One of the things I love about social media is discovering topics, people, music, and books I might not have learned about otherwise. That’s what happened when saxophonist, composer, and educator, Brian Plautz of Chroma, followed me on Twitter a few weeks ago.
During the past month while I’ve been doing a lot of writing and revising I’ve shifted to a heavy rotation of jazz. So finding the album Pentameter by Chroma was simply perfect.
Chroma is a jazz quintet that features Plautz on sax, Alex Conroy on guitar, Joel Hill on piano, Brian Benton on bass, and Matt Raphaelian on drums. Pentameter features original jazz compositions with a melodic contemporary sound that also reminds me of jazz greats like Grover Washington and Joe Sample. I honestly can’t tell you enough how much I love this album, or how many times I’ve listened to it. The creative muse definitely approves.
Listen to the album below, or get your own copy. It’s available on Bandcamp where you can name your price. (Tip: Listen to all the tracks a few times first. Once you appreciate the melodic sound and pure genius of the compositions, you just might be feeling a bit more generous.)
What are you currently listening to?
I love listening to the selections you add here. Very smooth. And, good heavens, they have baby faces (I feel old now).
They do look like babies! I was thinking the same thing. And I’m glad you like them. Perfect music for background inspiration while writing, especially when I’m working on something where I’d find words distracting.