yellowjackets Archives - ContemporaryJazz.com https://contemporaryjazz.com/category/yellowjackets Celebrating 30 Years Online! Mon, 06 Jul 2026 17:55:22 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.1 https://i0.wp.com/contemporaryjazz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/cropped-ContemporaryJazz-mascot-logo-favicon-512x512-1.png?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 yellowjackets Archives - ContemporaryJazz.com https://contemporaryjazz.com/category/yellowjackets 32 32 124780169 Top Contemporary Jazz Chart – July 2, 1994 https://contemporaryjazz.com/top-contemporary-jazz-chart-july-2-1994 https://contemporaryjazz.com/top-contemporary-jazz-chart-july-2-1994#respond Mon, 06 Jul 2026 16:43:12 +0000 https://contemporaryjazz.com/?p=5189 Tenderness from Al Jarreau was a live-in-the-studio recording that blended the intimacy of a concert performance with the polish of a studio album. Produced by Marcus Miller, the project featured an all-star cast including Joe Sample, David Sanborn, Michael Brecker, Patches Stewart, Steve Gadd, Eric Gale,  and acclaimed soprano Kathleen Battle. The album found Jarreau […]

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]]> Tenderness from Al Jarreau was a live-in-the-studio recording that blended the intimacy of a concert performance with the polish of a studio album. Produced by Marcus Miller, the project featured an all-star cast including Joe Sample, David Sanborn, Michael Brecker, Patches Stewart, Steve Gadd, Eric Gale,  and acclaimed soprano Kathleen Battle. The album found Jarreau revisiting classics such as “Try a Little Tenderness,” “Your Song,” “My Favorite Things,” “She’s Leaving Home,” and “Summertime,” while also including updated versions of his own compositions like “We Got By” and “Save Your Love for Me.” Tenderness may be one of the most relaxed and inspired recordings of Jarreau’s career, pairing his vocal agility with stellar talent and songs that gave him plenty of room to soar.

Top Contemporary Jazz Albums
Week of July 2, 1994

# Artist Album
1 Kenny G Breathless ▶
2 David Sanborn Hearsay ▶
3 Al Jarreau Tenderness ▶
4 Norman Brown After the Storm ▶
5 John Tesh Project Sax by the Fire ▶
6 The Benoit/Freeman Project The Benoit/Freeman Project ▶
7 Boney James Backbone ▶
8 Incognito Positivity ▶
9 Nancy Wilson Love, Nancy ▶
10 Paul Hardcastle Hardcastle ▶
11 Gerald Albright Smooth ▶
12 Bob James Restless ▶
13 Patti Austin That Secret Place ▶
14 Fourplay Between the Sheets ▶
15 Dave Koz Lucky Man ▶
16 Marion Meadows Forbidden Fruit ▶
17 Gil Scott-Heron Spirits ▶
18 Candy Dulfer Sax-A-Go-Go ▶
19 Ronny Jordan The Quiet Revolution ▶
20 Stanley Clarke East River Drive ▶
21 Carl Anderson Heavy Weather Sunlight Again ▶
22 Tom Scott Reed My Lips ▶
23 Joe McBride A Gift for Tomorrow ▶
24 Yellowjackets Run for Your Life ▶
25 Nelson Rangell Yes, Then Yes ▶

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]]> https://contemporaryjazz.com/top-contemporary-jazz-chart-july-2-1994/feed 0 5189 Top Contemporary Jazz March 22, 1992 https://contemporaryjazz.com/top-10-march-22-1992 https://contemporaryjazz.com/top-10-march-22-1992#respond Tue, 22 Mar 2022 20:13:28 +0000 https://contemporaryjazz.com/?p=3506 Years before I launched ContemporaryJazz.com, I maintained a personal top 10 “Jazz and New Adult Contemporary” chart of my own. It was based on what I liked and what seemed to be popular according to other charts and magazines. Top 10 Contemporary Jazz – March 22, 1992 Yellowjackets – Live Wires (GRP) Bobby McFerrin and […]

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]]> Years before I launched ContemporaryJazz.com, I maintained a personal top 10 “Jazz and New Adult Contemporary” chart of my own. It was based on what I liked and what seemed to be popular according to other charts and magazines.

Top 10 Contemporary Jazz – March 22, 1992

  1. cover to the album Live Wires by contemporary jazz band YellowjacketsYellowjackets – Live Wires (GRP)
  2. Bobby McFerrin and Chick Corea – Play (Blue Note)
  3. Marcus Roberts – As Serenity Approaches (Novus)
  4. Diane Schuur, In Tribute (GRP)
  5. The Harper Brothers, You Can Hide Inside the Music (Verve)
  6. Acoustic Alchemy, Early Alchemy (GRP)
  7. Vanessa Rubin, Soul Eyes (Novus)
  8. Special EFX, Global Village (GRP)
  9. Kilauea, Tropical Pleasures (Brainchild)
  10. Steve Laury, Passion (Denon)

I was a fan of Yellowjackets at the time. I’d  listened to “Mile High,” “Geneva,” and “Wildlife” from Four Corners many times. I liked some tracks from The Spin and Greenhouse. On this live recording, I loved “Revelation” with Take 6 on vocals. I enjoyed Michael Franks adapting “Local Hero” into “The Dream.” I still recommend “Wildlife,” a track then-bassist Jimmy Haslip describes as “an African 6/8 piece with several layers of interlocking melodies and polyrhythms. It creates a hypnotic mood.”

I know Bob Mintzer is the saxophonist on this and all subsequent Yellowjackets recordings. Whatever happened to Marc Russo, the saxman he succeeded?

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]]> https://contemporaryjazz.com/top-10-march-22-1992/feed 0 3506 Top Contemporary Jazz Feb. 13, 1994: The Benoit/Freeman Project https://contemporaryjazz.com/the-benoit-freeman-topped-the-chart-25-years-ago https://contemporaryjazz.com/the-benoit-freeman-topped-the-chart-25-years-ago#respond Fri, 15 Feb 2019 22:23:32 +0000 http://contemporaryjazz.com/?p=3066 The top ten contemporary jazz recordings from the week of Feb. 13, 1994! David Benoit and Russ Freeman, The Benoit/Freeman Project Nelson Rangell, Yes Then Yes Tom Scott, Reed My Lips Richard Smith, From My Window Torcuato Mariano, Paradise Station Marcus Miller, The Sun Don’t Lie Yellowjackets, Run for Your Life Fourplay, Between the Sheets […]

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]]> The top ten contemporary jazz recordings from the week of Feb. 13, 1994!

The Benoit/Freeman Project
  1. David Benoit and Russ Freeman, The Benoit/Freeman Project
  2. Nelson Rangell, Yes Then Yes
  3. Tom Scott, Reed My Lips
  4. Richard Smith, From My Window
  5. Torcuato Mariano, Paradise Station
  6. Marcus Miller, The Sun Don’t Lie
  7. Yellowjackets, Run for Your Life
  8. Fourplay, Between the Sheets
  9. Gary Burton/Rebecca Parris, It’s Another Day
  10. Charles Michael Brotman, Pacific Rendezvous

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