Browsing Tag

Jazz Blues

Martin Packwood wrapped his latest jazz fusion, Moonlight in Paris, in the warmth of the Parisian night

Posted on 15 March 2024

Martin Packwood’s latest single, Moonlight in Paris, is a scintillatingly smooth journey through the streets of jazz fusion, where every note feels like a step along the Seine under a starlit sky. This amorous installation unravels as a sensory expedition, wrapped in the warmth of a Parisian night.

Packwood’s guitar work, reminiscent of the bluesy soulfulness of Eric Clapton, intertwines effortlessly with the jazz keys. The bluesy guitar notes, like whispers of a distant love affair, meld with percussive fills that don’t just give the score structure, they fill Moonlight in Paris with anticipation.  Each progression in the track teases the listener not unlike the narrative arc of a classic romance.

The genius of Packwood lies in his ability to draw from a diverse palette of influences. His style, a confluence of Santana’s rhythmic mastery and the improvisational spirit of jazz, makes Moonlight in Paris a track that transcends mere auditory experience. It’s a piece that paints pictures, evoking the filmic aura of a David Lynch creation.

This release, following Packwood’s consistent contributions to the jazz-rock fusion domain, confirms his place as a sculptor of soundscapes rather than just a musician. Moonlight in Paris is a nocturnal stroll through the heart of jazz fusion, leaving listeners with a longing for just one more night in the city of lights.

Moonlight in Paris will officially release on March 15; stream the single on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

UK jazz singer, Chris Weeks, is sublime enough to seduce Sinatra with ‘I Only Have Eyes for You’

Posted on 16 June 2023
Chris Weeks

With crooning vocals sublime enough to seduce Sinatra, the latest feat of easy listening, I Only Have Eyes for You, from the jazz singer Chris Weeks, is a cinematically smooth affirmation of why he’s come to be renowned as one of the most talented figures in the UK jazz scene.

Soulful catharsis is scarcely as fervently profound as Weeks’ reimagining of the 1960s single by the Flamingos. While it would be blasphemous to insinuate the original is anything but arresting in its dreamy, almost ethereal resonance, Weeks effortlessly succeeded in instilling more ardour into the lyrics and vocals while the loungey jazz keys, sax lines and teasing percussive fills take a sonic backseat.

So far in his career, Chris Weeks has performed as the male vocalist for the Oxford University Jazz Orchestra, created a viral sensation with his collaborative single, 100 Years, which has amassed 13 million streams. Something tells us that the best is yet to come.

I Only Have Eyes for You will be officially released on June 16; check it out on Chris Weeks’ official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Just Like Honey: Maya’s Radio Orchestra Let the Light in with her jazz blues rendezvous, Suntrap

Posted on 3 May 2023

Maya’s Radio Orchestra brought sun-bleached luminosity by the smorgasbord with her latest baroquely beguiling single, Suntrap. Just as the sun illuminates dust when it hits a room, the radiance in Suntrap through the honeyed vocals and swirling harps suspend the dusty underground jazz bars while the piano arrangement underpins the warm arrangement; contributed to by producer Lauren Gilmour’s scintillating synth lines. With the dreamy and lofty drum fills bringing a lemon slice of Portishead-reminiscent glamour, Suntrap becomes a sonic plateau that you will want to visit time and time again.

Maya says: “When I wrote this song, it was the end of February, and the midst of a very long dark, damp, Glasgow winter, and I was feeling very down. We underestimate how difficult the winter in Scotland can be, all whilst having to continue with our day-to-day lives as if we’re not affected by nature and the lack of sunlight.

Writing this song was my way of processing this uncomfortable realisation that capitalism and the need for productivity are incompatible with our human nature and that it’s having a detrimental effect on our communal mental health.”

Maya is a Glasgow-based British-Nepali singer-songwriter, harpist, pianist and vocalist. She is highly revered for her texturally intricate harmonies, which cathartically coalesce with her classy instrumentation and lyricality that unravels as conceptually philosophical poetry.

The sun will hit the airwaves on May 3rd. Stream Suntrap on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jazz Blues songstress Senobia is demurely pure in her single, Time to Breathe

Posted on 7 April 2023

Jazz, RnB, and blues fusionist, Senobia has declared it Time to Breathe in her new four-track EP, which soaked the airwaves in organically absolving soul on March 31. The standout title single is a sublime reminder of how sweet music used to be when it came straight from the soul, away from the strain of chart success.

The smoky blues layers enmeshed with the swaying jazz breeze and the ardent RnB piano keys pull together to create a superlatively impassioned platform for Senobia’s celestial vocal lines that are enough to compel you to take time in our fast-paced era, which forces you to feel that we should keep on moving, especially when it comes to moving on.

Before Senobia turned her talents to jazz, she projected her voice in the realm of gospel, doo-wop and pop; evidently, she hasn’t left her roots far behind her. Her demurely pure vocals will leave evocative surges ricocheting between your synapses, even when she’s harmonising her non-lexical vocal lines that will subdue you to her mesmerising grace.

Stream the Time to Breathe EP on SoundCloud and YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Mike Blue gazed into the twilight of the soul in his jazzy feat of soulful folk, Saphire

Posted on 24 February 2023
Mike Blue

The soulful rhythmicality of the folk singer-songwriter, Mike Blue’s latest single, Saphire, will tattoo itself to your memory from the first euphonically melodic meeting. As a departure from his previous sound, along with his band, Blue melded elements of blues, jazz, prog and rock to construct a track visceral in authenticity and sticky sweet in emotionally balanced sentimentality.

