When in 2008 sax player Jessica Spinella, aka Jessy J, released her debut CD ‘Tequila Moon’ a range of factors combined to make it one of the most hyped events of the year. Produced by Paul Brown, who also provided a significant writing input, the album merged smooth jazz with Latin sensibilities in a way that had rarely been done before. A little more than a year later she was back with her sophomore effort ‘True Love’ which moved Jessy J closer yet to her Latin herita …

For fully thirty years Shakatak has remained at the forefront of British jazz-funk and for much of that time the band’s bass player has been George Anderson. Now, brand new for 2010, and with a few of his Shakatak friends around to lend a hand, Anderson has released his debut solo recording, the wonderful ‘Positivity’. When recently I talked to him from his home in Middlesex, England I first asked if he ever imagined that the Shakatak adventure would endure in the way that it …

‘Delicioso’ by pianist Tom Grant is his twenty fourth album release. In fact ever since 1976, and his recording debut with ‘Mystified’, he has been a standard bearer for the genre of music that evolved into smooth jazz. This latest project bears testament to the fact that, much like good wine, he is getting better with age and when recently I talked to him from his studio in the Pacific north west I was eager to discover what inspires him to remain totally connected …

It’s a long way from the renaissance splendour of Budapest to the urban intensity of Washington DC but this is the journey that writer, producer and keyboard player Attila Molnar has taken to realise his musical dream. When recently I talked with him from his Maryland recording studio the conversation ranged from living life on a new continent to his passion for making music. A shining example of what the American dream can deliver; Molnar arrived in the USA in 1997 with a whole …

Jazz Review first became acquainted with singer songwriter Lisa McClowry at the time she provided vocals for the track ‘Melting Into You’ by Nick Colionne on his excellent 2008 CD ‘No Limits’. A year later Lisa reunited with Colionne when she featured in the documentary film ‘When It Comes From The Heart The Journey Of A Song’ that described the journey of the making of a song from the seed of an idea, to the writing session, on to the recording process and then finally to …