When it comes to smooth jazz sax with a Latin vibe put your
money on the newcomer. Jessy J's debut CD, Tequila
Moon, is an impressive set of songs from a musician
who gives the genre's "old and stodgy" image a shakedown both
on stage and in the studio. Plus she's not bandwagon jumping,
she has Latin music credentials coming in. From her childhood
in a Mexican-American household where her parents threw parties
with live Latin music to a current gig as part of Mexican pop
star Gloria Trevi's band. So who is this sudden star whose emphasis
track rapidly flew into the top 10 of the notoriously slow radio
chart within a month of release? She is yet another working musician
who has been doing sessions and touring with other artists since
she graduated from USC, where she was named "Most Outstanding
Jazz Student," but had been deeply into music for years before
that, winning honors as a pianist and young jazz musician since
she was in elementary schooll. While she was building a career
doing sessions and touring she was cutting demos and preparing
to go solo. She wanted Paul Brown to produce her but at the time
he was only working with artists who were established or signed.
Her work lit a spark, though, and they hooked up. She started
playing in his backup band and when he saw her blow the audiences
away at a series of live gigs he reneged on his policy. They
began collaborating on the songs that would become the nucleus
of the CD that he would produce for her.
With Brown at the helm it was inevitable that Tequila
Moon would be a collection of radio-friendly
songs. Fortunately, these songs are radio-friendly because
they are catchy and structured, not because they fade into
the background. The surprise element is that there is also
good amount of instrumental showmanship, even some improvisation,
sneaking into the mix. She co-wrote five of the 11 songs
with Brown, who also plays guitar on most of tracks. One
of the other originals was written by keyboardist/vocalist
Kiki Ebsen, whose early 90s solo album was one of Brown's
early production projects. There are two familiar Latin nuggets
restyled and modernized, both are vocals - a Gregg Karukas
arrangement of "Mas Que Nada" and a version of "Besame Mucho" that
would fit nicely into a chill/lounge mix. The core group
of musicians is consistent through most of the songs: Brown,
Ebsen, Karukas, Ricky Peterson, Oscar Seaton (drums), and
Roberto Vally (bass). Keyboardist Donald Hayes, drummer Dave
Beyer and percussionist Richard Gagate Garcia also appear
on multiple track. On the title songshe wraps her sax
around an irresistible melody line and even side trips into
a little bit of improv. She really shows her range and skills
in the middle of the bossa nova tinged "Sin Ti" when she
trades licks with Peterson and on "Fiesta Velada" where her
tone resembles Boney's (one of her heroes) at times but she
spins it all her own growling the low notes and delivering
some firey improvisation during a percussion driven
jam in the middle. Ebsen's "Turquoise Street" is moody and
textured, a simple melody that she spices up with a series
of fast-paced runs then plays the core melody clean and pulls
emotion out of every sparse note. The demo she originally
handed to Brown was more straightahead than smooth and her
take on "A Song For You" is rooted in an acoustic jazz vibe,
which is what makes it work so well. It's a jazzer improvising
on a familiar melody, as jazz players have always done, rather
than an obligatory smooth jazz cover. She works it, wrapping
up the album in fine style.
Oh, the record company seems to want to make a big point of
her being sexy and most press coverage has put that upfront before
they get to the music. But I'm a female fan who doesn't even
care if male musicians are sexy, much less female ones, and the
video clips I've seen of her show her as the excellent musician
she is, not pouting and posing all over the place (something
I've seen male musicians do too). I do think Mindi Abair should
help her pick out some stylin' clothes for her next photo shoot
though. When you're a performer you get the chance to really
have fun with fashion, so why waste it showing skin? Those things
aside, the music is what matters and her artistry is obvious. |