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Nashville
based guitarist Les Sabler started his career in Canada with
the album Hidden Treasure (1990) initiated by
Canadian Television Network documentary titled Lost
Treasures of the Titanic. Time For Love (1994),
Bridge The Gap (2003), Sweet Drive (2007),
Live (2009), Crescent Shores (2010),
and Jobim
Tribute (2014) mark the career of a great guitarist.
His new album Tranquility (2021) has,
according to the credits, a wide
range of excellent accompanying musicians, who have their
creative circle in the Californian focal point of smooth
jazz. The well known names in the scene signal a high
quality and up-to-dateness of the new album. Les wrote the
tracks mostly in collaboration with Shane Theriot, Paul
Brown, Jeff Carruthers, and Lew Laing.
Starter of the album is Crescent City Strut which
accentuates a musical theme and is especially characterized
by a rock-solid horn arrangement. Les himself plays his
guitar with skillful nonchalance and routine.
City Rhythm is liquid gold set in tones. Moments of
suspense and a captivating music are grandly realized.
Three Dee unleashes an emotional play of Les on guitar
and Greg Vail on sax. With the gorgeous Esselle's Dance
Les enters the realm of romantic acoustic guitar, which we
are quite familiar with through Peter White or Marc Antoine.
Easy Moves is a fine collaboration between
Les and Jeff Carruthers, who already worked on numerous
smooth jazz albums. When a piece of music bears the
title Tranquility, this initially appears to be a
contradiction. In the concrete case, the title describes a
musical state that gently leads there as a preliminary
stage, so to speak.
Keep Pushin' is a
flowing piece at peace with itself, in which the sound of
the guitar awakens longings. Les released In The Light
already as a single in 2019. On his new album he presents a
remix version with a strong brass section. Where Has She
Gone is a question that drives many a man to despair. In
contrast to the title, Les offers a thoroughly animating
alternative.
The final tune of this grandiose album
is the Benson/Goodrum penned Sunrise, a tune which
was originally released on Chet Atkins' all-star guitar
album Stay Tuned (1985). A piece that exerts its
special charm through its simple beauty and thus fits
perfectly into Les conceptual idea of his album.
Les
Sabler's album Tranquility offers a select
collection of exquisite guitar pieces that are rarely found
in this accumulation.
Buy the album at bandcamp
Album Information
Title: Tranquility
Artist: Les Sabler
Year: 2021
Genre: Smooth Jazz
Label: New Vista Records
Tracks:
1) Crescent City Strut (4:07)
2) City Rhythm (4:01)
3) Three Dee (4:01)
4) Esselle's Dance (4:30)
5) Easy Moves (4:03)
6) Tranquility (3:56)
7) Keep Pushin' (3:42)
8) In the Light (Remix) (4:00)
9) Where Has She Gone (3:40)
10) Sunrise (3:35)
Credits:
Les Sabler (guitar)
Lawrence Seiberth (keyboards)
Shane Terriot (bass, rhythm guitar)
Gordon Campbell (drums)
Lee Thornburg (trumpet, trombone)
Greg Vail (saxophone)
Paul Brown (percussion, guitar)
Greg Bieck (keyboards)
Lenny Castro (percussion)
Jeff Carruthers (rhythm guitar, keyboards, drum programming)
Roberto Vally (bass)
Kenny Zarider (keyboards)
Brian Allen (bass)
Vincent Heckard (percussion)
Mark Douthit (saxophone)
Steve Patrick (trumpett)
Barry Green (trombone)
Tim Akers (horn arrangement)
Lew Laing (keyboards, drum programming)
Brother Paul Brown (keyboards)Further reviews:
Crescent Shores
Sweet Drive
Live
