One of the records that completely missed my radar when it was released back in the summer of 2019 was Los Angeles producer Jason McGuiness brilliant cosmic jazz album Empyrean Tones.

On this full-length release, McGuiness is backed by a truly all-star lineup that includes some of today’s true jazz boundary-pushers like tenor saxophonist Kamasi Washington, trumpeter Keyon Harold, organist Tim Felton (The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble), and bassist Brandon “Eugene” Owens (Terrace Martin, Mark de Clive-Lowe), as well as jazz greta and member of the legendary Detroit-based Tribe collective, trombonist Phil Ranelin. McGuiness also plays synths and contributes electronic effects throughout the 10-track album. Musically the album blends hypnotic cosmic jazz melodies, with funky backing grooves, electronic effects, and spacey atmospheric tones.

With a re-pressing of this recording making it’s way back into record shops, I couldn’t be more excited to have finally been exposed into what probably was one of the best, and unfortunately slept on, jazz-funk recordings of this past year. Highly recommended!

Jason McGuiness — ‘Empyrean Tones’
(Common Good Records)

1. Oceans
2. Black Messiah Project feat. Randal Fisher
3. Apollo feat. Phil Ranelin & Seb Zillner
4. Cosmos – Fire 2 feat. Phil Ranelin
5. Cosmos – Fire 3 feat. Mark de Clive-Lowe
6. Incoming feat. Tim Felton
7. Empyrean Tones feat. Keyon Harrold
8. Titans feat. Kamasi Washington & Tim Felton
9. Discipline feat. Tim Felton
10. Winds

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• Jazz
• Jazz Funk