Phil Traynor – Autumn Breeze
Phil Traynor has been a musician for about 35 years. He plays drums, bass, keyboards, and guitars. Phil’s early influences that pointed him toward the Jazz world include Chuck Mangione, Pat Metheny, Yellowjackets, Spyro Gyra, Tim Weisberg, and the Bob Mintzer Big Band. Phil is also heavily into Harry Connick Jr., and many independent artists. Being an indie himself, Phil is a staunch advocate of the independent music community. Most of you buy records, and don’t even realize how many thousands upon thousands of musicians, singers, and songwriters there are that have every bit of the talent, drive, and skill of the mainstream music community, but they just haven’t found the right break.
Autumn Breeze is the culmination of 25 years of songwriting, arranging, and playing experiences. It is a passionate collection of jazz with influences ranging from Jeff Lorber to Chuck Mangione to Bob James to Pat Metheny, and other greats in the jazz and folk world.
Phil has put together a distinguished group of outstanding musicians on this CD; including Emmy® winner and two-time Grammy® winner Chris Vadala (The Chuck Mangione Quartet); Emmy® nominee, and National Fingerstyle Champion Pete Huttlinger (John Denver, Le Ann Rimes, many others); Tampa Bay smooth jazz saxophone and vocal legend Stacey Knights; guitarists John Kelly, Douglas Lichterman, and Jimmy Dacey; keyboardist Dan O’Hara; and the incredible brass work of Bayside Horns.
Autumn Breeze is Phil’s third album and now on sale at CDBaby.
Main Gazane, an old jazz term meaning my “main man” or my “main thing” is a new contemporary jazz group made up of keyboardist Mark Minchello and multi instrumentalist Bob Magnuson.
The week of February 22, 2010 marked the debut of the Mahogany Digital imprint, the newest label in Kevin Mahogany’s “Mahogany Jazz” family. Vocalist Jeff Hall, Kevin Mahogany’s protégé, is the first release to radio with the two singles Cadillac Club and Detour Ahead.
Drummer Kevin Peter Jones can look back on an excellent education. During his time at Elk Grove High School he met world renowned jazz drummers Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich. Although trained as jet engine technician, flight engineer and pilot in the US Air Force his affinity for music never faded away.
According to Smooth Jazz Network Jonathan Butler has just recorded his album So Strong. The new album will be released on Rendezvous Records (Mack Avenue) on May 11, 2010. So Strong features 10 original songs written or co-written by Butler, and a cover of Johnny Nash’s I Can See Clearly Now.
Influenced by his African childhood and western upbringing, Mbandi’s music embraces gently flowing melodies as well as exotic rhythms that refresh like a tropical breeze.
What can be said about an album when you love the lead but find the rest uninteresting? That’s the rare dilemma faced when hearing Whitney James’ The Nature of Love, her debut on Stir Stick Music.
What makes Smooth Jazz so saxy? Female Sax players like Pamela Williams, Candy Dulfer, Mindi Abair, Ada Rovatti, Jessy J are quickly coming in my mind. Now we can add a new name. Lynn Riley just released her debut album Too Cool (2008).
What do you get when you combine elements of trance, steeped in a generous underlayment of rhythm with a heat-infused saxophone that is masterfully caressed by one very bad cat? You get a pass on a very trippy vibe that some might say is Out of the Box.
Those, who lead us to believe that smooth jazz is something for the older generation, fail to notice the large crowd of young musicians, which are keen to entertain the audience. Out of this overwhelming legion of new musicians I pick today Michael J Thomas. Once a member of the Jive Rockets, he joined the smooth jazz genre after moving to Destin, Florida in 1999.
Smooth Jazz Daily 