Archive for the ‘ Chill Out ’ Category

Velvet Dreamer – Beyond The Horizon

beyondthe20horizonsIn the past I have already reviewed CDs by trumpeter Tim Gelo. He releases his ninth album under the pseudonym Velvet Dreamer.

Tim lives in Berlin where he studied jazz music at the Hanns Eisler music school. He participated in several shows at the Staatsoper Berlin and with the band Mariachi International El Dorado. He also plays in the duo Jazzá-vu together with Paul Wiebe, and he runs the solo project Digeltown.

His latest album makes you think back to the past (hot) summer. It contains elements of chill-out, lounge music, world music (bossa and Latin), jazz and electronic music.

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2022
10/16
CATEGORY
CD Reviews
Chill Out
Lounge
Patrick Van de Wiele
World Music
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Christophe Goze – Slow

slowEarlier I reviewed the album ‘Soul to Soul’ by French multi-instrumentalist Christophe Goze here, and now a new album has arrived.

This time it’s almost all sung songs by 2 guest vocalists, plus some instrumental tracks. Christophe himself thinks that everything in our world is going too fast, and I can’t prove him wrong.

That’s why he made this album with calm soul songs. He says: “On a day when our world is racing around us, and we feel perhaps too much in control of our own time, overwhelmed and stressed, we need to take an hour to slow down and recharge. ‘Slow’ may prove just the pace-changer you need.”

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2022
06/15
CATEGORY
CD Reviews
Chill Out
Lounge
Patrick Van de Wiele
Smooth Jazz
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Christophe Goze – Slow

slowGuitarist, writer and producer Christophe Goze can already look back on twelve solo albums and his thirst is far from quenched. Only recently I reviewed his album Soul To Soul, released this year, and already he surprises us with a new album.

The album is called Slow and this title is also the program. Stylistically the album can be classified in many areas, lounge, chill, smooth jazz & even pop. All fourteen pieces have one thing in common, they are slow and relaxing. Predominantly songs there are also instrumental interludes, more about that later.

The album opens with the areal Dreams & Promises featuring singer Cathy Battistessa. A dreamy song that makes you forget the worries of everyday life and takes you to the dreamscape of oblivion. The melancholic ballad She Said presents vocalist Odis Palmer. Actually a voice you’d expect to hear in R&B or hip hop, Odis believably brings emotion across.

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2022
05/20
CATEGORY
CD Reviews
Chill Out
Lounge
Pop
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Romano Zuffi & Stefano Cocco Cantini – Stress Da Brass

Hailing from Follonica, Italy Stefano Cocco Cantini is a saxophonist, who has collaborated with jazz musicians including Michel Petrucciani, Chet Baker, Dave Holland, Enrico Rava, Billy Cobham, Kenny Wheeler, Dave Liebman, Ares Tavolazzi, Stefano Bollani and Paolo Fresu. As a soloist he has released the albums Niccolina al mare (2001), The circus (2003), L’amico del vento (2005), Errante (2010) and Living Coltrane (2011).

Romano Zuffi is an Italian pianist and keyboardist. Together they already have released on AlfaMusic three albums, Attuttogass (2015), Attuttallaria (2017) and Stress da Brass (2018). The album appears as an elaborately designed booklet, with lyrics and many graphics. The album is dedicated to the great late painter Giampaolo Talani, creator of all the paintings that characterize the covers of the record series.

Contributors to the album include Stefano Cantini (sax, piano, electric piano), Alfredo Golino (drums), Ares Tavalozzi (contrabass), Giulio Stracciati (electric guitar), Francesco Marcucci (bass, electric guitar, acoustic guitar), Andrea Lagi (trumpet, flugelhorn), Giulia Bernardini (viola), Valentina Garofoli (violin, violincello), and Romano Zuffi (keyboards, piano, electric piano, synth). Vocalists on selected tracks are Alex Ligertwood, Giulia Fasolino, Jole Canelli, background singers are Alice Bertoncini, Valentina Toni, and Gianni Nepi.

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2020
12/14
CATEGORY
CD Reviews
Chill Out
Contemporary Jazz
Jazz
Lounge
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Four80East – Straight Round

Toronto based musicians Rob DeBoer and Tony Grace are Four80East. They started with The Album in 1997, followed by Nocturnal (2001), Round Three (2002), En Route (2007), Roll On (2009), Off Duty (2012), Biblotheca (2013), Four80East LIVE (2014), Positraction (2015), Cherry-Picked (2016), a Vinyl-collection, and Four On The Floor (2018).

Their new album Straight Round is announced for March 20,2020. The promotion speaks about neo-jazz, soul, funk and jazz as stylistic classification. Opener of the album is Around The Corner which in its introduction is reminiscent of the style of The Art Of Noise. But then the tight groove kicks in and that is the trademark of the Toronto duo. The guitar motif is influenced by Hall and Oates.

