For those unaware, next-generation contemporary jazz trumpeter Evan Taylor has just released his MBF Entertainment debut album, Exactly This - a project he describes as a declaration of where he stands musically today.

Taylor co-wrote the ten-track blend of jazz, hip-hop, neo-soul, and contemporary pop with 20-time Billboard No. 1 hit producer-songwriter-guitarist Adam Hawley.

The album arrives as Taylor’s new high-energy single, “Skate On” featuring 9-time GRAMMY®-nominated saxophonist Dave Koz, gains momentum on playlists across the nation. The collaboration is a celebration featuring one of Taylor’s mentors, Koz, who offered early support in the trumpeter’s development.

“Exactly This includes a lot of songs that really had one goal in mind: finding my lane in contemporary jazz,” Evan explains. “With Adam’s help, we were able to get some really amazing guest features on the album, Olí Silk, Phil Denny, and pillars of contemporary jazz like Dave Koz and Richard Elliot. This record is monumental for me in building those global relationships.”

1. “Exactly This”
2. “Shift” [featuring Richard Elliot]
3. “Laid Back” [featuring Oli Silk]
4. “Blue Dreams”
5. “Swerve” [featuring Phil Denny]
6. “Love’s Intention”
7. “Scarlet Flow”
8. “Skate On” [featuring Dave Koz]
9. “Turn It Up”
10. “Shining”

The highly skilled artist, educator, and arranger opens his new album on the sumptuously smooth “Exactly This” and the decadently grooved “Shift” and then brings us the aptly-titled “Laid Back” (featuring British smooth jazz keyboardist, producer and composer Oli Silk), the delightfully airy, summer breeze of “Blue Dreams” and the all-embracing rhythms within “Swerve.”

Along next is a deeply yearnful soul groove that lovingly threads throughout “Love’s Intention” and that is in turn backed seamlessly by the gentle ebb and flow of “Scarlet Flow,” the vibrantly cinematic hipsway of the delicious “Skate On” (featuring the American saxophonist, composer, record producer, and radio personality Dave Koz), the set rounding out on the low slung ambiance of “Turn It Up,” coming to a close on the souled R&B melodies of “Shining.”

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