It‘s the good life!

Review by Peter Böhi of smoothjazzvibes.com

The 4th annual Algarve Smooth Jazz Festival took place from October 1-6, 2019 at a new hotel, the 5 star Pine Cliffs Resort, a huge resort with restaurants, pools, a private beach and various amenities. Due to the nice, warm weather, all concerts were scheduled outside in the park area. Music aficionados from all across Europe and the US gathered, it was a meeting of the like-minded, and over the years, we have become a big smooth jazz family.

The festival started on Tuesday evening with a welcome dinner and Jam Session, a pre-festival event that I skipped due to work reasons. On Wednesday, I arrived for the first official show in the late afternoon. After settling in at the hotel, bumping into some friends and getting food, it was time for music. The night was rather chilly, so we dressed appropriately. The first performer was saxophonist Jeff Kashiwa, backed by Westley Joseph (drums), Orefo Orakwue (bass), Arden Hart (keys) and Tony Remy (guitar; hereinafter ‘band a’). Jeff was in a relaxed playing mood and went through some great tracks like “Six Of One” and “7th Heaven”, relating to a ski slope in his native Washington state, both from his latest release “Fly Away”. In the middle of his show, he demonstrated the EWI, an electronic wind instrument with an 8 octave range, beautifully soloing on it. Then he picked up the alto flute to play “The Asian Persuasion”, referring to a nick name he got in high school. The band provided a smooth, groovy carpet of sound allowing

Jeff to deliver his awesome sax playing. Tony provided some cool solos. No show of Jeff is complete without his break through hit and smooth jazz staple “Hyde Park (The ‘Ah, Oooh’ Song)” with the necessary audience participation, which is always fun. He returned for one encore, doing “Three Day Weekend”. This was a great, relaxed and entertaining show by a consummate artist.

After the intermission, guitarist Adam Hawley entered the stage, supported by Andrew Small (drums), John McKenzie (bass), Steve Turner (keys) and Carl Stanley (sax). Adam is a great newcomer on the smooth jazz scene with two successful albums under his belt, having played with many established smooth jazz players like Brian Culbertson, Eric Darius and many others. He played several of his own hits, like the smashing “35th Street”, “Old School Jam” and “Cruisin’”, which showed his dazzling guitar skills and sense for the groove. He chose some interesting covers, like Stevie Wonder’s “Don’t You Worry Bout A Thing” (ft. Adam’s wife Kat) and Jaco Pastorius’ “Portrait Of Tracy”. Carl contributed some nice sax work throughout the concert. At the end, they raised the heat with a medley of funk classics, especially his rendition of “Funkin’ For Jamaica” was special, having the audience on their feet. He was asked for one encore, finishing a great first night of music. After this show, people gathered for the aftershow party with DJ Richard Edwards, spinning some old school dance music.

Thursday night continued with saxophonist Elan Trotman who brought his “Dear Marvin” project to the stage, a tribute to the late Marvin Gaye covering his music. His band consisted of Andrew Small (drums), John McKenzie (bass), Steve Turner (keys), Dave Ital (guitar; hereinafter ‘band b’), plus Carl Stanley (sax) and Gabriel Mark Hasselbach (trumpet). The show was introduced by DJ Richard Edwards with a few words about Marvin and a rundown through his signature tracks, before the band kicked in. The leader played beautifully, and with the addition of the two horns, a smooth, full sound was produced. They went through tracks like “Inner City Blues”, “Sexual Healing”, and others, while “Mercy Mercy Me” gave Elan a chance to feature his vocal talents. Everybody on stage got some solo space, especially his fellow horn players contributed strong solos. Towards the end of the show, he cranked it up doing “Got To Give It Up”, and was asked back for an encore, playing “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”, having people dance in front of the stage.

Next was keyboardist Brian Simpson, backed by band a (without Arden Hart, but with Carl Stanley). He played strictly original material from his vast catalog, having the crowd it the palm of his hand right from the start. He did songs like “Persuasion”, the appropriate “Sky Watcher” with the band playing underneath big trees and starry night sky, and my personal highlight, the heartfelt “Our Love” that gave