All The Marbles is Brubeck’s Take 5 on ecstasy. A sonorous synth bass combined with a jazzy guitar, that is hip, that is hop. The percussion seduces me to activate my HandSonic. The absolute bang is however the infectious Ba Ba Brazil, which will certainly climb the charts of all radio stations.

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2020
03/06
CATEGORY
Acid Jazz
CD Reviews
Chill Out
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Chillaxonic – 2nd Facet

Multi-instrumentalist Konstantin Klashtorni produces new music faster than I can review it. Chillaxonic is an artificial word made up of Chill Out and Sonic. This label stands for a combination of the music styles jazz, chill out and electronica. This is the second album of a long lasting series.

Violet Twilight spreads a magic fluid of excellence combining piano and synth sounds for your personal dreams. As overlay he caresses the listener with soothing sax.

Soulful Awakenings acts as a tender wake-up call polished up with a wonderful mix of wavering sounds and flute. Together We Fly brings the ethereal to sonic perfection. Sax, synth and piano are found in seamless triad.

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2020
03/02
CATEGORY
CD Reviews
Chill Out
Smooth Jazz
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Konstantin Klashtorni – 2nd Facet

Ukraine-born multi-instrumentalist Konstantin Klashtorni has released his album 1st Facet under the project name Chillaxonic. It is probably due to the effervescent creativity of this gifted artist that he publishes his works under more and more new names. On the other hand, this name also results from a combination of the music styles Jazz, Chill Out and Electronica, which can be found on the new album.

We are already used to it from Konstantin that he utilizes the advantages of his own studio and records the album quasi all by himself. However this album features Michael Simon (trumpet) and Alex Yarosh (guitar) as guest musicians on selected tracks. Konstantin has written, mixed and recorded all tracks.

As always he creates a continuation and in this case it’s called 2nd Facet. Get this album as download on Amazon.com.

2020
02/26
CATEGORY
Chill Out
Smooth Jazz
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Club des Belugas – Strange Things Beyond the Sunny Side

Club des Belugas is one of the leading lounge & nujazz projects in Germany, perhaps in Europe. They combine Contemporary European Lounge & Nujazz Styles with Brazilian Beats and American Black Soul of the fifties, sixties and seventies, using their unique creativity and intensity. Since 2002 they released 11 studio albums, a 2CD live album, a live DVD, 12 singles and 1 EP.

The new album Strange Things Beyond the Sunny Side presents vocals by Maya Fadeeva, Anna-Luca, Antoine Villoutreix, Ashley Slater and Iain Mackenzie.

Get the album on Amazon.com.

2020
01/11
CATEGORY
Chill Out
Latin Lounge
Lounge
Smooth Jazz
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Chillaxing Jazz Kollektion – Groove Jazz N Chill # 7

Multi-instrumentalist Konstantin Klashtorni, best known as the most active musician in the Smooth Jazz genre, hadn’t appeared in months. Not until September of this year did the relief news come, a new album is released. Considering his huge total works, the question arose, in which section will the album be released?

Chillaxing Jazz KolleKtion presents Groove Jazz N Chill #7. That’s called constancy.  Exclusively composed and recorded by Konstantin himself. He also manufactures and distributes his albums and thus demonstrates his economic independence as a creative artist.

Memories of Us opens the album with a soft breeze of melody and a nicely balance of keys and sax. The swelling and decaying wave-tone provides an atmospheric basis for the use of piano and saxophone. Changing Seasons emphasizes a harmonious sonic collage of different sounds, which is very close to the spherical sounds of New Age music.

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2019
11/26
CATEGORY
CD Reviews
Chill Out
Smooth Jazz
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Chillaxonic – Ist Facet

Ukraine-born multi-instrumentalist Konstantin Klashtorni has released his newest creation 1st Facet under the project name Chillaxonic. It is probably due to the effervescent creativity of this gifted artist that he publishes his works under more and more new names. On the other hand, this name also results from a combination of the music styles Jazz, Chill Out and Electronica, which can be found on the new album.

We are already used to it from Konstantin that he utilizes the advantages of his own studio and records the album quasi all by himself. However this album features Michael Simon (trumpet) and Alex Yarosh (guitar) as guest musicians on selected tracks. Konstantin has written, mixed and recorded all tracks.

The new project starts stylistically, where Konstantin’s previous albums left off. Ineffable elegantly mixes pleasurable sounds of guitar, synths and sax to the typical Klashtorni groove. Ethereal is the attribute for extremely light and delicate music, as if not of this world.

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2018
09/22
CATEGORY
CD Reviews
Chill Out
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