The Jazz Steppers

The Jazz Steppers are Dean Mark, Klay Dumas-Copas and Pat Leacock, all being veterans in the jazz world. On their debut, Get Up!, they succesfully mix some fine jazz with electronic elements and programmed beats. The sax on the title track is deliberately off-kilter during the first minutes, but then the track evolves in a smooth jazz jam (almost Candy Dulfer-style). "Wait a While" is extremely mellow, fantastic to listen to after a hard day, while the highlight "Samba for Dais" adds a bouncy samba beat and some impressive acoustic guitar and keyboard solos. Other tracks utilize cool hiphop beats, such as "Miles Per Hour" and the warm "Mellow" featuring beautiful saxophone work by Jake Telford. "Something Else", "Ahead Only" and "In Flight Fonk" veer towards fusion but never give up the melodic strengths (the latter switches gracefully between smooth jazz and fusion). "Thinking 'Bout You" offers heavenly keyboard improvisation, but the crème de la crème is saved for "Jazz Steppin'". This track has a driving deep house beat and some nice sampled saxophones. The keyboard and the beat continually keep on building to the awesome breaks. Essential for the nu jazz lover. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.