SmoothJazz.com
You've heard his playing on movie soundtracks, TV shows, plus radio and TV commercials too numerous to mention. He's among the absolute best of the best L.A. session players' now it's time to get to know Jay Leach as the superb solo artist that he is. After six albums featuring worship and Christmas favorites featuring his beautiful fingerstyle guitar work, CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF is a most auspicious Smooth Jazz debut, and I can't imagine a better introduction! With Jay's extensive experience and network, you'd expect a release like this to be star-studded. It is, with names like Kirk Whalum, Justo Almario, Abe Laboriel and Alex Acuna on board. You'd expect it to be superbly crafted and produced and it is. You'd expect it to be as diverse as Smooth Jazz proclaims itself to be' again, it is. The title track (and first radio single) features Kirk's incomparable tenor playing off Jay's rich, lyrical acoustic guitar, reminding me a bit of Larry Carlton, but still uniquely Jay Leach. Other tunes I love include the shimmering 'I Just Want to Celebrate,' featuring Justo's sparkling flute work, the joyous 'More Than Happy,' the hauntingly beautiful 'Simple Things,' the bluesy and electrified praise song 'Love You So Much,' again featuring Kirk's sax, and the tasty, Latinesque 'Poiema,' with more beautiful flute from Justo. Above all else, CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF captures the joy and warmth of Jay Leach's soul. You'll hear it in abundance on every single track, which makes this a guaranteed first class luxury flight! ~SCOTT O'BRIEN
