Martin Taylor - Nitelife (2001)

This English guitarist continues his transformation from British-styled bebop master to Americanized contemporary jazz trendsetter with his second major-label release. While it's not as clean a recording as his last effort, Kiss & Tell, it's a much more focused disc, with more of Taylor's graceful and tasty guitar licks, and fewer featured guests. One of the sidemen, Kirk Whalum, who also coproduced, contributes two outstanding tunes, including the smooth, funky title track, and "Beboptimism," a tune with a traditional jazz melody over contemporary jazz rhythms and harmonies. Only Taylor's own "Green Lady" can be put safely in the tame smooth-jazz category, because there's a definite sharp edge to the most of the other tracks, particularly two of the cover tunes--Earth, Wind & Fire's "That's the Way of the World," with an unexpected key change towards the end, and a sumptuous version of the Isaac Hayes/Dionne Warwick hit "Déjà Vu," which experiments with tape loops, voices, and pretty much sounds like Taylor with Art of Noise. By a conservative count, this is Taylor's 40th album, but will probably the first to make a real impact across the pond in America.