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Exotica for moderns
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This review first appeared in the North County Times.
A pop jazz/New Age musician, saxophonist/keyboardist Steve Douglas plays easy listening music with an exotic touch. On songs such as "Java Jive" and "Balinese Rhapsody," Douglas has sampled (electronically recorded) the sounds of Balinese instruments which he then weaves into his music.
Which should not suggest that this is World Beat music; it is not. Nor does he incorporate the music of other cultures into his own; rather, Douglas is closer to the 1950s' cocktail exotica of Martin Denny or perhaps the pop/jazz band Hiroshima, which uses traditional Japanese instruments to play contemporary American popular music.
If you enjoy the instrumental music of Kenny G or David Benoit, then Steve Douglas' brand of accessible pop jazz is likely to appeal to you.