Jessy J – Tequila Moon
Jessy J….
A young lady on the horizon, of something special to the reed of a saxophone, clearly demonstrates her passion for ‘smooth’ jazz music in “Tequila Moon”. An album produced by jazz producer Paul Brown. This CD has a hot, exotic, latin feel to it & also provides us an in depth look into the talents of Ms. J!
Track Listing:
~ Tequila Moon
~ Spanish Nights
~ Sin Ti/Without You
~ Mas Que Nada
~ Fiesta Velada
~ Poetry Man
~ Turquoise Street
~ PB ‘n’ J
~ Besame Mucho
~ Running Away
~ Song For You
Opening track “Tequila Moon”, with its latin harmonies, goes right after the radio programming of ‘smooth jazz’ that is slowly but surely dying out on those radio formatted stations. Commercially imposing & definitely trademarked after Paul Brown, this track sounds too much like another Boney James groove. That should be OK since Jessy happens to be influenced the sounds of Mr. James, but hopefully as the disc spins, I will start to hear ‘Jessy’…
That same appeal comes back to memory in “Spanish Nights”. It’s sexy & sensual, but will it stick?; Well respected drummer Oscar Seaton joins in to provide the backbone to “Sin Ti/Without You”; A little flavor coming from another respected musician in the contemporary jazz game was arranged by Gregg Karukas. He displays the vocal skills of Ms. J in “Mas Que Nada” – where this one carries a much different overtone from any, easy to identify, smooth jazz composition (not meant to be said negatively). By the way, Jessy’s range was nice!
“Fiesta Velada” continues the latin music flow. Up until “Poetry Man” written by Phoebe Snow changed the vibe. A real nice blend. In fact, the rest of the project goes after an appreciation for Latin Jazz music & great smooth grooves…
The problem? The airplay. As stated above, ‘smooth jazz’ radio stations that would normally take this record & play it out, are disappearing across the U.S. There’s some tracks that might crossover to urban-smooth R&B formatted channels & be heard on various XM/Sirius Satellite functions. However the next question? Was this disc strong enough to separate & acknowledge her possible saxophone prowess without giving in to the presence of Paul Brown’s production & arrangements?
Its a great sounding CD. But, I would rather see her live. That, my friends, is a great way to distinguish the difference.
Terrill J. Hanna
The Urban Music Scene
More about Jessy J: www.JessyJ.com & www.myspace.com/JessyJSax
For more information, song samples & purchase, please visit Amazon today!