Greg Chambers - No Looking Back (2021)

Brand new from sax man Greg Chambers is the excellent ‘No Looking Back’. With seven songs that place it somewhere between an EP and an LP, Chambers is revisiting a format that he last employed in 2013 with the seven track ‘After Hours’. In doing so he is building on a discography that has been in the making since 2007 and his debut recording ‘City Lights’. His quest for quality over quantity has often found him harnessing the talents of regular collaborators Matt Godina and Paul Brown while from time to time he has also tapped into a plethora of smooth jazz talent which this time around includes guitarists Adam Hawley, Nils, and Matthew Parris, bass players Mel Brown, Alex Al and Tyrone Coley, percussionist Ramon Ysalas, keyboard players Lew Laing Jr., Carnell Harrell and Judah Sealy, drummers Eric Valentine and Levi Bennett plus Russell Zimmer on muted trumpet. With a lineup like this expectations can be nothing but high and in that respect Chambers doesn’t disappoint. With a clutch of scintillating, all original tunes he really does get the job done and a case in point is the opening number, ‘Let’s Dance’, that is written by Chambers, Harrell and serial hit maker Adam Hawley. Hawley also contributes on guitar and later, when he returns for the sumptuous ‘Night Vibe’, he helps create what is arguably the album’s best track. Talking of top tracks the seriously addictive ‘It’s Gonna be Alright’ features Nils on guitar and production by Lew Laing Jr. In all Laing produces three of the seven choice tunes with the second being the foot tapping ‘Come On Over’ where a guitar solo from Matt Godina proves to be the icing on a very rhythmic cake. Laing’s final input is with the wonderfully mellifluous ‘Baja Breeze’ and when Chambers ups the tempo for the appropriately titled ‘Double Trouble’ his interplay with bass player Michael Fields Jr. is right on the money. Elsewhere, and written by Chambers and Judah Sealy, the deliciously mid tempo title cut is, much like the entire album, everything that smooth jazz circa 2021 should be all about. It comes highly recommended. --Smooth Jazz Therapy

"No Looking Back epitomizes the talent of an artist who is for far too long in the second line of saxophonists. It's high time for Greg Chambers to step forward into the front row. This album could be the door opener." --Smooth Jazz Daily

As the various lockdowns ease, smooth sax man GREG CHAMBERS is gearing up to promote his latest album, ‘No Looking Back’. It’s a concise 7 tracker which like his previous albums proffers a classic, sax-led smooth jazz sound, summed up in the breezy opener, ‘Let’s Dance’. Highlight however is the musical duet with Michael Fields Jr, ‘Double Trouble’. This has a soulful sax-led melody underpinned by Fields’ masterly bass strokes. ‘Night Vibe’, as the title suggests, is the album’s slower movement while the equally obvious ‘Baja Breeze’ is a slowie too with a hint of the exotic. --Soul & Jazz & Funk