How acclaimed Virginia saxophonist James "Saxsmo" Gates kept his jazz dreams alive.
by Peter McElhinney
James "Saxsmo" Gates plays saxophone like an R&B singer, inhabiting a soulful, melodic no man's land between straight-ahead and smooth jazz. On his new CD, "Gates Wide Open," with sidemen including James Brown trombonist Fred Wesley and contemporary saxophonist Walter Beasley, Gates soars above a high-gloss accompaniment of synths, backbeats and backing vocals.…[ Read more ]