Contemporary jazz vocalist and songwriter Carol Duboc "Colored Glasses" is co-produced by jazz legend Jeff Lorber and featuring Grammy nominated Lorber, Jimmy Haslip, Hubert Laws and Eric Marienthal. Signatures from the band included.

Tuck Andress is the instrumental half of the successful Windham Hill guitar and vocal duo Tuck And Patti. On his first solo album Andress's extraordinary technical skills and musical range are given center stage. For sheer virtuosity few guitarists can match his pyrotechnical wizardry. He has developed a unique style that allows him to play lead, rhythm and bass parts simultaneously, often at dizzying speeds, but never sacrificing warmth and sensitivity in the process.

It’s during the times when we’re confronted with life’s hardest struggles that we learn to appreciate the humanity around us. On his latest album, Gratitude, saxophonist Steve Cole offers thanks for the people who’ve helped see him through some of his tough times – the loved ones, the musicians and collaborators who rallied around, and the often-nameless professionals whose job is to help and to heal.

Warner Music Group - X5 Music Group present Smooth Jazz Essentials - 25 beautiful tracks (mostly instrumental but also with vocals) from Anita Baker, Grover Washington, Jr., Steve Cole and many others.

Four-time SESAC Award-winning and Grammy nominee Pianist/Arranger Bob Baldwin continues his flow of music, and follows up with his tributes to Michael Jackson and Songwriter extraordinaire Thom Bell with his MelloWonder/Songs In the Key of Stevie CD. MelloWonder… takes some of his favorite songs from the catalog of Stevie Wonder, and particularly a huge chunk between 1969-1974, when Baldwin believes this was the beginning of an era where Wonder turned the keyboard into a “one-man orchestra.” The project is a dream project, which took two years to complete.

Ramsey Lewis has long been content to record lightweight pop/R&B grooves. Occasionally on this set the acoustic pianist (whose backup crew includes guitarist Henry Johnson and keyboardist Michael Logan) sounds like he would like to break away a bit from the predictable but he keeps the impulse in check. There is little to distinguish this CD from his previous few.

Known for his mariachi-inspired easy listening sound, trumpeter Herb Alpert is one of the most successful instrumental performers in pop history. He is also one of the entertainment industry's canniest businessmen, having co-founded A&M Records – a label that ranks among the most prosperous artist-owned companies ever established – with partner Jerry Moss. Collection includes: The Lonely Bull (1962); South Of The Border (1964); Whipped Cream & Other Delights (1965); !!Going Places!! (1965); What Now My Love (1966); S.R.O (1966); The Beat Of The Brass (1968); Rise (1979); Fandango (1982); Bullish (1984); Keep Your Eye On Me (1987); Classics, Volume 1 (1987); Steppin' Out (Featuring Lani Hall) (2013); In The Mood (2014); Come Fly With Me (2015).

South African expatriate Jonathan Butler isn't really a jazz artist, but his laid-back, slightly jazz-tinged approach to R&B/pop has earned the singer/guitarist/songwriter/producer a lot of supporters in the urban contemporary, adult contemporary, quiet storm, and smooth jazz/NAC markets. Butler has enjoyed a following since the late '70s, although he reached his commercial peak in the late '80s, and he continues to tour and record in the 21st century. Born in Cape Town, South Africa in October 1961, Butler was only a child when he started singing and playing acoustic guitar. Butler, who was the youngest of about 12 children, absorbed a variety of music when he was a kid. He was an admirer of South African stars like singer Miriam Makeba, but he was also hip to the American soul and jazz artists who lived thousands of miles away in the United States. Stevie Wonder became a major influence, and so did former-hard bop-guitarist-turned-R&B/pop-singer George Benson.

Composer, arranger and performer who slip’s effortlessly among musical styles while retaining his own distinct sound. Kenny has appeared on BET, the Image Awards, and performed in such notable places as Carnegie Hall in New York City and the Philharmonie in Berlin. Among his many high profile performing credits are appearances with Earl Klugh, Kenny Garrett, Wess Anderson, Russell Gunn, Lizz Wright, Rene Marie, Kevin Mahogany, Albertina Walker, Dorothy Norwood, Aretha Franklin and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Kenny currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia, where he plays an integral part in church and continues to record and travel abroad performing with national recording artists.

A key fusion set from Sadao Watanabe a record that has him moving away from some of the bolder tones of the early 70s, into warmly soulful territory that would him him find a much bigger international audience! The album's still got a nice sharp edge, though as it's recorded in that key Japanese fusion stretch of the late 70s a time when the overseas scene was digging some of the best elements from American electric jazz, and putting them together with a style that was clean, lean, and still plenty soulful. Watanabe's reeds get some great help here from American players who include Dave Grusin on Fender Rhodes, Lee Ritenour on guitar, Oscar Brashear on trumpet, and Ernie Watts on tenor and rhythms feature tight drums from Harvey Mason, plus extra percussion from Paulinho Da Costa.

Combining Latin and African rhythms with the light textures of MOR jazz, Special EFX emerged as one of the most prominent world fusion groups of their era. Formed in New York in 1982, Special EFX was essentially a duo comprised of guitarist Chieli Minucci and Hungarian-born drummer/percussionist George Jinda; debuting in 1985 with the album Modern Manners, they often recruited other musicians to help flesh out their state-of-the-art sound, among them Dave Grusin, Omar Hakim, and McCoy Tyner.

Bridges is the sublime collaboration of 2 of the most renowned instrumentalists in Jazz! Between them, saxophonist Eric Marienthal and guitarist Chuck Loeb have either written, produced, or performed on more than 50 Top 10 Smooth Jazz radio singles. Both have thrilled audiences around the world for more than 20 years as solo artists and featured artists in various groups: Marienthal with the likes of Chick Corea, The Rippingtons, Keiko Matsui, and Jeff Lorber and Loeb as co-leader of Fourplay and Jazz Funk Soul. Bridges represents these Smooth Jazz icons at their best, but it is more than just a Smooth Jazz album. As the title suggests, these Soundscapes bridge the gap between the commercial world of Smooth Jazz, the tranquility of New Age music, and the more artistic explorations that are at the heart of the true Jazz experience! Highlights of the 10 Marienthal/Loeb originals include "Crossings", the haunting ballad and first single, the soulful and bluesy "Duality", the romantic "Noir" and much more!

The Best of The Rippingtons is a compilation album by the American jazz group The Rippingtons, released in 1997 by the GRP label. The album is a retrospective of their previous GRP albums, and also includes two previously unreleased tracks. The album reached No. 10 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz chart.

South African expatriate Jonathan Butler isn't really a jazz artist, but his laid-back, slightly jazz-tinged approach to R&B/pop has earned the singer/guitarist/songwriter/producer a lot of supporters in the urban contemporary, adult contemporary, quiet storm, and smooth jazz/NAC markets. Butler has enjoyed a following since the late '70s, although he reached his commercial peak in the late '80s, and he continues to tour and record in the 21st century. Born in Cape Town, South Africa in October 1961, Butler was only a child when he started singing and playing acoustic guitar.

The first Original Album Series assembled for George Benson contains an odd assortment of the artist's releases. This follow-up volume is concentrated, if only by comparison. It contains In Flight (1977), Living Inside Your Love (1979), In Your Eyes (1983), 20/20 (1984), and Twice the Love (1988), all of which were released on Warner Bros…