Bob Coate Turns Life’s Looking Glass Into an Optimistic Jazz Journey With “Reflections”

For Bob Coate, looking back isn’t about dwelling on what has been. It’s about appreciating the people, places, experiences, and unexpected turns that have shaped his life — and using those memories as inspiration for what comes next.

That philosophy is at the heart of “Reflections,” the invigorating new contemporary jazz single from the Leesburg, Virginia-based keyboardist. Written by Coate, the track captures his grateful, forward-looking outlook while pairing jubilant keyboard work with the passionate saxophone playing of Peter Herold.

Produced by Peet Ferencz and Sandy Shore, “Reflections” brings together musicians whose chemistry is rooted in years of creative collaboration. Ferencz contributes guitar, piano, and drum programming, while his musical partnership with Herold draws from their long-running work together in Peet Project, the Budapest-based pop-jazz-funk band. Their collective energy gives the track a vibrant groove that complements Coate’s melodic vision.

For Coate, the song is deeply personal, but its message is universal. Rather than treating reflection as an exercise in regret or nostalgia, he sees the past as a source of gratitude and confidence.

“The inspiration for ‘Reflections’ came from thinking about the many people, places, and experiences that shape our lives,” Coate said. “As I looked back on the journey that has brought me to this point—from my career and family to my unexpected later-in-life journey into contemporary jazz—I realized that memories don't have to be about sadness or longing. They can remind us how fortunate we've been, inspire gratitude for the moments we've shared, and give us confidence to embrace whatever comes next. I wanted to capture that feeling in music.”

That unexpected journey into jazz began after Coate retired from a career in information technology. Rather than slowing down, retirement opened the door to a creative second act, giving him the freedom to explore composition, recording, and performance with renewed enthusiasm.

Five years ago, Coate introduced himself to contemporary jazz listeners with “Super Smooth,” a single that spent five weeks on the Radiowave chart. He subsequently wrote, recorded, and released ten singles independently, developing a distinctive sound that blends contemporary jazz with chillout and funk.

His evolution as an artist eventually led to collaborations with accomplished professionals, beginning with GRAMMY®-nominated producer SONIX (David Bowie, Lauryn Hill) on “Sasha.” His latest partnership with Ferencz represents another step forward, with “Reflections” now receiving airplay and appearing on playlists around the world.

Coate approaches his music as a kind of musical mixologist, combining melody, atmosphere, and groove to create tracks designed not only to entertain but also to connect emotionally. His goal is simple yet meaningful: to lift moods and give listeners something they can carry with them.

“Reflections” embodies that mission. Its melodies occasionally carry a bittersweet quality, acknowledging the complexity of memory, but beneath them runs an unmistakable sense of optimism. It is music about honoring where we have been without allowing the past to define where we are going.

“‘Reflections’ blends reflective, sometimes bittersweet melodies with an optimistic undercurrent, inviting listeners to look back with gratitude while moving confidently toward the future,” Coate said.

In many ways, the single mirrors Coate’s own story. Retirement did not mark an ending; it became the beginning of a new creative chapter. His journey from information technology to contemporary jazz demonstrates that inspiration does not necessarily arrive on a conventional schedule — and that a second act can sometimes be the one that reveals a new sense of purpose.

With “Reflections,” Coate turns that lesson into sound: warm, melodic, rhythmic, and unmistakably hopeful. It’s an invitation to appreciate the road behind us while remaining curious about the road ahead.

Smooth Jazz Top 20® Countdown Reaches 1,000 Episodes, Celebrating Four Decades of Allen Kepler’s Influence

Few milestones in broadcasting carry the weight of 1,000 episodes. This Labor Day Weekend, the Smooth Jazz Top 20® Countdown with Allen Kepler reaches that remarkable mark, celebrating not only the longevity of a syndicated radio program but also more than four decades of influence on the sound, culture, and global reach of smooth jazz.

