Grady Nichols - Destinations (2012)

It was in 2008 and the advent of the excellent CD ‘Take Me With You’ that I first latched onto the artistry of sax-man Grady Nichols. In fact the discography of Nichols stretches all the way back to 1996 when his debut recording ‘Between You And Me’ first hit the streets. Since then he has released five more albums with the latest being the superb ‘Destinations’. Co-written and produced by Chris Rodriguez, this hugely accessible body of work checks every box imaginable and not for the first time marks out Nichols as one to watch. Make no mistake the richness of Nichols full-bodied saxophone sound really is something to savor and the energy he seems to routinely generate is exemplified by the opening track (and the first to go to radio) the big, powerful and ‘in your face’ ‘London Baby!’ However Nichols can mix it up too and does so to impressive effect with the romantically inclined ‘Only You Can Love Me This Way’. It’s a song that shows off the depth of the entire collection and in this respect much the same can be said of ‘Beachside’. With a lilting reggae beat and the sound of steel drums you might be forgiven for actually feeling the sand between your toes. Nichols is on record as accepting that many listeners are not locked into only one genre and he acknowledges this and then some with the pop orientated ‘Nothin Better’ which includes an attention grabbing vocal duet from Rodriguez and Krista Branch. Later Nichols returns to that same pop vibe for ‘Superman’ where Teel Merrick does a nice job on vocals and elsewhere he deftly turns the Journey hit ‘Faithfully’ into a big impressive instrumental ballad which might best be described as stadium smooth jazz. With a banjo pulsing in the background ‘Tulsa’ is where country meets contemporary jazz in the most delightful of ways. Despite all the odds the combination really works and totally captures the mood of this Oklahoma city while another tune to evoke vast open spaces is the melodically pleasing ‘Coming Home’. This, together wth ‘Walk Through My Dreams’, provide a tender counter-point to some of the horn driven pyrotechnics that have gone before whilst in terms of personal favorites the mid tempo ‘Only Dreamin’ (with edgy production and a strong hook) delivers a choice example of textbook smooth jazz. Also worth a mention is ‘You Know Me’ which not only benefits from vocals and Hammond B3 from former Chicago band member Bill Champlin but also from more of Nichols high octane playing. However, all things considered, my Smooth Jazz Therapy top track is the easy grooving ‘You With Me’. Co-written and featuring contemporary jazz heavyweight Jeff Lorber (who also contributed to Nichols last album) this one is right up there with the best that ‘Destinations’ has to offer.