When two-time Grammy-winning producer Paul Brown (George Benson, Larry Carlton, Norman Brown, Boney James, Kirk Whalum) agreed to produce contemporary jazz guitarist Les Sabler\u2019s \u201cTranquility\u201d album, it led to a transformational project by the fretman. With Brown at the helm, Sabler hit a new creative zenith on that 2021 album. For his ninth album, Sabler reunited with Brown to record \u201cFlying High.”<\/p>\n
Brown\u2019s fingerprints are all over \u201cTranquility.\u201d His suggestion that Sabler
\nget a vintage 1967 Gibson Johnny Smith guitar reshaped the guitarist\u2019s
\nsound, inspiring his best performances. Bringing in songwriters Shane
\nTheriot (Hall & Oates, Dr. John, Neville Brothers) and Lew Laing (NormanBrown, Marion Meadows, Raheem DeVaughn) to write songs with him equipped Sabler with richly melodic material incorporating an array of jazz, R&B, funk and pop nuances. The teaming proved to be transcendent,
\nushering Sabler into the number one spot on the Mediabase chart with the
\ngorgeous and graceful nylon stringed \u201cEsselle\u2019s Dance,\u201d which also hit
\nnumber five on the Billboard chart. The compelling collection, along with
\nthe impassioned and nimble guitarwork featured within, led to Sabler being
\nprofiled in Vintage Guitar magazine.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m at the top of my game, hitting my creative stride on the last album
\n(\u201cTranquility\u201d). \u2018Flying High\u2019 takes it to another level,\u201d said Sabler who
\nreassembled the same team for the new disc.
\nActually, Sabler added one key figure to the \u201cFlying High\u201d creative outfit. It
\nwas brought to Sabler\u2019s attention that Abbey Road Studios mastering
\nengineer Geoff Pesche named \u201cTranquility\u201d as his favorite album of 2021.
\nThat spurred Sabler to invite Pesche to master \u201cFlying High\u201d in the iconic
\nstudio made famous by The Beatles.
\nWith Brown back in the producer\u2019s chair and cowriting all seven original
\nsongs for \u201cFlying High,\u201d Sabler again finds himself keeping frequent
\ncompany with Theriot (keyboards, rhythm guitar, bass, drum programming),who cowrote five tunes on the new offering, including the album opener,\u201cOver The Top,\u201d a cool and confident midtempo mood-setter that gets anassist from Greg Vail\u2019s whimsical flute.
\nExemplifying self-assurance, Sabler stretches his artistic muse on the
\nsearing \u201cCompared To What,\u201d a jam recorded by jazz pianist Les McCann
\nand saxophonist Eddie Harris at the famed Montreux Jazz Festival in
\n1969. In addition to Sabler\u2019s incendiary finger work, this version burns via
\nthe firepower of keyboardist Marco Basci, trumpeter Ron King, and Vail\u2019s<\/p>\n
sax over percolating rhythms cooked up by drummer Joel Taylor, bassist
\nTravis Carlton, and percussionist Lenny Castro.
\n\u201cI\u2019ve been a fan of McCann\u2019s for decades and was fortunate to meet and
\nspend some time with the legend at the 1990 JazzTimes convention in
\nNew Orleans. As luck had it, they put us in adjacent hotel rooms,\u201d Sabler
\nrecalled fondly.
\nLaing (keyboards, bass, drum programming) and Sabler pushed the limits
\nwith the single \u201cKeep Pushin\u2019\u201d for \u201cTranquility,\u201d and their reunion bodes to
\nbe equally luminous. \u201cMoonlight\u201d builds on their chemistry as Sabler\u2019s
\nsinewy electric guitar beams amidst the shimmering track.
\nThe title cut ascends on its rousing chorus launched by a Gorden
\nCampbell drum groove. Sabler defers to the warmth of his nylon stringed
\nguitar on \u201cOld Friends,\u201d despite fostering a sense of exotic adventure. \u201cNew
\nBossa,\u201d a multicultural amalgam powered by a vibrantly animate melody, is
\nSabler\u2019s latest single to instantly dance onto the SiriusXM Watercolors
\nplaylist and has begun its ascent of three national jazz charts
\nsimultaneously.
