The instrumentation is spare – just heavy drums, trombone, and tuba – instruments used in a way that's surprisingly different than any sort of brass band modes – leaner, and even more on the rhythm – with some odd sort of fuzz in there somewhere that we can't place at all, but which definitely helps bring about a classic Stooges mode – as does some of the vocal phrasing through one of the horns – not singing, mind you, but this weird sort of replacement! Titles include "I Wanna Be Your Dog", "TV Eye", "No Fun", "Down On The Street", "Scene Of The Crime/Death Trip", "Not Right", and "We Will Fall". ~ dsutygroove.com
Launching his musical career with his family’s gospel ministry and serving as a Minister of Music for over 25 years, Solex has been blending gospel, classic R&B, neo-soul, jazz fusion, urban jazz and funk influences as a solo artist since 2010. The versatile keyboardist/composer celebrates all those glorious elements once again on Smooth Ride, a 16-track, hour long journey designed to lift the soul and speak to the dreams of his listeners. Creating a fresh sonic universe, Solex fills the ride with moments of meditation and deep grooving, bright and trippy sonic invention. It’s a world where a George Duke inspired mix of lush solo piano and trippy synth invention rolls freely with slick and infectious contemporary urban jazz textures. ~ smoothjazz.com
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