VA - Sweet & Sexy: The Best Of New Urban Jazz (2006)

Depending on your taste, sweet and sexy in this case could really mean slight and sleepy, but it should be detectable from a glance on the sleeve -- where established names like Jeff Lorber, Warren Hill, Pieces of a Dream, and Alex Bugnon appear -- that you'll be getting a compilation of music that is undeniably very smooth and very relaxed. A two-disco compilation from Narada Jazz, Sweet & Sexy: Best of New Urban highlights material released during the last few years on Narada, Capitol, Higher Octave, and Blue Note. The second disc, dubbed "sexy," is better than the first since it's not as likely to fall into the background without notice; the real distinction is that the cuts are more upbeat than what can be heard on the first disc. Some of the notable inclusions are Urban Knights' "You're the One for Me," Acoustic Alchemy's "Angel of the South," Bugnon's version of Lauryn Hill's "All That I Can Say" (the original was recorded by Mary J. Blige), and Shades of Soul's version of Evelyn King's "Love Come Down." ~ Andy Kellman