Solar Wind is a high-energy contemporary jazz band out of Los Angeles. With a perfect blend of smooth jazz and fusion, Solar Wind's sound transcends today's contemporary jazz.
The debut CD, "Grand Tour Alignment" 1999, received national and intern [+]Solar Wind is a high-energy contemporary jazz band out of Los Angeles. With a perfect blend of smooth jazz and fusion, Solar Wind's sound transcends today's contemporary jazz.
The debut CD, "Grand Tour Alignment" 1999, received national and international airplay, and garnered rave reviews in several national publications including Jazziz, Jazz Times, Music Connection, Bassics, and Bass Frontiers. The CD was also nominated for jazz album of the year at the 2000 Los Angeles Music Awards.
For the band's second release, bassist, composer, producer and bandleader, Sean Mason has compiled a set of original tunes that epitomize what smooth jazz is all about.
"Blue Horizon," boasts several radio friendly tracks as well as some real hard-hitting fusion and features guest artists that include smooth jazz radio mainstays David Benoit and Eric Marienthal. Also performing on the album are keyboardist Marc Hugenberger, drummer Paul Kaiser, and guitarist Eric Robson
This second release by the band has made its way to the airwaves landing on over 130 radio station playlists throughout the U.S.
Mason's electric bass is the dominant force of this CD, using the instrument as both foundation and melody on several cuts. With a mix of thumping, plucking, picking and strumming, the bassist sets the pace for Solar Wind's contemporary instrumental collage. Mason credits the influences of Stanley Clarke, Jack Bruce, Jaco Pastorius, Al DiMeola, and John Patitucci for helping to develop his style.
While Mason's flair for colorful grooves and melodies allow a handful of the eleven tunes to fit comfortably in the smooth jazz pocket, Solar Wind's second release "Blue Horizon" also features more intense funk, blistering electric jazz fusion, a bit of mystical new age and on one track, an ode to dramatic film scoring.
There's a universal appeal to the Solar Wind sound, and the CD has a finger right on the pulse of modern instrumental music. "Shoreline Drive" and "Sedona Sunrise," both featuring Benoit and Marienthal, are two radio-friendly tracks, and "Shoreline Drive" was even picked up by Art Good's Jazz Trax syndicated radio show.
THE REVIEWS ARE IN! "I naturally love the opening track titled "Shoreline Drive"... tracks that will appeal to radio, very funky...
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