The Jazzmasters 4

Artist: Paul Hardcastle
Label: Trippin 'n Rhythm
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 644949051329
EAN: 0644949051329
ASIN: B0000A4GDS

Release Date: 2003-08-05

Related Categories:

General

| Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General

| Jazz | Styles | Music

General

| Pop | Styles | Music

Smooth Jazz

| Jazz | Styles | Music

Listmania:

Hardcastle at his best
Smooth, Fusion Jazz
listen to pleasent music: Part 9
Smooth Groovz...
Cozy Smooth Jazz

Tracks:

Valley Of The Harps
Feeling Blue
Visions Of Illusion
Lifetime
Puerto Banus
Time 4 Living
Signs Of Life (Still Searching)
Emerald Stardust
Voice Of The Angels
Quiet Groove
Valley Of The Harps (Reprise)
How Long (Before We Get It Right)
If You Knew

Similar Items:

Jazzmasters III
The Jazzmasters V
Hardcastle 4
The Jazzmasters I
The Jazzmasters II

Customer Reviews:

Very Good.......2006-03-29

I really like this cd. The music is very good, the vocals are very good, and the engineering and mixing are very good. That being said, the songs are far too short, especially the non-vocal ones. I realize that Paul Hardcastle knows his target market, and that is smooth jazz radio stations. I would like to have seen about half of the amount of songs, and twice as much time per each song.

paul hardcastle jazzmasters 4.......2005-11-10

A friend of mine gave me the cd as a gift, I have been playing it for the last two days and i love the cd. I have not had a hardcastle in several years and I will get more of his stuff now.

In defense of "If You Knew".............2005-03-24

After reading the unfavorable reviews of the closing track "If You Knew" I feel highly compelled to write my opinino of this controversial track. Although I'm NO fan of most rap music by any stretch of the imagination, I really, REALLY love the rap part of the song which places a very talented rap verse over the track "Peace On Earth". Although I prefer the song in it's instrumental version, the rap chorus is really well rhymed and is very good. Although it may at first sound like another ghetto-thumping track, this song actually attacks the glorification of ghetto-life and instead showcases the rappers tough childhood in a very vivid imagination. Many people seem to be offended by this track and view it as "Hell On Earth" but this song isn't anywhere near as disturbing or terrifying to me as was Paul's famous hit "19" was 20 years back. "19" is a classic don't get me wrong but the song scared the daylights out of me when I first heard it but "If You Knew" doesn't do that on such a scale. Overall though, "If You Knew" is one of the most daring moves that Paul has ever done but it pays off well. Wonderful Job!

As for the rest of this album, "Jazzmasters 4" is another inspiring home run for Hardcastle's arc of music over the last 20 years and 14 years since his Jazzmasters 1 album took me by storm when I was a small child when it was released. The fourth entry under the Jazzmasters moniker doesn't necessarily break a lot of new ground but this could perhaps be one of the most inspiring releases of all time, perhaps the best since 1994's "Hardcastle Volume 1" aka the "hands" album.

"Valley of The Harps" is a groovy dance track with those lovely Hardcastle sounds as well as some beautiful harps interspersed throughout the track. The reprise part of the track though while great sounds unfinished. "Feeling Blue" may have a deceiving title as the mood of the song is far from being `blue' as it is a very joyous track with gorgeous keyboards and lovely New Age/pop atmospherics. The vocals of Helen Rogers as always are absolutely lovely. Besides the final track, my favorite standout tracks are "Emerald Stardust" and "How Long Before We Get it Right". "Emerald Stardust" is perhaps one of the strangest songs that Paul has released in a very long time and in fact departs a bit from his trademark sound and instead has a bizarre mix of electronic sound effects and a very light beat. The ambient atmospherics are stunningly beautiful and the lyrics are entrancing such as the "Swimming in Emerald Stardust....So Beautiful" which put me in a blissful trance.

While there aren't major standout tracks like "Northern Lights" "Nightcrawler" or "Lost Summer" but on average, this could very well be the most even and consistent album that Hardcastle has released in a long time.

EXCELLENT AS ALWAYS.......2005-01-13

This Album is very good. Each tracks sounds fresh and current. I like the idea used in the last track (Putting a rap over a track).....but the rap in that song is just awful. I have heard much better raps than than which were non-violent and positive like the one used by Kid Crab. Who ever he is. Other than that....Album is wonderful.

Jazzmasters 4.......2004-04-29

All I can say is Paul Hardcastle is incapable of making a bad CD.
He is my absolute favorite smooth jazz artist. He has a style like no other. Each CD is better than the last, and this latest is no exception.

Music CD:

Music CD

Music CD

Music CD

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The Weight Is a Gift ~ Nada Surf

The Luck ~ Dwight Twilley

New Beginning ~ Stephen Gately

The Unintended ~ Unintended

Whatever Comes ~ Reinvented

Rock Ballads ~ Various Artists

Maxi Pop, Vol. 1 ~ Various Artists

Honee Bunn ~ Filthy Rich

Fuck Me on the Dancefloor ~ Disco D