Right Here, Right Now

A true elder statesman of contemporary jazz (whose seminal mid-'80s recordings helped pave the way for the smooth jazz genre), pianist David Benoit stayed relevant, fresh, and funky due to three factors — brilliant melodies, stylistic diversity from track to track, and working with hip, edgy producers. Rick Braun co-produced two of Benoit's recent, similarly brilliant offerings, Professional Dreamer (1999) and Fuzzy Logic (2001), and on Right Here, Right Now assumes the helm fully, guiding Benoit through a wide terrain of musical territory, sometimes adding his own trumpet expertise. There's the ongoing fun of funk/soul triumphs like "Watermelon Man" (Herbie Hancock's classic fashioned with the old-school bounce of another Benoit influence, Ramsey Lewis), the retro-minded title track, and the brassy jam "Jellybeans and Chocolate" (featuring Brian Culbertson and Euge Groove). Benoit's more thoughtful side emerges on the film score-like "Le Grand," an unofficial tribute to the style of Michel Legrand featuring a dense percussion atmosphere, and the understated, melancholy "Quiet Room," a tribute to Benoit's late father (featuring Braun and guitarist Pat Kelley) and something of a sequel to his Grammy-nominated piece "Dad's Room." Benoit's other stops include hitching posts in "Swingin' Waikiki" (ah, the joy of bossa, featuring saxman Andy Suzuki) and a mystical, bass-throbbing "Third Encounter." Aside from his occasional Vince Guaraldi reduxes, Benoit with a few exceptions never much relied on cover tunes, but here includes two besides the Hancock tune — a dreamy "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" with Peter White and an orchestra, and a sparse easy listening cover of "Don't Know Why." Years passed, smooth jazz radio kept playing his oldies, yet his new stuff kept getting better and better. — Jonathan Widran.