Gerald Albright: Pushing the Envelope (2010)

There are sax players and there is Gerald Albright. Gerald has this legendary signature sound, which contrasts him favorably from any other contemporary musician. He is Mr. Groove of R&B, contemporary and straight-ahead jazz. Since the ’80s Albright is a highly requested session musician and his busy tour schedule speaks for his unbroken popularity.

His recent albums are Groovology (2002) and Kickin’ It Up (2004) on GRP, followed by New Beginnings (2008) and Sax for Stax (2009) on Peak Records, both GRAMMY® nominated in the category of Best Pop Instrumental Album. His new album Pushing The Envelope is scheduled for release June 15, 2010 on Heads Up International.

Albright arranged and produced the album and performs soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones, flutes, bass guitar, and keyboards, and also handles synthesizer, EWI and drum programming. But he is not a one-man-band. Albright is joined by Tracy Carter and Luther “Mano” Hanes, guitarist Ricky Watford and drummer Ricky Lawson.

Gerald starts the album with the ultra-funky What Would James Do? Albright’s personal tribute to the godfather of soul James Brown features Fred Wesley, J.B.’s trombone player. This is triple A. Finest quality music.

Tracklist:

01. What Would James Do?

02. Get On The Floor

03. Bobo's Groove

04. Capetown Strut

05. Close To You

06. I Found The Klugh

07. Embrace The Spirit

08. The Road To Peace (A Prayer For Haiti)

09. Highway 70

10. From The Soul

Pushing the Envelope

Rapidshre / Hotfile @320K

Ricky Lawson: Ricky Lawson & Friends (2001)

Grammy Award winning writer and former member of Yellow Jackets, Ricky Lawson, hailed as Modern Drummer's Best R&B Drummer of the Year (1999), with the help of his 'friends' conjures up a unique and engaging blend of R&B, Pop and Jazz quaranteed to satisfy a wide range of musical appetites. The list of participants is impressive: Phil Collins, the Emotions, Vesta Williams, Robben Ford, Al Jarreau, Sheila E., George Duke, James Ingram, and Donald Fagen are among the people who join Lawson on this CD.

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Ricky (RS) / Ricky (HF) @ 320K

Jeff Kashiwa: Another Door Open (2000)

Whenever Jeff Kashiwa gets fed up with the day-to-day grind of being one of smooth jazz's most popular saxmen, all he has to do is recall the late '80s. He was working an unspectacular day job and playing too many weekend weddings when his friend, bassist Steve Bailey, helped get him an audition to replace saxophonist Brandon Fields in the Rippingtons. Kashiwa landed the gig. During the next ten years Kashiwa became one of the focal points of the Ripps' classic sound. In the mid '90s he took some rare downtime to produce two well-received solo efforts, Remember Catalina and Walkamile. Kashiwa quit the Ripps in early 1999 to focus fully on his own career. Consequently, his Native Language debut Another Door Opens is a true sink-or-swim proposition.

Kashiwa brings two crucial legacies from his tenure with the Ripps - the tutelage of Russ Freeman and the forging of an amazing creative partnership with Ripps' keyboardist Dave Kochanski, who co-produced Another Door Opens and wrote four of its songs, including the first single, a brassy, swaying, retro-funk-flavored number called "Hyde Park (The 'Ah, Oooh' Song)."

While he's becoming a better all-around sax player, the real litmus test of Kashiwa's solo future lies in his ability to compose strong melodies over today's popular urban-shuffle grooves. On "Power of Midnight," he floats a wistful soprano melody over the thick, throbbing bass of Melvin Davis and the clicking drums of Ricky Lawson. While most of his and Kochanski's writing here is pop-oriented and in-the-pocket, the simmering, ominous blues vamp of Kashiwa's "Dream Within a Dream" makes a perfect launch pad for his soaring tenor. More impressively, the gently percussive soprano melody of the title track - while nothing groundbreaking - rings with the kind of beauty Freeman brought to the Ripps' best ballads.

--- Jonathan Widran, JAZZIZ Magazine Copyright © 2000, Milor Entertainment, Inc.

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Another Door Open