\nVenturing into standards territory, Sabler interprets Academy Award-
\nwinning \u201cThe Windmills Of Your Mind\u201d from 1968\u2019s \u201cThe Thomas Crown
\nAffair\u201d as a somber and sultry staccato Latin groove, using his nylon string
\nguitar to emote eloquently and exchange elegant banter with Lou
\nPomanti\u2019s (Michael Bubl\u00e9, Gordon Lightfoot) keyboard poetics. Sabler
\ncredits Dusty Springfield\u2019s version as his influence.
\nSabler\u2019s inspiration for another modern classic, \u201cSummer In The City,\u201d
\ncame from a version Quincy Jones recorded in 1973. Sabler\u2019s
\nreimagination is steamy and creates tension like The Lovin\u2019 Spoonful\u2019s
\noriginal, but the guitarist is buttressed by a robust horn arrangement that
\nincludes Vail\u2019s bellowing saxophone. After, \u201cSoft and Smooth\u201d dials down
\nthe intensity. Despite the slower, more deliberate cadence, Sabler\u2019s
\nloquacious guitar licks leap to the fore in a lyrical repartee.
\n\u201cDouble Jeopardy\u201d is seductive, mysterious and alluring, highlighted by
\nSabler\u2019s nylon string overtures and King\u2019s soulful trumpet coos. Sabler
\npays homage to one of his influences, guitar legend Kenny Burrell, on \u201cA<\/p>\n
Child Is Born,\u201d which closes the collection. Burrell recorded the Thad
\nJones gem in 1971.
\n\u201cThis arrangement differs from the original 3\/4-meter as it is performed in
\nstraight 4\/4, however, it retains the expressive flavor of the beautiful
\ncomposition,\u201d said Sabler.
\nA native of Montreal who makes his home in Nashville, Sabler recorded the
\nscore for a Canadian Television Network documentary about the lost
\ntreasures of the Titanic in 1989, seeding the release his debut album,
\n\u201cHidden Treasure,\u201d the following year. His catalogue boasts collaborations
\nwith Grammy winners Jeff Lorber, Vinnie Colaiuta and Jerry Hey as well
\nas Grammy nominees Brian Bromberg, Eric Marienthal, Richard Elliot
\nand Alex Acuna. Sabler earned a Jazz Artist of the Year nomination from
\nthe Canadian Indie Awards while his albums have been nominated
\nmultiple times for Album of the Year by the Canadian Smooth Jazz
\nAwards, which also honored him twice as a Guitarist of the Year
\nnominee. On stage, Sabler has headlined or opened for artists such as
\nLorber, Elliot, Spyro Gyra, Michael Lington and Diane Schuur.
\n\u201cFlying High\u201d contains the following songs:
\n\u201cOver The Top\u201d
\n\u201cCompared To What\u201d
\n\u201cMoonlight\u201d
\n\u201cFlying High\u201d
\n\u201cOld Friends\u201d
\n\u201cNew Bossa\u201d
\n\u201cThe Windmills Of Your Mind\u201d
\n\u201cSummer In The City\u201d
\n\u201cSoft and Smooth\u201d
\n\u201cDouble Jeopardy\u201d
\n\u201cA Child Is Born\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When two-time Grammy-winning producer Paul Brown (George Benson, Larry Carlton, Norman Brown, Boney James, Kirk Whalum) agreed to produce contemporary jazz guitarist Les Sabler\u2019s \u201cTranquility\u201d album, it led to a transformational project by the fretman. With Brown at the helm, Sabler hit a new creative zenith on that 2021 album. For his ninth album, Sabler … Continue reading “Les Flying High – Digital Album Download”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":360,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[33],"product_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-372","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-digitaldownloads","8":"first","9":"instock","10":"downloadable","11":"virtual","12":"taxable","13":"purchasable","14":"product-type-simple"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myiesstore.com\/lessabler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myiesstore.com\/lessabler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myiesstore.com\/lessabler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myiesstore.com\/lessabler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=372"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myiesstore.com\/lessabler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myiesstore.com\/lessabler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myiesstore.com\/lessabler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=372"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myiesstore.com\/lessabler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=372"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myiesstore.com\/lessabler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}