Paul Brown & Friends – White Sand (2007)

Paul Brown has produced some of smooth jazz' greatest, including Boney James, Kirk Whalum, Peter White, Rick Braun, Larry Carlton, Richard Elliott, Euge Groove and Norman Brown. He has worked with many instrumentalists and with a lot of fine vocalists.
This time Paul Brown returns to his first love of performing as he debuts on Peak Records with this album , which can be titled " Paul Brown & Friends". These "friends" include Al Jarreau, Boney James, Bobby Caldwell, Lina, Euge Groove, Rick Braun, Jeff Lorber, Jesse J. and David Benoit. Brown takes inspiration from the 60's, as the songs' titles indicate, creating a very distinctive, vintage sound, which is an instant classic.
"White Sand" really represents where Paul is now musically on the guitar and has a lot of influences from people he has listened to over the years. It is not a ground-breaking album, nothing is really innovative or edgy here. Yet the sound is perfect, so is the production. It seems that Paul is having a lot of fun on this CD, playing fantastically with "his friends". Paul Brown's music has been a presence on smooth jazz radio for many years and people are still liking what he previously recorded. This is another album that will please his own fans and will continue to make a mark on smooth jazz for years to come.

Personnel Includes:

Paul Rayner Brown - vocals, guitar, percussion
Al Jarreau - vocals
Jeff Carruthers - acoustic guitar, strings, keyboards, drums, drum programming
Jessy J - saxophone, horns
Euge Groove, Bobby English, Boney James - saxophone
Rick Braun - trumpet
Impromp2 - horns
David Benoit, Kiki Ebsen - piano
Jeff Lorber - organ
Al Forman - Wurlitzer organ
Gerald McCauley - keyboards, drum programming, background vocals
Mike Ballard, Joe Wolf, Blake Aaron - keyboards, drum programming
Dave Beyer - drums, percussion
Dave Palmer – drums

Tracklist:

01. White Sand
02. The Rhythm Method
03. Makes Me Feel So Good
04. Ol' Skoolin'
05. Mercy, Mercy, Mercy
06. R 'n' B Bump
07. I Say A Little Prayer
08. More Or Les Paul
09. For What It's Worth
10. Mr. Cool

Produced by Paul Brown
Recorded at Funky Joint Studio, Sherman Oaks, CA, Sunset Sound, Hollywood, CA, Sound Shack, Studio City, CA, Digital Zoo, Reseda, CA
Recording Engineers - Paul Brown, DC, Eric Zobler, Jeff Carruthers
Mixed bgy Paul Brown & DC at Funky Joint Studio, Sherman Oaks, CA
Mastered by Lee Hershberg at Hershberg Mastering, Camarillo, CA

Sound Quality: 9