RONNY SMITH

STRUTTIN

Pacific Coast Jazz

Ronny Smith, guitars/keyboards/bass/programming; Arcangelo Trabucco, piano; Habbert Cheeks, Ben Pham & Phil Beale, drums; Juan Guillermo Aguilar, drums/percussion; Jose Juvinao & Zoltan Renaldi, bass; Bejamin Barreiro, Alex Bone, James White & Beto Braga, saxophones; Snake Davis, tenor saxophone; Charles Chazzy Green, flutes; Fabian Silva & Alejandra Gomez, trumpets; Guile Olivera, trombone. BACKGROUND VOCALS: Ibukun Onapajo, Damilola Adika, & Kelechi Kanu.

Ronny Smith leaps into my listening room with gusto.  His fingers dance along the guitar strings spurred by Phil Beale’s powerhouse drums that slap the rhythm into place.  This is an album of smooth jazz that will inspire dancers to crowd the floor and finger-poppers to get busy snapping fingers. The opening original composition by Ronny Smith is appropriately called “Get Up.”  Smith has written eight of the ten songs he offers us on this album.  The grooves that Smith and his band of musicians create are both infectious and addictive.  On Smith’s tune “In My Eyes” he adds voices to the mix, and once again, his melody sticks like Velcro to my mind.  Here is an arrangement full of warmth and feel-good funk.  On the fade of this song, I hear traces of Wes Montgomery’s influence inside Smith’s guitar style. In fact, Ronny admits Montgomery is one of his favorite guitarists, along with George Benson, Joe Pass, Larry Carlton and Pat Martino, who he took private lessons from on occasion. The title tune of this invigorating production has another memorable melody, with Charles ‘Chazzy’ Green’s flute adding a bit of spice to the arrangement.

I salute this talented guitar player for his service to our nation in the United States Army.  After attending Morgan State University in Baltimore, for a while he performed in the University of Maryland’s jazz band.  Once enlisted in the army, he spent the next 35-years performing as part of the U.S. Army band, while also protecting our freedom.  Since 2006, he has been releasing outstanding recordings that spotlight his impressive style on the guitar and his innovation as a creative composer.  Some of his other successful album releases have been “Smooth” in 2009, a Christmas album “The Holidays Are Here” in 2023, and “Coastal Sunset” was released in 2021.

Ronny Smith has toured worldwide, released many albums, and he shares a warm, down-home, groove-driven album of original music with two cover songs on this 2024 release.  “Angel,” is a Wes Montgomery composition, that closes his album out, with a nod to one of his dearest inspirations.  Smith also puts his own take on interpreting the jazz standard “Laura.”  Every song on this project is dynamically played and showcases Smith as a respectable composer and gifted artist.  I played this album twice. His music is addictive. The new album, “Struttin,” will be released to the public on April 19, 2024.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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