Esprit De Four, the 12th release by the jazz quartet Fourplay, is a quiet and confident recording. The confidence can be viewed in light of the fact that pianist Bob James, drummer Harvey Mason, bassist/vocalist Nathan East and guitarist Chuck Loeb never seem to feel the need to raise the volume of their music to compete with performers who often feel the need to scream. The members of this quartet go through the tracks on Esprit De Four with the confidence that the virtuosity and creativity of their musicianship and the quality of their compositions speak plenty loud enough.

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Fourplay may well be the last true super group left on the contemporary jazz scene. Their new release Esprit De Four which may be arguably their best release thus far has just hit the streets and Bob James was kind enough to field a few questions both on the band and on their stellar new release!

Can you tell us about the origin of Fourplay? Also Esprit De Four celebrates the greater good of a rock solid quartet. Is this perhaps the most collaborative release to date?
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Fourplay’s Esprit de Four debuts at #1 on the Contemporary Jazz,  #2 Current Jazz Albums Charts, and cracks the Billboard’s Top 200!

Contemporary jazz quartet Fourplay have released their thirteenth album, entitled Esprit De Four. Originally formed in 1991, the band currently consists of bassist Nathan East, drummer Harvey Mason, keyboardist Bob James and guitarist Chuck Loeb. This is Loeb’s second recording with Fourplay and the band is taking advantage of the new direction.

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Fourplay is one of those amazing groups that only seems to improve with age and despite numerous changes in the bands line up over the years.

Esprit De Four is their latest and for me perhaps their finest release in their storied career. This is the second release featuring guitarist Chuck Loeb with the fascinating aspect that the band made the necessary adjustments to fit his sound and the unique and harmonious symmetry continues without interruption but instead a fresh perspective.

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Fourplay’s Harvey Mason has been inducted into the  Soul Music Hall Of Fame!

The people  have spoken!

The twelfth studio album from the mighty Fourplay, and the second record to feature ‘new boy’ Chuck Loeb, is an exciting prospect.  Even more so because I only recently became aware of its impending release.  Shall we get straight to the music FFF’s (Fellow Fourplay Fans)?

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