(April 13, 2025) For those who appreciate their cup of soul with a nu jazz flavor touched up with funk, hip hop and Latin edges, Jazzhole is something special. The band has satisfied audiences since 1994, yet sometimes as an underappreciated band that was an integral part of the acid jazz movement through the eighties and nineties.
Leading the charge for this collective anchored by core members keyboardist Warren Rosenstein and guitarist John Pondel is vocalist/songwriter and group co-founder, Marlon Saunders. Besides his time with Jazzhole, Saunders’ solo artistry crossed into R&B, nu jazz and gospel, and his many collaborations included Stevie Wonder and Bobby McFerrin’s Voicestra. However, it’s been way too many minutes since SoulTracks featured Saunders and Jazzhole with the 2006 release, Poet’s Walk.
The band’s new full-length album, Moonlight Mile (Beale Music), mixes original songs and Jazzhole’s bold retakes on yesteryear hits, “I Can’t Tell You Why” and “Rainy Night in Georgia.” For the latest First Listen, the band chooses a lesser-known Rolling Stones piece from the early seventies in the title track, a tale of travelling endlessly on a long road towards home:
The sound of strangers sending nothing to my mind/
Just another mad, mad day on the road/
I am just living to be lying by your side/
But I’m just about a moonlight mile on down the road.
Saunders’ tenor caresses the senses, expressing his emotions by expanding upon his wide vocal range. Towards the end, a gospel segment finds Saunders trading his voice with organist Peter Levin (The Blind Boys of Alabama). Painted by touches of bossa nova, keyboard and percussion blips (the latter by tabla player Prabhu Edouard) and Pondel’s soft guitar strokes, “Moonlight Mile” stretches over plenty of delectably soulful miles.
By Peggy Oliver