Launched in 2007, the Smooth Jazz Top 20® Countdown tracks airplay across Mediabase-reporting radio stations, streaming channels, and the Smooth Jazz Network®. Today, the weekly program is heard on more than 40 radio stations and streaming outlets, giving artists and listeners a continuing platform dedicated to one of contemporary music’s most enduring formats.

For Kepler, the 1,000th episode represents a milestone shared by an entire community of artists, programmers, broadcasters, and fans who have helped sustain the music.

“Smooth Jazz is more vibrant than ever…The 1,000th episode is a testament to the artists, programmers, and listeners who keep this music thriving,” Kepler said.

Kepler’s connection to the genre stretches back to its formative years. He was part of the team that coined the term “smooth jazz” in 1989 and subsequently created the Smooth Jazz Network® 35 years ago, helping introduce the phrase to a national audience and contributing to the format’s dramatic growth throughout the 1990s and 2000s.

Over the course of his career, Kepler has worked with more than 100 Smooth Jazz-branded radio stations and streaming channels, adapting the brand as the way audiences consume music has evolved. In 2012, the network was retooled around what Kepler describes as a Top 100 format, expanding its presence through LIVE365, iHeart, radio affiliates, independent streaming channels, and the network’s app.

That ability to evolve has been central to the Smooth Jazz Network’s continued relevance. While traditional radio remains an important part of its footprint, streaming and digital platforms have opened new avenues for the music to reach listeners around the world.

The Smooth Jazz Top 20® Countdown also extends beyond the weekly chart. Each year, its cycle culminates with the publication of Kepler’s BEATS magazine, an editorial showcase featuring the year-end chart, extensive artist interviews, and honors including Best Artist, Breakout Artist, and Local Radio Station of the Year. The 2026 edition will mark the seventh annual issue of the magazine.

The countdown is part of a larger syndicated programming lineup. Alongside Smooth Jazz Top 20®, the Smooth Jazz Network® offers Smooth Jazz® Weekend and Smooth Jazz® Classics, with all three programs available to radio stations and streaming outlets on a barter and cost-free basis.

Kepler’s creative reach has also expanded beyond broadcasting. Earlier this year, he introduced Smooth Jazz® Wines, a collection inspired by classic smooth jazz songs. The portfolio features five red and three white varietals, with names including “Rise,” “Maputo,” and “Breezin’.” A Smooth Jazz® Wines pairing cookbook is scheduled for publication later this month, adding another dimension to Kepler’s growing portfolio.

His work as a creator has continued in music as well. Kepler co-wrote “Keep It Smooth” with GRAMMY®-winning producer and songwriter Michael Mani. The song serves as the debut release from Colombian singer Lali P and features urban-jazz saxophone icon Najee. The single is set to begin collecting playlist adds September 14.

The breadth of Kepler’s career — spanning radio hosting, show creation, acting, writing, consulting, publishing, and winemaking — reflects an ability to turn a musical format into a broader cultural brand. Yet at the center of it all remains the music and the artists who continue to give smooth jazz its vitality.

More than 40 years after Kepler helped establish the language and infrastructure surrounding the genre, smooth jazz continues to find audiences through radio, streaming, live programming, publishing, and increasingly diverse forms of cultural expression.

The 1,000th episode of the Smooth Jazz Top 20® Countdown is therefore more than a numerical achievement. It is a celebration of endurance — and a reminder of how a musical movement that emerged decades ago can continue to evolve without losing its identity.

“We really helped to create something truly special so many years ago and it is wonderful to see the music and artists thriving today,” Kepler said.

As the Smooth Jazz Top 20® Countdown enters its next thousand episodes, that combination of history, adaptability, and optimism remains at the heart of Kepler’s vision for the genre.

Ray Russell Navigates Dangerous Bends With a Stellar U.K. Ensemble

Ray Russell has spent decades developing a guitar sound that is unmistakably his own. On Dangerous Bends, his latest album for Cuneiform Records, the British guitar hero continues to push that sound into adventurous territory, combining sophisticated composition, improvisation and the chemistry of a seasoned U.K. studio ensemble.

