Paul Brown & Marc Antoine: Foreign Exchange

The pairing of guitarists Paul Brown, smooth jazz’s top producer, and Marc Antoine was a brilliant idea. One listen to Foreign Exchange and you’ll agree. These two superstars combine a variety of genres, including pop, jazz, R&B, Brazilian & Latin music to create a perfectly smooth listening experience. Foreign Exchange is a fantastic record! All ten tracks standout; there are no fillers here.

This listener has been a fan of Marc Antoine since his early album Madrid, and felt he needed no further accompaniment on the guitar. However, Paul Brown and his Gibson L-5 electric complement Antoine and his nylon acoustic quite fabulously. Brown’s production and playing is slick, while Antoine co-produces and adds his special touch of French and Spanish flavors to the mix. Both contribute drums and percussion to some of the tunes on Foreign Exchange.

As often happens on smooth jazz albums, many songs just blend into one another without being noticed by the listener. This is certainly not the case on Foreign Exchange. All tracks differ enough from each other, so that a listener could have his or her favorites to replay. Smooth grooves like Wine Night, Flight Of The Conchords, the bluesy Brother Earl and What About Bob, the title track, and the closer Bridges of Paris are possible favorites.

These chart-topping smooth jazz masters are stellar and talented musicians, including Jerry Hey on trumpet, Philippe Saisse on keys, Dan Higgins on the sax, and Bill Rickenback on the trombone make them shine even brighter.

It wouldn’t be a too much of a stretch to say that this CD deserves to be the best-selling smooth jazz recording of 2009. Paul Brown and Marc Antoine should continue collaborating, since it is a magical combination. Foreign Exchange is a flawless collection of ultimate smoothness.