Are you ready to get dazzled by taking a musical journey that takes you “Miles High”? Imagine a groove that’s been flipped and twisted with a taste of old school flavors that’s been splattered with a dose of cool jazz, R&b and smoov while joined at the hip with some seriously funky vibes along the way? If you haven’t had the pleasure yet, then its time to get acquainted with trumpeter/vocalist extraordinaire Skip Martin member and instrumentalist/lead vocalists of R&B group the Dazz Band (also Kool & the Gang). After 26 years of performing and recording successfully with various artists including Kool and the Gang (and his vocal debut, From The Heart), Martin felt it was about time to head back into the studio to showcase his talented voice from an instrumentalist perspective on his hot new release titled “Miles High”!   

The Players: Gregory Radford ~ keys and drum programming, Raymond Calhoun ~ drums, Reginald “Wizard” James ~ keys, synthesizer solo and drum programming, Ronnie Laws ~ soprano saxophone, Pierre Jovan Downing ~ keys and drum programming, Larry Brown ~ keys & piano solo, Daryl “Z” Fields ~ bass, John Ming ~ keys & piano solo, Clarence “Dr. Bob” Ross ~ drum programming, Stephan Markovic ~ saxophone, Gerald McCauley ~ keys and drum programming with Bronze Paragon ~ spoken word, Dr. Bob, Ron Holden, Robert Harris, Wizard background vocals and Skip Martin ~ trumpet, flumpet, keys, programming, backing vocals and chants. Produced by Skip Martin, Sound Success © 2005  

Martin comes out of the box with a track that will immediately command the listener’s attention. Due to Sennie “Skip” Martin’s expertise and tenure in the music buzz he knew exactly what to do. Therefore, he co-penned the slammin’ “Do Da” with Gregory Radford to set the groove in motion. Its definitely phat, funky and sassy!         

 “Smooth Sailing,” slides in at the second slot featuring Houston, TX native saxophonist Ronnie Laws. This piece is as the title implies and is oh, so smooth! Please don’t let the smoothness fool ya, the grooves are tight with slippery then wet vibes that should spark and captivate the attention of music lovers and radio programmers across the Planet. Martin’s solos on both the trumpet and flumpet are definitely in and out of the pocket … tight (I can only imagine the flumpet represents the muted trumpet?). This groove is sweet and on point! 

Martin calls Pierre Jovan Downing to the studio to co-pen “Apropos,” featuring Larry Brown on keyboards and piano solos. Martin is serious about keeping the flavor in tack; this joint is laden with thick and juicy sequenced grooves that are sonically pulsating.  

“Are you Ready,” comes in at the 4^th spot. It has that night moods vibe wrapped with quiet storm attributes that swells deliciously over the top. On this selection Skip confirms with passion his love for the echoing sounds of the muted trumpet from deep within the voice of his flumpet!  

 “I Give My Heart” is a testimony of his zeal for playing music, rather it be R&B, funk or smoov jazz. 

From a musical perspective Martin’s compositions are deeply rooted in the fabric of R&B while layered with lyrical expressions that are coded with attitude, such as the title track “Miles High”. It’s understandable why any trumpet player would be attracted to the idea of celebrating the sound and music of the late Miles Davis. Skip Martin’s passion and talent glows with infinite possibilities! 

Skip Martin, with his horn pressed firmly against his lips, sketches his signature into one of my favorite duets by the legendary Norman Connors titled “You Are My Starship”. Nuff said! 

“Are You Ready” is revisited once more on “Miles High,” this time in the (Spoken Word) format featuring the talented yet seductive fresh stylings of Ms. Bronze Paragon.  

Yep, anytime a musician pays homage to music from back in the day and weaves their personality into it, I’m cool with it. “Old School Rules” is one of those tunes, which does it for me. 

“Moon Splash” is sweet and sexy with its jazzy hooks and splashes of this and woven into the groove.  

Martin knows his stuff when it comes to maintaining a groove and he strikes again with “Monster Bites”. One thing that briefly apprehended my train of thought is the backing vocals; they appear to come from the school of the Mizell Brothers producers of jazz trumpet great Donald Byrd back in the seventies (Blackbyrd, Place and Spaces, Street Lady, etc).  

The pulsating “Apropos” returns at the last spot, in the form of (Spoken Word) featuring Ms. Bronze Paragon once more! I dig spoken word when it’s painted onto the tapestry of jazz, to me it offers an added value, substance or unique dimension to the overall content of the music.  

After two years of putting everything into its perspective musically Skip Martin came to the table armed with the tools of the trade; he wrote (co-wrote), produced and played with conviction a blend of sonically fresh music that will appeal to a wide spectrum of people. It’s like this folks; Skip Martin came to play on “Miles High.” There’s no doubt! The music that Martin’s produced on “Miles High” takes you into a refreshing soundscape that’s much needed in smoothjazz. It appears that he is amongst a legend of a new breed of players attempting to rejuvenate and take this music to another level “Miles High”! 

 

 

q       Visit Skip Martin on the web at: www.skipmartinmusic.com

q       Listen too and purchase his music here: http://cdbaby.com/cd/skipmartin2

q       While you’re there check out Skip’s r&b release “From The Heart”: http://cdbaby.com/cd/skipmartin