Russell’s playing can soar with the melodic intensity of David Gilmour, twist with the nuanced filigree of Jeff Beck and move with the angular fluidity associated with Allan Holdsworth. But these comparisons only hint at what makes Russell distinctive. As he puts it, “I believe in the sonic signature. Gil Evans used to say, ‘Everyone has a cry. Without it, only notes come out of the instrument.’”

That distinctive voice has been heard in some remarkable places. As a young guitarist, Russell played on vintage James Bond soundtracks while a member of the John Barry Seven, contributing to seven films featuring Sean Connery and Roger Moore. His career in film and television has continued throughout the decades, including an appearance on the soundtrack to Anchorman. His work has earned recognition from organizations including BAFTA, the Royal Television Society, ASCAP, OFTA and others.

His studio résumé is equally extraordinary. Russell has worked with Tina Turner, Heaven 17, George Harrison, Phil Collins, Cat Stevens, Robert Plant, Art Garfunkel and David Bowie, among many other major artists. Yet alongside this prolific career as a first-call studio musician, Russell has consistently pursued a more experimental path under his own name.

That adventurous side has earned the admiration of influential figures in experimental music, including Jim O’Rourke, who has championed Russell’s work and helped oversee archival releases. Dangerous Bends continues that evolution, putting Russell’s ever-changing Stratocaster sound at the center of a record that is both muscular and remarkably fluid.

The album is Russell’s fourth release as bandleader, composer and guitarist for Cuneiform, following Fluid Architecture (2020), Goodbye Svengali—his 2006 tribute to Gil Evans—and the label’s 2021 reissue of his 1972 album Secret Asylum. Cuneiform has also released Russell’s collaborative projects Stacked, a live improvisation with drummer Eddie Prévost and guitarist Nathan Moore, and Celestial Squid, his avant-improv collaboration with guitarist Henry Kaiser and a band. Russell also appears on Cuneiform’s archival Nucleus release Live in Bremen, recorded in 1972.

For Dangerous Bends, Russell wanted to capture the energy of a quintet playing largely live in the studio. He shared the melodic frontline with saxophonist Tim Whitehead, while bassist Laurence Cottle, keyboardist Jim Watson and drummer Ian Palmer formed a rhythm section capable of responding instinctively to his compositions. Russell describes their chemistry as “a telepathic thing—they know where you’re going when you start.”

That sense of communication gives the album its sleek, agile character. Russell composed with the live personality of the musicians in mind, often writing quickly in order to preserve the feeling of the ensemble. His approach was informed by his experiences with Gil Evans, particularly Evans’ ability to maintain the memory and shape of a composition even while allowing musicians considerable freedom during their solos.

That philosophy is evident on “From Here to Dexterity,” where Russell and Watson’s electric piano and ARP Odyssey interact with guest trumpeter and flugelhorn player Johnny Thirkell. The track constantly blurs the boundary between composition and improvisation, with the musicians moving naturally through its shifting musical landscape.

Melody takes center stage on “Airscapes,” a ballad built around Russell’s mournful, reverb-soaked guitar. The sound evokes the spare emotional quality of Steve Cropper, an influence Russell connected with through his early R&B work and memories of the classic Blues Brothers era.

Longtime collaborator Simon Phillips adds another dimension to the album. Best known for his work with artists including Toto, The Who and Joe Satriani, Phillips has maintained a creative partnership with Russell for decades. The pair co-wrote two tracks on Dangerous Bends.

They open the album together with “Just For Clicks,” a moody, shifting composition featuring Phillips on drums. His hard-driving groove provides a powerful foundation for Russell’s sinewy guitar lines, allowing the guitarist to stretch melodically while remaining firmly connected to the harmonic structure.

