Serenade To The City on WCLK

If one didn't know better, this could be interpreted as the Atlanta-based Jazz musician's theme song. Anytime Joey Sommerville picks up his trumpet and begins to play you know the music will be hot and the listener will have fun. However, in this case it's his take on the Sylvester Stewart (Sly and the Family Stone) classic Hot Fun In The Summertime.  

What happens when a saxophonist from New Zealand connects with a singer/songwriter/ guitarist born in Kinross South Africa and they interpret soul singer Anthony Hamilton?  You get Best of Me. I’m tough on cover songs, but this one’s in the pocket. Andrea Lisa has put her magic on Ralph Johnson’s Co-Swagit and contributed to Kirk Whalum’s Humanite.

Bassist Byron Miller returns with Real Love, a beautiful song that’s just right for those summer nights or any night for that matter if you have the right companion. The song features Stevie Wonder on harmonica, an opening that sets the tone as Walter Beasley’s saxophone brings his signature sound to compliment Byron’s bass style.

Award-Winning Producer and Keyboardist Bob Baldwin is back with a new project so appropriately titled for these times--Back To Basics(Family First).  This song is not full of studio tricks, it’s simply a nice smooth grooving song designed to relax your mind. In this current Covid-19 pandemic, it reminds us of what’s really important and that’s “Family First”.

Larry Willis, who worked across genres since the 1960’s, passed in October 2019. But he left a great body of work in the full length release I Fall In Love Too Easily on Highnote. Ironically, his final recording takes place at Rudy Van Gelder’s recording studio where he began his career. The studio is named after the famous sound engineer credited with creating the legendary Blue Note sound.