Sax Pack Discography of CDs

Sax Pack CD discography The joyful trend towards all-star tours in smooth jazz began in the mid-'90s with Guitars & Saxes and became the standard on summer festival circuits well into the 2000s. One of the most exciting and popular of these has been the Sax Pack, a clever turn of phrase that brings to mind great showmanship and supreme cool -- qualities that popular and soulful genre saxmen Jeff Kashiwa, Kim Waters, and Steve Cole have in spades. All of them have enjoyed lengthy solo careers but were inspired when Kashiwa presented the idea of a trio tour around 2003 after seeing a PBS documentary on The Rat Pack. The concept was an instant success, and has resulted in lengthy annual tours ever since, but no doubt record company red tape held up the process of committing the energy of their three horns to commercially released tracks. Shanachie, Waters' longtime label, won the rights, and this "debut" album -- while not fully capturing the blistering energy and improvisations this trio projects on-stage -- is full of outrageous, melodic, mostly high-grooving fun. A little short at nine cuts, they seem to ...

Sax Pack albums Recording information: Entourage Studios, Studiou City, CA. Photographer: Bobby Quillard. Personnel: Allen Hinds (guitar, electric guitar, nylon-string guitar); Gerey Johnson (guitar, wah-wah guitar); Bernd Schoenhart (guitar); Kim Waters (alto saxophone, keyboards, programming); Jeff Kashiwa (tenor saxophone); David Andrew Mann (keyboards, programming); Brian Dunne (drums). Audio Mixer: Dave Darlington.

Sax Pack CD discography Sexual Healing: Smooth Urban Jazz Style! collects 12 smooth jazz tracks on the romantic side. Everette Harp's "In Time," Chuck Loeb's "Shine On," Special EFX's "No More Goodbyes," Pamela Williams' "Give Me What You Got," and Kim Waters' version of the Marvin Gaye classic "Sexual Healing" are among the highlights on this budget disc from the Shanachie label. ~ Al Campbell

Sax Pack albums Jeff Kashiwa has a fluent if generic style on soprano, alto, and tenor, which fits perfectly into the "feel good" smooth music that he performs on "Peace of Mind." The 11 selections clock in between 3:46 and 5:14 and were clearly recorded with hopes of getting maximum radio airplay. Kashiwa's rhythm section is effective if anonymous (despite the presence of Brian Bromberg on bass) with the focus being almost entirely on the leader's melodic playing. ...