RnB

Jazz music community with discographies, reviews and forums

The line between jazz and RnB is often blurry. Both styles of music come from the same sources and both influence each other as they constantly cross paths. The Jazz Related RnB genre at JMA pays tribute to RnB bands that are not jazz bands in name only. For example, the early to mid-70s version of Earth Wind and Fire caught the attention of many jazz and fusion fans with their virtuoso horn charts, poly-rhythmic foundation and extended harmonies over modern jazz chord changes. Many of the RnB artists listed in this genre had a strong impact on the development of jazz.

rnb top albums

Showing only albums and live's | Based on members ratings & JMA custom algorithm | 24 hours caching

STEVIE WONDER Songs in the Key of Life Album Cover Songs in the Key of Life
STEVIE WONDER
4.67 | 14 ratings
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STEELY DAN Aja Album Cover Aja
STEELY DAN
4.57 | 31 ratings
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STEVIE WONDER Innervisions Album Cover Innervisions
STEVIE WONDER
4.60 | 18 ratings
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EARTH WIND & FIRE Gratitude Album Cover Gratitude
EARTH WIND & FIRE
4.64 | 7 ratings
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CURTIS MAYFIELD Curtis/Live! Album Cover Curtis/Live!
CURTIS MAYFIELD
4.77 | 4 ratings
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ISAAC HAYES Black Moses Album Cover Black Moses
ISAAC HAYES
4.64 | 5 ratings
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STEVIE WONDER Fulfillingness' First Finale Album Cover Fulfillingness' First Finale
STEVIE WONDER
4.46 | 10 ratings
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THE TEMPTATIONS Sky's The Limit Album Cover Sky's The Limit
THE TEMPTATIONS
4.75 | 3 ratings
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STEELY DAN Countdown to Ecstasy Album Cover Countdown to Ecstasy
STEELY DAN
4.30 | 22 ratings
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ISAAC HAYES Hot Buttered Soul Album Cover Hot Buttered Soul
ISAAC HAYES
4.37 | 9 ratings
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EARTH WIND & FIRE All 'n' All Album Cover All 'n' All
EARTH WIND & FIRE
4.34 | 11 ratings
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STEVIE WONDER Talking Book Album Cover Talking Book
STEVIE WONDER
4.32 | 14 ratings
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This list is in progress since the site is new. We invite all logged in members to use the "quick rating" widget (stars bellow album covers) or post full reviews to increase the weight of your rating in the global average value (see FAQ for more details). Enjoy JMA!

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rnb New Releases

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The Bywater Sessions
Album
JON CLEARY
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So Much to Say
Album
PAUL BROWN
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The Trilogy Tour - Live from Detroit
Live album
BRIAN CULBERTSON
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Adrian Younge & Hyldon
Album
JAZZ IS DEAD (YOUNGE & MUHAMMAD)
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Terranova
Album
JESSY J
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Remembering Now
Album
VAN MORRISON
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Time 2 Groove
Album
KIM WATERS
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Renascence
Album
CYMANDE
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Weirdo
Album
EMMA-JEAN THACKRAY
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It's A Brand New Day
Album
PAUL TAYLOR (SAXOPHONE)
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Voices
Album
NAUGHTY PROFESSOR
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rnb Music Reviews

STEELY DAN Katy Lied

Album · 1975 · RnB
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FunkFreak75
The Dan bounced back from their sophomore slump with the previous year's Pretzel Logic and now they release the solid Katy Lied to universal praise and playlist favorites "Black Friday", "Bad Sneakers", "Any World (That I'm Welcome to)", "Throw Back the Little Ones", and my favorite, "Dr. Wu." Though stellar guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter is now gone and playing for The Doobies, Donald, Walter, and producer-extraordinaire, Gary Katz, have gotten into the routine of enlisting a broad palette of LA studio musicians including soon-to-be regulars Jeff Pocaro (drums), Larry Carlton (guitar), and singer Michael MacDonald. The new style, interestingly, was to in fact bring in a specific lineup of studio musicians for specific songs--a tactic that would be perfected for the Aja album on which no two songs had the same lineup. On Katy Lied it was the guitarists who performed a kind of revolving door according to stylistic preferences and availabilities. Also, Katy Lied illustrates the band's evolving preference for an expanded lineup of jazz-oriented musicians, including full horn section, vibes, and percussionists.

