SAXOPHONIST J. WHITE

Talking Smooth Jazz

JWhite debuted as a solo artist with the 2012 album “New Jazz Swagger: Reloaded.” His sax play is a swirl of modern jazz with straight-ahead jazz references, emoting rich melodies and lush harmonic passes atop sensual R&B tracks. Competing at the Warren Hill Sax Summit in 2013 helped him win slots to perform at the San Diego Jazz Festival, Las Vegas Jazz Festival, Arizona Jazz Festival and Jazz at the Creek. He’s also played club dates from coast to coast. In 2015, JWhite dropped the “Grit and Glamour” EP, an outing that strayed from his jazz base. “Fearless” is a purposeful return to his muse. A seasoned core of hitmakers teamed with JWhite to create the EP. Drummer Eric Valentine and bassist Nathaniel Kearney form a deep-pocketed rhythm section on the opening cut, “Valley of the Sun,” which bodes to be the second single. Keyboardist Gail Jhonson pours the soul of her Philly roots into the three tunes she cowrote and coproduced for the set – “Mr. NuGroove,” “Morning Rain” and “90’s Kinda Love” - the last of which features supple basslines from chart-topper Darryl Williams. Guitarist Matt Godina was JWhite’s co-writer and co-producer on “Soiree.” “Just Ride” is the only solo trek on the disc. (Source: Great Scott Productions) Follow J. White on Facebook@jonwhite, Twitter@jwhitelive & Instagram@teamjwhite