Night Blue

SmoothJazz.com Review

     

Jay Patten brings an extremely varied and intriguing musical background to his latest CD, NIGHT BLUE. You’ll hear all of this talent shine brightly right from your first listen. He took up guitar at eight growing up in Jersey as an Elvis fan, saxophone a few years later after hearing Stan Getz, and he was gigging in the New York area by the time he was thirteen. The family moved to Florida when he was in high school, and he ended up playing both guitar and sax for the hit-makers of the day, like The Shangri-las, Bobby Rydell, Joey Dee, and Del Shannon. Fast-forwarding past three years as vocalist with the Glenn Miller Band, a move to Nashville, and session-work with the likes of Johnny Cash and Pure Prairie League, Jay currently is Crystal Gayle’s music director, and performs regularly with his own band, which continues to be a staple in Nashville’s night scene, as well as on the concert stage. On NIGHT BLUE, Jay showcases his remarkable talent in a tour de force of captivating melodies and performances, focused primarily on his sax work along with a pair of savory vocals (his phrasing and style will remind you of Donald Fagen). Definitely check out the gently beautiful “For the Love,” his tasty treatment of the classic “Harlem Nocturne,” and the ethereal “Vortex Blue,” featuring Jay on alto sax, mandolin, and ethnic flute. Mr. “Blue” Jay Patten has scored big-time on this one. NIGHT BLUE is very cool indeed. ~Scott O'Brien