Randy Sloan – Nightlights (Single Review)

In today’s review, one of the newer names in Smooth Jazz named Randy Sloan returns with a new single, allowing us to further busk in the aura of suaveness that typically surrounds the genre itself. A returning artist, you can expose yourself to his style of music by checking out his previous single It’s A Vibe here. His music tends to evoke the feel of a competent, proficient and multidimensional smooth jazz artist, without employing any clichés in his compositional techniques or approach to music.

His primary instrument is the jazz guitar, and he spent several years on the West Coast of the United States playing and performing in rock and Top 40 acts while honing his own special craft. Being a multifaceted artist, his interest in smooth jazz led to him being influenced by guitarists such as Jeff Golub, Chris Standing as well as Norman Brown. He then relocated to the Dallas, Texas area, making a name for himself in the smooth jazz world by playing at luxury hotels, cocktail lounges, wineries as well as private functions.

His new single, titled ‘Nightlights‘, is the follow-up single to It’s A Vibe. The chill ballad features smooth guitar as well as beautiful piano from Dallas, Texas based pianist Torrey Brown.

The song starts off with tantalizing shakers, before a shining motif introduces you to the smooth, laid-back and sensual soundscape of the song. It bears a very typical jazz brust-beat percussive element, maintaining an element of a steady groove while being slowed down and romantic. The guitar work on this song definitely helps to decorate the main theme of the song, oozing passion with each note being played. It is accompanied with the chords and trills from the piano element of this song, helping to make the song more emotionally deep and contemplative alongside the motifs of passion played by the guitar itself.

Besides the main star instruments of the song, I have to commend the work on the bass as well as the pads and certain sound elements used in the whole track- they take the track from a typical jazzy, bluesy note to one that honestly becomes quite ethereal due to the atmospheric elements. Another notable segment of the song is the slight solo from the pianist. It honestly glides through the notes with the proficiency of a mind tuned to jazz improvisation. The percussive element also morphs throughout the song, aiding the various emotional peaks and lows of the track itself. It is also very well-mastered and does not lack any musical variation. I think this song definitely has a universal appeal.

Highly recommended!

Score/Excellent: Randy Sloan returns with his refreshing take on the world of smooth jazz with ‘Nightlights’, a more mellow yet refreshing track exploring the sensibilities of a laid-back and emotionally richer tone. The song will definitely leave you satisfied, and appealing to the listener in many dimensions.

[We rank singles, EPs, and albums on a scale of Poor, Mediocre, Good, Excellent, and Outstanding]

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