REVIEW

Me”, showing also her vocal skills. Things got even funkier with “Funktuation”, which required some participation from the audience providing the vocal part and offered several band members some solo space. Her great flute playing and funky vibe went down very well with the crowd, she was asked for one encore and left a satisfied crowd.

Due to health reasons, the scheduled Richard Elliot and his band had to cancel their European tour, filling in was his friend and festival favourite guitarist Peter White, who was an appropriate replacement. He also appeared with “band b”, plus sax player Jeff, who repeatedly joined him not only for the sax parts, but also provided some smoking solos, ironically reminding me a lot of Richard Elliot. Despite the fact that his shows have become a little predictable, he played with finesse and seemed to have a ball, we got the usual selection of songs like “Groovin’”, “Who’s That Lady”, “Papa Was A Rolling Stone”, “Bueno Funk”, “Bright”, “San Diego” and more, the moving “My Prayer” played solo was a nice breath of fresh air. He gave his fellow players ample room to play, Matthias joined in to deliver some great trumpet playing during “Papa Was A Rolling Stone”, providing another highlight. His show was very entertaining, he is a consummate artist that delivers smooth jazz on the highest level, possibly the best the genre has to offer.

Sunday morning keyboardist Greg Manning and rising sax player Jeff Ryan did their show, thanks to the nice weather, it was held outside. Their band consisted of “band b”. Greg had collaborated with Jeff in the past, so playing with each other was a natural thing for them, both were in a fine playing mood alternating between material from their own catalogs and complementing each other just fine. They opened with “Groove Me” and “Sweet Spot”, bringing things nicely up to speed. Highlights of the show were Greg’s “The Calling” which had a great west coast vibe, while Jeff killed it with the intense “Embrace” boasting his gutsy tenor sound with lots of soul and feeling, it was pure bliss. Both players were a breath of fresh air to the genre and discoveries of the festival, I am sure we will hear a lot more from them in the future. They were asked for an encore and did their cover of Pharrell Williams’ “Happy”, having a happy crowd of people dancing in front of the stage.

Next was Steve Oliver, a musician that helped to shape the smooth jazz genre, giving us his blend of smooth jazz, world, latin, new age and even rock. Accompanied by “band a”, he impressed us with his great acoustic guitar playing and vocal artistry, doing songs like “We Are”, “Global Kiss”, “High Noon”, “Illuminate” which started out acoustically, before the band kicked in, “World Citizen” and more. He was raising the bar with “Chips & Salsa”, having people dance in front of the stage. Other highlights were when keyboardist Lutz played the accordion, showing an unexpected side of his talents. To expand his musical palette, he incorporated synth sounds to his guitar, mimicking a whole orchestra at one point. Later, he wandered into the audience, doing a Spanish solo piece on the acoustic guitar. Towards the end of the show, he even incorporated some rock into his music, having many people on their feet. His show was varied and entertaining.

Sunday night, the grande finale took place at the Església Nova, Son Servera, an unfinished church that only had most of its walls, but no roof, a great venue with a special vibe. People were transferred by bus from the hotel. The stage was set for Pieces Of A Dream ft. James Lloyd (keys) and Curtis Harmon (drums), they were supported by Martin (guitar), Marius (bass) and Oli (keys). They kicked off their show with the energetic “Wakeup Call”, “Right Back Atcha” and “Night Vision”, before the delved into their classics like “FoFi-Fo” and “Mt. Airy Groove”. They gave us a premiere of the title track of their soon to be released album “On Another Note”, before they slowed it down with “For You” which was dedicated to the people running this festival. The whole band was in a fine playing mood, and James was killing it on the keys. At the end of the concert, he strapped on his keytar to play “Come Together” walking around in the audience, bringing a great show and the festival as a whole to a close.