Saxophonist Richard Elliot represents the best of smooth jazz: fluency on his horn, catchy melodies and tight production values. He also has more personality on his horn than some of the more anonymous tenor sax players out there. Those attributes serve him well on Authentic Life, a bright, bouncy and energetic outing which includes appearances from a host of similarly inclined musicians such as Jeff Lorber, Rick Braun and David Mann, among others.
There’s no shortage of grooves: The opening “Snapshot” is more riff- than melody-oriented, operating mostly as a vehicle for Elliot’s blowing. “Walk With Me” has more of a mellow, late-evening groove. The title track features Braun on flugelhorn; that pairing is repeated on “Move Ahead,” which opens with a vamp eerily reminiscent of “Sunny,” for those of you who go way back when.
“Elegant People” is not the Wayne Shorter tune from Weather Report’s Black Market, but an original by Richard Elliot and Rick Braun. The latter plays trombone as well as trumpet on the track, giving the horn section a well-rounded sound. The synth and percussion background give Elliot room to state the melody, while the whole horns ground the backing voices.
In fact, Braun is present throughout Authentic Life, often serving as a de facto horn section on trumpet, flugelhorn and trombone. He’s joined by a multi-tracked Elliot, the seemingly ubiquitous saxophonist Mann (Blood Sweat and Tears, Special EFX, and, like Richard Elliot, a Tower of Power alum) on a number of tunes, and on a couple occasions by another fellow smooth saxophonist, Dave Koz, on baritone.
The genre has gotten a justifiably bad rap over the years for the vanilla sameness of the songs and the lack of individual personality of many of the players. But at its best, hummable melodies, passionate solos and high production values mark recordings that stand out. Richard Elliot’s Authentic Life is one of the catchiest jazz albums of recent vintage. If you feel compelled to label it smooth jazz, do so – but make sure you also note that it’s also really good music.
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