Phillips and Russell also co-wrote the title track, with George Baldwin on bass. Beginning as a hard-rocking, highly motivated workout, “Dangerous Bends” develops into something far more expansive, with large melodic intervals, angular chord changes and sweeping synthesizer textures. Russell responds with fiery guitar passages that demonstrate both his technical command and his extraordinary ability to use tone as an expressive tool.

Producer Greg Walsh, another longtime Russell collaborator from his work on Tina Turner’s “Let’s Stay Together,” completes the team behind the album.

With Dangerous Bends, Russell demonstrates that there is still plenty of unexplored territory in the career of a musician who has already done almost everything. His extensive studio history may have made him a veteran of the U.K. music scene, but the album sounds anything but retrospective. Instead, Russell remains focused on where the guitar can go next, surrounded by musicians who understand exactly how to help him get there.

As Jim O’Rourke observes, Russell plays “as if the guitar is not enough,” reaching beyond the conventional boundaries of the six-string instrument. On Dangerous Bends, that restless spirit remains very much alive.

Joshua Breakstone’s Wonderful! Returns After Nearly 40 Years Out of Print

Nearly four decades after it disappeared from circulation, Joshua Breakstone’s Wonderful! is getting a new life. First released in 1983, the acclaimed guitarist’s debut album as a leader will be reissued August 21, 2026, by Capri Records, marking the recording’s first appearance on CD.

Breakstone was just 27 when he made Wonderful!, but the album already revealed a guitarist with a remarkably mature voice. Joined by legendary pianist Barry Harris, bassist Earl Sauls and drummer Leroy Williams, Breakstone leads a swinging quartet through seven performances that capture the energy, sophistication and interplay of a young musician already finding his identity.

The album opens with George Gershwin’s “S’Wonderful,” setting an immediate tone with a spirited performance that showcases Breakstone’s fluid guitar work. The quartet then stretches out on Tadd Dameron’s “Soultrane,” before turning to Vincent Youmans’ “Time on My Hands.”

Breakstone also brings two original compositions to the album, “Sevens-Up” and “This Is It!,” offering an early glimpse of his developing skills as a composer. The set also includes Thelonious Tristano’s “Two Not One,” a natural choice given Breakstone’s work with saxophonist Warne Marsh around the time of the recording. Marsh had been deeply influenced by Tristano, and Breakstone’s interpretation reflects that connection.

Django Reinhardt is represented by “Django’s Castle,” giving the guitarist another opportunity to acknowledge one of the musicians who helped shape the jazz guitar tradition. Across the album, Breakstone demonstrates an impressive command of swing, melody and improvisation, while Harris, Sauls and Williams provide an exceptionally strong rhythmic and harmonic foundation.

Breakstone himself looks back on Wonderful! with the perspective of a musician who has spent more than four decades developing his craft. “When I hear the young guitar player that I was,” he says, “I can’t help but think, if I only knew then what I know now.”

For listeners discovering the album today, however, there is little reason for such self-criticism. Wonderful! documents an important moment in the career of a guitarist whose playing would eventually earn descriptions such as “fire in velvet” from the Santa Fe New Mexican and recognition from DownBeat as one of the best young jazz guitarists of his generation.

More than simply a debut, the album captures the beginning of a musical journey that would take Breakstone around the world and result in well over a dozen recordings. He would go on to record projects devoted to Thelonious Monk, Wes Montgomery and Bud Powell, as well as collaborations with musicians including Kenny Barron. Japan would become an especially important part of his career following his first tour there in 1986, with Breakstone eventually returning multiple times each year.

His path to Wonderful! began in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where he was born in 1955. Music was already central to his family life, with his parents introducing him to Broadway and the New York Philharmonic while his older sisters exposed him to jazz, rock and roll and other forms of popular music. He picked up the guitar at 14 and began playing with a high school group called Moon Unit.

