Caribbean Jazz Project---definitely worth a listen

Hello All,

I've been a longtime fan and follower of the site, but this is my first post, so please be gentle. I wanted to turn your attention to a contemporary instrumental group that's been around for awhile and has always provided appropriate acoustic wallpaper for my beloved tiki setup at home. They're called the 'Caribbean Jazz Project,' and they've been putting out albums since the mid '90s. They're not Lyman, Denny, or Baxter copycats, but they still somehow capture the spirit of the thing. When you get a moment, visit Amazon or any other site that offers snippets of their cool-and-silky sounds. On more than one social occasion where I was hosting, I'd arrange their full canon into a single, massive Windows Media Player list and just let it fly all night. I don't even recall how I stumbled upon them in the first place, but I'm sure glad I did. Hopefully a few of you will experience the same manifold pleasures.

Enjoy!

Your Faithful Fellow TikiGeeki,

Jordan

I doubt you will find many fans here, as this is not a vintage group, not exotica and not surf....BUT I absolutely love these guys since I first heard them, being a long time fan of Andy Narell and Dave Samuels, who added so much to one of my favorite smooth jazz bands, spyro gyra. This is good time, summer music at it's best. Totally state of the art, actually. Glad to have at least one other person on this forum who digs this kind of stuff!

Also, this band does rank up there at the top of what you called "contemporary instrumental" music (but which I call smooth jazz, though that is a big term).

One summer a few years back, I was with my family at sea world, san diego, and while they went off to go ride something I did not want to go on, I went and bought a couple of beers and just sat down near some bushes and enjoyed that first, golden buzz of the day. it was about 6 in the evening, still light out, and in the same bushes were speakers playing all sorts of great smooth jazz, but they seemed to be focused on the Rippingtons and the carribean jazz project. The cool, summer evening combined with the sounds of marimbas, steel drums and vibes was hypnotizing to me. This is something that is hard for me to explain, but I guess you would have to have been there. All I can say is, smooth jazz or contemporary instrumental or modern easy listening (whatever you want to call it) is in fact one of my favorite styles of music. To me, this is the logical descendent from Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman, who were the "smooth jazz" of thier time period. The same demographic who enjoyed that music is the same demographic in this day of age who like smooth jazz. Urban sophisticates. Yes, these, at prima facie, seem like radically different styles, but the same intent is there.....from Arthur Lyman and Martin Denny to the Baja Marimba and Tijuana Brass, on down to the rippingtons, acoustic alchemy and bands like the carribean jazz project...there is a connection in the intent of this music...and I for one do not thumb my nose at it like so many do. Say you like "smooth jazz" and just wait for the snickering and the insults....but I say to those who have not enjoyed a cocktail in some 5 star hotel on a tropical beach while listening to this style...it's really not so different from the ambiance this forum is focused on. Of course, I draw the line at Jimmy Buffett....but this type of music is aces with me!

My name is lucas vigor and I approve this message!

http://soundcloud.com/lucas-vigor/sets/set-3/

"yer jus not tuned into the series of tubes yet, let it soak in".

[ Edited by: lucas vigor 2011-05-10 19:12 ]

Shoot.....I think I actually responded to spam! And here I thought I was going to have a conversation! First post, nothing to do with Tiki.....I should have seen it coming! :)

That's okay Lucas...

It's hard to resist Spam?

Bear