Cool And Sparkling

by Jason Ankeny While its title and cover certainly suggest a record firmly in the bachelor-pad lounge music camp, Cool and Sparkling: The Liquid Sounds of Paul Smith nevertheless boasts a melodic ingenuity and technical emphasis that reward deeper listening--what keyboardist Smith dubs "liquid sound" is in fact a space-age pop precursor to soul jazz, with an energy and groove all its own. Aided by clarinetist Abe Most , guitarist Tony Rizzi and bassist Sam Cheifitz , Smith is too good a player and too clever a composer to settle for mere background music--structure is as important here as sound, and while Cool and Sparkling blends effortlessly with its surroundings, it never sacrifices substance for style.