As we start to see daylight through the darkness of the pandemic, it’s the perfect time to pay musical homage to our paid and unpaid caregivers. Full of light funk and atmospheric grace, the silky, easy grooving piano and sax driven ballad, “Caregiver” is a beautiful and thoughtful collaboration between music industry legend, keyboardist/producer (and cancer survivor) Chris “Big Dog” Davis, and world-class musicians, and is inspired by executive producer/caregiver Keisha L. Jackson. Beyond the sultry soulful flow, track highlights include sparkling and colorful solo improvisations and hypnotic vocalizations.    

Catching wind of emerging vocalist Roberta Gentile after her appearance on a TV show in her native Italy, Incognito founder Bluey Maunick invited her to perform with his jazz/funk collective on tour in Japan. This quickly led to his producing her debut album BRING IT ON, a sparkling and soulful, rhythmically diverse slate of jazz/R&B ballads and light funk gems that showcase her gently intimate, Norah Jones like grace and darker, edgier, Amy Winehouse-influenced vocal instincts. While deliciously backed by supergroup Incognito and a lush, 20-piece orchestra, Roberta’s most impactful moments are in the sparser arrangements that allow her many shades of heartfelt emotion to shine through. 

A versatile bass player for an astonishing 45 years, Keith Mason’s life has been dedicated to and defined by his passion for two things that make his latest album I SURRENDER ALL an emotionally impactful and spiritually edifying delight – music and the Lord. With a Christian Smooth Jazz sound incorporating his love for jazz, R&B, funk and gospel, he showcases his poppin’ basslines in the service of a cool yet rhythmically punchy flow that reflects a rich anointing and some truly amazing grace. The collection was inspired by Mark 8:36 (“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”) and his titles are all expressions of his faith… the thoughtful, inviting and exuberant vibes have been Crafted to lift you up spiritually and engage you intellectually. 

Coinciding with the release of his high spirited, melodically sparkling and deeply grooving 5th album STEPPIN’, veteran keyboardist, composer and producer Ken Powe recently published a book exploring the possibilities of our visions and dreams being divine experiences. Smooth Jazz fans checking out the array of moods and grooves by this vibrationally in tune spiritual and musical explorer may truly feel they’ve entered an urban dreamscape full of colorful and trippy atmospheric textures, eclectic rhythms and dazzling, dramatic ivory runs – all of which draw from Powe’s mult-faceted background in jazz, gospel, R&B, pop and classical music.  

With a title like WE WEAR THE MASK, at first glance and listen, veteran world traveling saxophonist and Washington DC educator BJ Simmons seems to be making a statement about 2020. In truth, the eclectic artist is drawing from a 1896 poem by African American writer Paul Laurence Dunbar about hiding true feelings and emotions. Simmons and his fiery ensemble have no trouble letting their multitude of passions fly on this expansive, vibrantly percussive, mostly high-octane fusion of traditional jazz, soul/funk, Afro beat, Latin jazz and classical music featuring high impact originals and reworkings of iconic tunes. 

A former “Tonight Show” bandmember who served as Stanley Clarke’s musical director for ten years, keyboardist composer Knick Smith™ brings a multi-faceted Joe Samplesque piano and keyboard vibe to ROMANCE, his dazzling and soulful, stylistically freewheeling Smooth Jazz debut album that follows several traditional jazz projects. Showcasing his fanciful, grooving originals and jazzing up Prince, and Barry White classics, Smith offers up the perfect fusion of lush sensuality, wildly grooving jams, innovative keyboard musings and sparkling improvisations. Along the way, he vibes passionately with several prominent guest artists, including vocalists Jeff Robinson and Lynne Fiddmont and famed percussionist Munyungo Jackson.