Jazz soon became the focus. Hearing Lee Morgan and Charlie Parker sparked Breakstone’s fascination with the music, leading him to study at New College of the University of South Florida and Berklee College of Music. After moving to New York City, he performed, taught and worked with an impressive range of musicians, including Vinnie Burke, Warne Marsh, Emily Remler and Aaron Bell, before making his debut as a leader.

Looking back, Breakstone describes Wonderful! as more than an early album. “This recording documents the germ of musical ideas that were just beginning to flower in my approach to playing jazz,” he says.

That makes the album’s return particularly significant. Heard today, Wonderful! is both a snapshot of a young guitarist at the beginning of his career and an early statement from an artist whose musical ideas would continue to evolve for decades. With Barry Harris, Earl Sauls and Leroy Williams alongside him, Breakstone created a recording that remains vibrant, swinging and full of possibility.

After nearly 40 years out of print, Wonderful! finally gets the chance to be heard by a new generation—and the title still seems entirely appropriate.

Yuma Koda Explores “Imagined Nostalgia” on Debut Album Amid Kinos

Tokyo-based artist and award-winning composer Yuma Koda will release his debut full-length album, Amid Kinos, October 2 via Newhere Music, the Tokyo-based label known for releases by Jim O’Rourke and Eiko Ishibashi, including Ishibashi’s acclaimed soundtrack for Drive My Car.

Built around what Koda calls “imagined nostalgia,” Amid Kinos is a deeply personal exploration of memory, place and experience—and of the ways imagination can sometimes become inseparable from what was actually lived. Rather than simply looking backward, Koda uses sound to examine how memories change, fragment and acquire new meanings over time.

Koda describes the album as a “personal attempt to translate, socialize, and contemporize those feelings through sound,” and its first single, “kopfkino,” offers an evocative introduction to that idea. The title comes from the German compound word combining Kopf (head) and Kino (cinema), referring to the vivid experience of the imagination playing out scenarios, conversations or worries like a movie inside the mind.

“kopfkino” carries a distinctly sentimental quality, drawing on Koda’s reflections on his youth. The recording brings together some of the most notable musicians in Tokyo’s contemporary music scene, including guitarist and producer Takuro Okada, saxophonist Kei Matsumaru, bassist Marty Holoubek and drummer Shun Ishiwaka, all of whom contribute to the album.

Koda expands that circle of collaborators throughout Amid Kinos, bringing in Brooklyn-based guitarist and songwriter Mei Semones, composer and vocalist LUCA, who previously contributed vocals to Ryuichi Sakamoto’s async, Julia Shortreed of Black Boboi, Osaka-born and Munich-based drummer Shinya Fukumori, and Yuma Abe of never young beach.

Together, the musicians help create an atmosphere that is quietly cinematic, with ECM-influenced jazz and electroacoustic composition continually flowing into one another. Koda’s piano is not treated as the dominant instrument. Instead, each musician becomes part of a larger sonic environment, with the individual performances woven together alongside field recordings captured in Portugal, Tokyo, Denmark and New York.

Koda uses techniques associated with musique concrète and sound collage to manipulate those recordings and performances, meticulously layering and processing sounds until their original boundaries become difficult to identify. The result is music that seems to exist somewhere between recollection and invention, where time can bend and familiar experiences become increasingly ambiguous.

The concept has roots in Koda’s childhood. He spent much of his early life in an independent movie theater operated by his father, an experience that immersed him in an expansive world of cinema. Later, while studying classical music theory in Italy and Japan, he developed a fascination with jazz and electronic music, while also becoming deeply influenced by the musical philosophy of Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu.

Those experiences eventually led Koda toward an interdisciplinary career encompassing film, television, fashion and installation work. His credits include the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival-winning score for KONTORA, a Best Original Music nomination at the British Independent Film Awards for The Ceremony, compositions for fashion label HYKE, sound-art installations and television scores created in collaboration with Haruomi Hosono.

