Paul Hardcastle: Jazzmasters VI (2010)

BILLBOARD Magazine's 2008 Smooth Jazz Artist of the Year, prolific producer/multi-instrumentalist, Paul Hardcastle releases the much anticipated volume VI in his immensely popular Jazzmasters series, a vehicle that helped him re-launch his career in the early '90s, made him a household name and has garnered him legions of rabid fans worldwide.

It's been 19 years since the release of Jazzmasters I a pet project that became a format game changer in its initial release and one that has defined a music style that has yet to be copied. VI mark the entity's ambitious return to the fold and continues to raise the bar with a grouping of highly charged melodic and memorable pieces that have become the Hardcastle/Jazzmasters signature over the last two decades.

Tracklist:
01. Touch and Go 04:33
02. One Chance 03:33
03. Cloud Watching 05:29
04. I Really Like 03:56
05. Solar Sky 04:17
06. I Can't Get By 04:19
07. In The Key of Time 04:50
08. One Chance (Full Version) 05:56
09. The Vision 04:09
10. Dimensions of Light 04:29
11. So Into You 03:48
12. Return Of The Rainman (Reprise) 04:16
Jazzmasters VI
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Paul Hardcastle: 5 (2008)

With the release in Japan of The Jazzmasters featuring vocalist Helen Rogers in 1991, English composer and synth master Paul Hardcastle introduced a fresh hybrid of jazz and dance music that became an international phenomenon over the next decade and a half. The first Jazzmasters disc received the NARM Bestselling Jazz Recording award and is one of the best-selling independent jazz records of all time; it stayed on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz chart for over a year. Alternating his annual output between five electronic-inflected Jazzmasters recordings and four previous albums released as Hardcastle, Hardcastle 2, etc., the multifaceted artist — whose worldwide sales top 11 million — has amassed a total of seven number one contemporary jazz hits. Hardcastle 5 is another cool, low-key, sensual urban pop-jazz delight, whose melodies, atmospheres, and easy grooves make it perfect background makeout music. There are a few touches of deeper exotica that create a nice balance and catch the ears between moods, most notably "Marimba," which finds Hardcastle approximating the sound of that instrument. Hardcastle 5 is notable for introducing to his legion of fans two new and important performers. Soulful, ethereal vocalist Beki lends her dreaminess to the four tracks she co-wrote with Hardcastle, including the thoughtful, slightly melancholy "Don't You Know" and the super-sexy "Closer," which fans of the similarly toned Robin Thicke could surely eat up. The last track proudly introduces 16-year-old saxophonist Paul Hardcastle, Jr. into the mix with the younger musician's first recorded composition, "Take 1," which sounds incredibly sophisticated for a track recorded as a demo in his bedroom! The younger Hardcastle keeps the flow sweet and seductive, offering promise for an eventual solo career as a smooth jazz artist. While Hardcastle 5 isn't breaking any real new ground for Paul Hardcastle, it's still a splendid addition to the catalog.

Paul Hardcastle - The Collection (2009)

Track List:
1. Circle, The
2. Dancing Lights
3. Northern Lights
4. You May Be Gone
5. Slomotion
6. Acoustic Dreams
7. Ventura Highway
8. Desire
9. Valley Of The Harps
10. Moments In Time
11. Moon Trekin
12 Return Of The Rainman
13. Loves Theme
14. Journey