Cobalt Blue, William Woods' second album, is a well-sculpted, focused collection of original compositions set firmly within the Smooth Jazz genre. It is a fresh contrast to his first album. The cd was released to critical acclaim and picked up a Smoothie Award along the way. In addition, the first track lifted for radio play, ‘Blue Me Down’, was included by WJZW (Wash. DC) DJ Al Santos in his 2004 Top 50 Year End Countdown.
Cobalt Blue, released on the Qantar Music label, is produced by Regis Branson (Alex Bugnon, Howard Johnson, Najee, Will Downing and others) who also adds Keyboards, Bass, Drums and Percussion, as well as vocals. The CD features a cast of New York jazz/pop mainstays, Vincent Henry (Ice Cube, Maceo Parker, Alex Bugnon and others) on soprano sax, Mark Friedman (The Dalton Gang) on soprano sax, Robert DeBellis (Anthony Braxton, Doug Byron, Julius Hemphill and Steve Holland) on alto sax, and Bernard Davis (The Isley Brothers, Steve Winwood, Lionel Hampton, Mariah Carey and others) on drums and percussion. With its constant groove, broad emotional range and solid performances, Cobalt Blue delivers strong medicine that goes down smooth.
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