92101 - Nate Harasim:
When we showcased Nate Harasim's Next In Line back in August of 2007, we noted that - "although still only in his twenties, Nate Harasim's finesse as a musician belies his early years and results in as auspicious a smooth jazz debut as we've seen in recent times!" - and further promised that Harasim was "sure to among the Café Jazz elite for 2007!!" The distance of a few months has done little to dispel that belief and if anything, it's only served to further fuel our enthusiasm with Nate qualifying as our Café Jazz #1 break thru artist for the year. From Next In Line we're featuring 92101 and a track upon which Harasim is a master of melody, mood, and groove!!

CD: Next In Line
Label: Independent
Site: Nate Harasim

Club Street - Les Sabler:
We expounded upon the virtues of Mr. Sabler & Sweet Drive, his 4th project, as recently as November of this past year - so what more can we say about Les and this sweet release that hasn't already been said? Well, how about a quick recap of what's transpired in 2007?

Here we go: #6 Most played cd for the year, #7 most played artist for Sabler, and #8 most played selection for Club Street with an honourable mention for Twenty-Two!! Meanwhile on the Canadian front : #1 Album and #1 most played artist with both the #2 & #9 tracks in Club Street and Twenty-Two respectively. All the more amazing, the majority of this activity has occurred within just the past few months, since the Sweet Drive release date was this past September - the drive has been sweet indeed!!

CD: Sweet Drive
Label: The Music Force
Site: Les Sabler

Bahia - Earth, Wind & Fire:
It was 1969 and nearly 40 years ago that Maurice White first assembled a group under the moniker of Earth Wind & Fire - in that time, the band has become legendary to several generartions of fans. As 2000 inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, EW & F have earned multiple double-platinum, platinum, and gold albums to go along with eight Grammy awards. In spite of these accomplishments, it's now refreshing to find the veteran ensemble, which includes several core members from their hey-day, discovering some new musical vistas on their recent In The Name of Love release. From that effort, we have an all-too-rare EW & F instrumental interlude entitled Bahia serving as a welcome and delicious musical sorbet!!

CD: In The Name Of Love
Label: Kalimba Records
Site: EW&F ; Kalimba

Simple Pleasures - Spyro Gyra:
In a career that stretches back to the late 70s, last year proved a milestone for the veteran band Spyro Gyra. Honoured as the 2007 recipients of The George Benson Lifetime Achievement Award at the Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards, the band celebrated 30-plus years by furnishing the music world with Good To Go-Go, which apart from a few best of compilations, was their 27th album. On the project, Spyro sported a slightly modified line-up with Bonny Bonaparte, aka Bonny B, filling the drummer's chair vacated by the departing Joel Rosenblatt, who had spent 12 years with the band. Nonetheless, the Trinidad native made the transition with ease - in fact, he proved something of a catalyst for some of the veteran ensembles finer moments both in the studio and in live performance. Representing our second most played band for 2007, based largely on the attention they desrvedly received as the focal point for a deluxe double-extended Then & Now feature, we now have the distinct pleasure of presenting Simple Pleasures from that latest release!!

CD: Good To Go-Go
Label: Heads Up International
Site: Spyro Gyra ; Spyro/HeadsUp

Shaken Not Stirred - The Terry Disley Experience:
Classically trained and a former Alchemist, Terry Disley's talents transmute music into nothing less than phonic gold! Terry's '04 Experience solo debut charted as the #4 release on our own in house list of favourites for that year - but when we showcased Across The Pond back in the spring of '007, call it clairvoyance or just plain good taste, we forecast that Disley would meet or beat that feat with this latest release!!

In any event, the results are in and in a phrase they are spectacular, as Across The Pond, replete with lustrous musical gems, bedazzled our year-end list of faves with no less than three selections! From our #1-album for 2007, we have the Café Jazz #1 most played track for the entire year!!

CD: Across The Pond
Label: Disleyworld Music
Sites: Terry Disley