The first single taken from his forthcoming album, The Unbearable Weight of All Things Considered, stands as a soul-stirring testament to his ability to envelop you in the stories he eloquently weaves atop his acoustic guitar strings. The sax solos, which soar as high in the mix as the electric guitar riffs, amplify the intimacy of the lyrical expression while never compromising the resonant impact.

If the singer-songwriter was born decades ago when folk raconteurs were celebrated in modern culture, there would be few names as revered as Mike Blue. After the release of Saphire, the luminary artist will take his full band on tour across the UK, which also featured on the accordantly-bodied release that has the capacity to captivate a stadium.

Saphire will officially release on February 24th. Hear it via Mike Blue’s website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Chris Spruit is star-roving in her spacey blues pop single, LifeSway

Posted on 2 February 2023

Bowie and David Lynch never came together when the sonic star man was of this earth; if they did, their combined artistic alchemy would have undoubtedly had the same disarming appeal as Chris Spruit’s latest single, LifeSway.

With the singer-songwriter sharing the same timelessly spiritual timbre as Stevie Nicks, there was no better pairing for the instrumentals, which pull together as a sonorously virtuosic amalgam of blues, jazz, pop, and soul.

When Chris Spruit isn’t orchestrating her solo singles, she’s pouring soul into the blues rock band Blue Attitude. If LifeSway has given you an insatiable need for more sonic beguile, you will be gratified to hear it is the first of eight tracks from her forthcoming album, Trip to Mars, due for release in February 2023.

LifeSway was officially released on January 29th. Hear it on Spotify. Check out Chris Spruit via her official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Shake, Rattle and Roll Away the Blues with Mark Nunis’ Riotously Euphoric Jazz Infusion, I Don’t Mind It

Posted on 20 January 2023
Alrighty Then! by Mark Nunis

Melbourne songwriter Mark Nunis eked soul out of the ivories in his jazzy instrumental amalgam of blues, gospel, and New Orleans RnB in the standout single, I Don’t Mind It, taken from his solo album Alrighty Then!

With glitzy glissandos by the smorgasbord, smoky horn stabs, the percussive shake rattles and rolls, all topped off by the shimmering organ timbre, few will be immune to the vibrantly cultured euphoria in I Don’t Mind It.

The accoladed and accomplished multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer has toured the world with his superlatively sophisticated pianist skills and smooth vocals, which sadly you won’t get to hear on his new 9-track album. But when the instrumentals are as riotously enlivening as the ones barely sonically caged on his LP, words can go unspoken at no detriment to the multi-sensory experience that unfolds under the duress of his unparalleled artistic reverence.

I Don’t Mind It is now available to stream and purchase on Bandcamp. If you want to treat your sonic tastebuds to the LP, it will be available to stream in full from January 20th.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Take a Ride Through ‘Cardinal Drive’ with Tony Marino’s Piano Jazz Score

Posted on 14 January 2023

South Philly Latin Jazz musician and composer Tony Marino has been leading world-renowned jazz ensembles and producing original scores since 1975. His accoladed career that has placed swathes of scintillatingly sublime LPs in his discography is now home to his latest album, Original Piano Pieces.

The standout single, Cardinal Drive, is a cinematically rich composition that sets a debonair tone throughout the enlivening score, which simultaneously emanates a sense of melodic ease as Marino works through his globally respected signature flair across the ivories.

With reverence for a myriad of genres from across the world, the instrumental piece refuses to fit in a monocultural mould as Marino seamlessly shifts through a flurry of time and key signatures. In a frantically paced world, Original Piano Pieces flows with a tempo that will efficaciously compose the soul.

Listen to Cardinal Drive via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Doully Yang leaves memories ablaze in his jazzy blues pop debut, Burnt Notes

Posted on 6 September 2022

Burnt Notes is the debut single from the Boston, Massachusetts singer-songwriter and guitarist Doully Yang, who never looked back from his obsession with the fretboard mastery of Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Eric Johnson, and Pat Martino. He used those ironically evocative licks to push himself into his songwriting career; the airwaves are infinitely more dulcet for it.

His signature style finds itself between the realms of blues, rock, and jazz; the colourful staccato chops lend themselves blissfully to melodicism as they act as the perfect accompaniment to his distinctively harmonic vocals, which ardently ring across the tranquil ease of the saturated delayed tones.

Burnt Notes is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Stefano Freddi Meets the Piano in His New Jazz Blues Album

Posted on 2 June 2022

One of Verona’s most timelessly untainted pianists and composers, Stefano Freddi, has bestowed a boatload of romanticism on the airwaves with his new four-track jazz-blues album, Stefano Freddi Meets the Piano.

Contrary to the title, Freddi and the piano have been long acquainted; he started learning at six before making a stage debut at 14 and never looking back. Before making his 2021 debut, Freddi graduated in jazz piano at the E. F. Dall’Abaco State Conservatory of Music in Verona. He also played keys for symphonic pop orchestras and artists including Marco Carta, Stevie Biondi, Denise Dimé, Antonella Ruggero, Annalisa Minetti, Cheryl Porter, Durga Mc Broom, and Lorelei Mc Broom.

The release starts with the dreamy timbered jazz piano in Misty, which instantly kicks you into easy-listening mode as you drink in the intricately arranged jazz piano romanticism. Track three, Lover Man, gravitates around a slightly more intense aural reflection of passion before the concluding single, Days of Wine and Roses, is enough to prove that there is no such thing as unrealistic romantic expectations.

Stefano Freddi Meets the Piano will officially release on June 2nd. You can check it out for yourselves on SoundCloud and Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast