Start me up

Review by Peter Böhi of smoothjazzvibes.com

Images by Christian Nordström and Bianca Berger

The 8th annual Mallorca Smooth Jazz Festival took place like usual at the hospitable Protur Biomar Gran Hotel & Spa in Sa Coma, Mallorca, May 13-19, 2019. The festival had been pushed a little closer to summer to allow for warmer temperatures. The skies were blue and the weather nice, fans were gathering from all over the world, and everybody was ready to meet friends, hear their favourite music and have a good time. The festival started on Monday with a pre-program with a dinner accompanied by Oli Silk (keys), followed by a show of the local band Saxophobia Funk Project and a welcome gala dinner on Tuesday, followed by show of singer Bart Brandjes and Rob Zinn (trumpet) on the smaller open air stage.

I arrived on Wednesday, when the major acts started to appear. Like every year, two alternating house bands supported the main players. Guitarist Chieli Minucci opened the festival, supported by Westley Joseph (drums), Orefo Orakwue (bass), Oli Silk (keys), local players José (percussion) and Miguel Ramon (sax), plus Rob Zinn (trumpet). They went right into it with “Kicking It Hard” and “Body Beat”, bringing things up to speed. The band was cooking and Chieli played his electric guitar beautifully, with a wide range of expression and technical prowess. Next were his radio hit “Cruise Control” and the classic “Ballerina” he wrote for his daughter 30 years ago. The highlight of the whole show for me was his rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “Cause We’ve Ended

As Lovers” reaching a tremendous climax. His show was well received, and he was visibly impressed by the whole festival and the great vibe in the room.

Next were DW3, the “three Mexicans from LA living their dream” according to their own statement, who brought us their mix of originals and well selected covers, providing a great party vibe. DW3 are brothers Eric (keys) and Billy Mondragon (percussion), plus Damon Reel (vocals), all share harmony and lead vocals, propelling the music forward. They were supported by Marcus Finnie (drums), Marius Goldhammer (bass), Lutz Deterra (keys), Martin Feske (guitar; hereinafter “band a”), plus a horn section consisting of Rob (trumpet) and Miguel (sax). Their music falls more into the R&B category, but they have strong ties to the smooth jazz scene with Ricky Lawson having produced their music, people like Gerald Albright and Dave Koz guesting on their albums, apart from sailing on smooth jazz cruises. They opened with “Let The Music Be Your Guide”, followed by songs like “I’ll Be By Your Side” and “Hold Me, Love Me”, showing their impeccable vocal skills and great harmonies. They did a beautiful version of “California Dreaming”, then shifting gears with EWF’s “Can’t Hide Love” and Stevie Wonder’s “Do I Do”, bringing people to their feet. They were asked for an encore and did an abridged version of JB’s “Sex Machine”, bringing a great concert evening to an end.

Thursday night after a nice “Cool By The Pool” party in the afternoon with lots of artists jamming on a small stage next to the pool, we got the next headliner, singer Chris Walker who honed his skills as bass player and background vocalist as a member of Al Jarreau’s band for 22 years. On one hand he is carrying his mentor’s legacy incorporating large parts of Al’s techniques into his singing, while remaining his own man at the same time. He was supported by Oli and Lutz (keys), Westley (drums), Orefo (bass), Dave Ital (guitar), plus Elle Cato and Bart (backing vocals). He kicked off his show with a great cover of the Gap Band’s “Outstanding”, having the crowd in the palm of his hand right from the start. The old school vibe continued with a tremendous rendition of “If Only For One Night”, dedicated to Doreen in the audience who celebrated her birthday, getting his full attention. Later he invited Bart to scat with him, both pushing their creativity to its limits. The Al Jarreau mode continued with an awesome rendition of “Take Five”, showing his vocal prowess. Another highlight was a medley of James Ingram songs, with pieces like “Just Once”, “One Hundred Ways” and others, showing his mature and soulful singing. His show was totally professional and entertaining on the highest level of musicianship, so he was asked for an encore doing George Benson’s “Give Me The Night”, ft. Dave on guitar, finishing a great show.

The late night show was done by Eric Darius with “band a”. The saxophonist entered the room from the rear, making his way to the stage, where they gave him a lot of room to move around to deliver his energetic playing. He went through a string of songs like “Goin’ All Out” and more of his uptempo material, with simple, yet effective melodies and not too much improvisation. Martin got several opportunities to contribute burning guitar solos, adding considerably to the music. A really nice segment was when he did “L.O.V.E.”, a slow and heartfelt track that allowed him to wander through the audience, paying birthday girl Doreen one more visit. With the current album “Breakin’ Thru”, Eric is trying to connect to younger audiences, fusing trap music with jazz and funk, so he did “Trazz” showing where he wants to go musically in the future. His show went past midnight and was well received.

Friday afternoon, I joined the “Cool At The Pool” jam session, after some music provided by DJ Richard Edwards and a Q&A session with Four80East, “band a” got ready to play supporting players like Eric Darius and Matthias Beckmann (trumpet) doing Grover’s “Winelight”, Bart singing “This Masquerade” beautiful, while James Lloyd (keys) and Curtis Harmon (drums) did a funked up version of the “Flintstone Theme”, which was a lot of fun. Despite the strong winds, people were grooving to the music and having a good time.

In the evening, saxophonist Marion Meadows did his show, he was with the festival from the start and wanted to come back again. He was accompanied by “band a”. He went through a string of his songs and thanks to the band who provided several hot solos, things were kicked up a notch. Among the songs played was “Suede” and “Humanity”, a cool touch was when he addressed a song to his wife building up a great solo that provided some nice improvisation. He did a stroll to the audience looping the same melody over and over again, getting closer to his fans. Nevertheless, his show was well received.

Next were the legendary Islandic band Mezzoforte which was founded in 1977 and still is going strong, the lineup consisted of founding members Eybor Gunnarsson (keys), Johann Asmundsson (bass), Gulli Briem (drums) and Fridrik Karlsson (guitar), plus Jonas Wall (sax) and Ari Bragi Karason (trumpet). The band was super tight going through their catalog of funky songs like “Midnight Sun”, “Action Man” and “Spring Fever”, with each member of the band contributing lots of solos, especially the horn section stood out with impeccable playing and great solos. Despite the fact, that they have been on the scene for such a long time, they were playing with a lot of joy and energy. They wrapped it up with their biggest hit “Garden Party” and came for an encore, giving us “Rollercoaster”, ending a great show.

Saturday morning, the double bill of Julian Vaughn and Four80East were scheduled outside in the open air theatre, but due to windy and chilly weather, it was moved inside. Bass player Julian Vaughn was supported by Dave (guitar), Westley (drums), Orefo (bass), Oli (keys; hereinafter “band b”) and Miguel (sax). He played his higher tuned bass as a lead instrument, going through some of his funky songs like “Your Mine” and “Initiate” which had everybody bopping their heads, which also was true for “Ju Ju’s Groove”, a reference to his nickname as a child. He also played a couple of tracks from his upcoming release “Black Dynamite”. Then he invited special guest Jeff Ryan onto the stage who tore it up, a great player to watch. Then he flipped the switch to party mode with songs like the Whispers’ “Rock Steady”, complete with audience participation, having everybody on their feet. He came back for two encores, among the songs played was the immortal “Ain’t No Stopping’ Us Now”, definitely giving the people what they wanted.

Next were Canadian duo Four80East ft. Rob DeBoer (keys) and Tony Grace (percussion), they were accompanied by Martin (guitar), Marcus (drums), Marius (bass) and Miguel (sax), working nicely together as a group. They started out slowly and built it up, ultimately falling into their trademark groove with excellent percussion and smooth keys, caressing the audience with their melodies and hooks, providing a very enjoyable musical experience. The band contributed great solos, most notably Martin and Miguel. Among the songs played were “Sandbar”, “Easy Come, Easy Go”, “Eegee Beegge” and “Cinco Cinco Seis” from their current “Four On The Floor EP”, among others. Their show was very well received.

Ragan Whiteside opened Saturday night, her band consisted of “band b”, plus Jeff (sax) and Rob (trumpet). She went through a few of her own songs, like “Early Arrival” and others, before she gave us her rendition of the Ohio Players’ classic “Sweet Sticky Thing”, delivered in style. She slowed it down with “In Love”, a beautiful track dedicated to her husband who was present in the audience. The groove picked up with Patrice Rushen’s “Remind