Summer Night

Chronique

Sarah Jane Cion's Summer Night is a fine recording that echoes a "summer night" sentiment with its lighthearted smooth jazz compositions. Don't get the wrong idea, though -- this isn't smooth jazz; instead it's smooth jazz, relaxed piano reminiscent of Muzak, Mantovani, and particularly Andre Previn's beautiful music forays, but there's nothing kitschy about this recording -- this is the real deal. Just like much of the beautiful music before it, it was cheapened, thrown into the easy listening category, and compared, awfully, to Muzak, a mind- and productivity-enhancing music programmed around sleep cycles and the like. Sarah Jane Cion's band is tight, and for this recording she's using Phil Palombi on bass and Billy Hart on drums with a few guest spots by Michael Brecker on tenor sax. This is an excellent recording and one that manages to be entertaining, exciting, relaxing, and contemplative while at the same time not being derivative, phony, or overly glossy like much of the contemporary jazz out there. This is a highly rated recording. A fine work, indeed.
© Matt Borghi /TiVo