The music on Amid Kinos reflects that wide-ranging background without fitting neatly into a single genre. Instead, Koda approaches composition as a form of memory-making, combining acoustic musicianship, electronic processing, field recordings and carefully constructed spaces of silence and atmosphere.

“The nostalgia within me and the confusion surrounding it,” Koda says of the album. “My deep longing for images and language. While being influenced by the friends I've encountered over the past few years, I made this album by carefully considering how to reconcile these elements through my current methods.”

That tension between nostalgia and uncertainty is at the heart of Amid Kinos. Koda isn't attempting to recreate the past so much as understand the emotional traces it leaves behind. His debut becomes a kind of cinematic memory archive—one in which real places, imagined scenes, personal history and borrowed experiences can coexist.

Amid Kinos will be released October 2 via Newhere Music. The 12-track album includes “kopfkino,” “marthe” featuring Shuhei Kato and LUCA, “artemisia” featuring Julia Shortreed, “liquorice” featuring Takuro Okada, “images on loan” featuring Jan Urila Sas and Shun Ishiwaka, and the title track “amid kino[s]” featuring Kei Matsumaru and Shinya Fukumori. The closing track, “ende,” features Mei Semones and Yuma Abe.

Itzhak Perlman Returns to the American Songbook for His First New Album in More Than a Decade

 

Itzhak Perlman is returning to the music that has been part of his life for generations. The celebrated violinist today announces The Way We Were: My American Songbook, his first new album in more than a decade, arriving October 30 from Green Hill Music. Pre-orders begin today, coinciding with Perlman’s 81st birthday, along with the release of the album’s first single, “Summertime,” featuring GRAMMY® Award winner Jon Batiste.

Across more than seven decades of recording and performing, Perlman has become one of the world’s most admired musicians, known for the warmth, humanity and unmistakable voice of his violin. With The Way We Were: My American Songbook, he turns his attention to some of the melodies that have remained close to his heart, revisiting enduring works by George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Stephen Sondheim, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, Leonard Bernstein and others.

The album represents something new for Perlman. Rather than approaching the material simply as a collection of classical arrangements, he draws on the origins of these songs and treats the violin almost as a singer, allowing the melodies to breathe and speak through the instrument.

“This recording is different because it’s a songbook. It’s something I’ve never done before,” Perlman said. “The repertoire I chose is very romantic, lyrical and poetic. Because so much of this music began as songs, I approached it as a singer would. The violin is a singing instrument, and this album became a natural way to let those melodies speak through it.”

That approach is especially evident on “Summertime,” the George Gershwin classic that serves as the album’s first single. Perlman is joined by Jon Batiste, whose vocals bring a jazz sensibility to a performance that places the violin and voice in an intimate musical conversation.

“Jon Batiste is a lot of fun. He’s terrific,” Perlman said. “He’s a wonderful improviser, and playing with someone like that was exciting because every take was a little different. That’s the beauty of making music together; you follow the inspiration wherever it leads.”

Produced by three-time GRAMMY® Award-winning producer David Lai and co-produced and arranged by Or Matias and Natalie Tenenbaum, the album surrounds Perlman with a full orchestra, creating the warm and romantic sound he envisioned for these familiar songs. The guest appearances extend beyond Batiste, with Josh Groban also joining the collection, along with a newly created performance built around the legendary voice of Ella Fitzgerald.

For Perlman, the project is both a personal return and a fresh interpretation of music that has become part of the American cultural landscape. These are songs that have crossed generations and genres, and his violin provides another way of hearing melodies audiences have known for decades.

“For generations, Itzhak Perlman has shown us that great music speaks to the heart, regardless of genre,” said Blake Davis, General Manager of Green Hill. “With The Way We Were: My American Songbook, he brings new life to songs that have become part of our shared musical heritage, honoring them with extraordinary warmth, imagination and artistry.”

The Way We Were: My American Songbook will be released October 30 on Green Hill Music. The album is available for pre-order now, with “Summertime” featuring Jon Batiste available to stream.