A good solid album, though not great, and, again, where's the prog?

STEELY DAN Pretzel Logic

Album · 1974 · RnB
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FunkFreak75
One of my favorite albums as a teenager, I could not get enough (and still can't) of hearing the title song--this despite the fact that I always considered Side One one of those most rare of species, a "Perfect Side." Yes, Rikki Don't Lose That Number" (9/10), "Night by Night" (9/10), "Any Major Dude Will Tell You" (9/10), "Barrytown" (8.75/10), and "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo" (4.5/5) make up, in my opinion, a perfect side of music, one that you can play straight through and never have to skip, stop, or be disappointed. Such a rare thing. Side two, on the other hand, is quite another story. The only song I like/love/always want to hear is "Pretzel Logic"--definitely a top 5 Dan song, maybe my favorite, of all-time. (No, nothing can ever top "Do It Again", Home at Last", "Babylon Sisters" or perhaps even "Kid Charlemagne.") Then there's the question we're all wondering about: Is this really prog--even the fringes of the jazz-rock fusion sub-genre?

STEELY DAN Countdown to Ecstasy

Album · 1973 · RnB
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FunkFreak75
Nowhere near the impact album that Can't Buy a Thrill was or up to the heights of the next album, Pretzel Logic. Is this, perchance, where the term "sophomore slump" came from? "Bodhisattva" (8.25/10), "Showbiz Kids" (8.5/10), "My Old School" (8.25/10), and "King of the World" (8.75/10) are all decent songs but none come near to the highs of "Dirty Work" or "Night by Night" much less "Do It Again" or "Rikkie Don't Lose that Number." Better off skipping this one--unless you're a collector type--and go to Pretzel Logic or even The Royal Scam. Still, what more can be said about the genius of producer Gary Katz? Some of the purely greatest sounding albums I've ever heard were produced by him, including Eye to Eye, Joe Cocker's Civilized Man, Rosie Vela's Zazu, Love and Money's Strange Kind of Love, and Laura Nyro's Walk the Dog & Light the Light as well as the entire Dan discography.

STEELY DAN Can't Buy a Thrill

Album · 1972 · RnB
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FunkFreak75
What a debut! I will NEVER forget the first time I heard "Do It Again" on the radio in Detroit--I thought I was hearing the latest Santana single, but, no! Some new kid on the block named "dan" was announcing his arrival--and what an arrival! This album burned on our record player for weeks without break. Piano, quirky cerebral lyrics, stellar lead guitar play (by sessions musician, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, who later go on to greater fame as a member of The Doobie Brothers before returning to sessions work in the 1980s), and introducing the eccentric vocal talents of principle songwriter and ultra-shy Donald Fagen alternating with ultra-smooth voice of David Palmer.

Great, iconic songs: "Do It Again" (10/10), "Reelin' in the Years" (9/10); "Dirty Work" (8.75/10); "Brooklyn (owes the Charmer in Me)" (8.75/10); "Turn That Heartbeat Over Again" (8.75/10); "Kings" (8.5/10), and; the "Blue Collar"-like "Only a Fool Would Say That" (8.5/10).

Not sure how proggy or even jazz-fusiony this album is but I am certainly happy to have an excuse to write and publish a review of one of my childhood's favorites.

STEELY DAN Gaucho

Album · 1980 · RnB
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FunkFreak75
Can a band get too glitzy?--it's music over textured, over-produced, too layered. I would argue that with 1980's Gaucho Steely Dan fell into this trap. After the world-wide adored Aja, the band had resources and swag. The album opens with three great songs--three of the band's best songs--but then takes a dive from there. Yes, listening to Side One brings back such an intensely strong feeling of nostalgia. What a year, what an era. Could life ever be better . . . . As to why Side Two never seemed to match up to the level of Aja or Side One, I think it was the jazzy, less-pop or dance nature of these songs. All three songs on Side One--"Babylon Sisters," "Hey Nineteen," and "A Glamour Profession"--were dance floor favorites--even among women. Even the Mark Knofler-manned, piano paced minor hit, "Time Out of Mind" suffers from a little too much dullness and monotony. Sound production and precision engineering has never been better than this, but the music just misses a little.

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Artists with RnB release(s)

JMA TOP 5 Jazz ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
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