passion

For those who love smooth jazz, or in­stru­men­tal mu­sic with a rhythm-and-blues twist, the Pas­sion group de­liv­ers in spades. While our oth­er groups spe­cial­ize in the clas­sic jazz sound — swing and lat­in beats — this one has a slick and ea­sy­go­ing con­tem­po­ra­ry vibe: think George Ben­son, Acous­tic Al­che­my, Sade.

Passion was a solo album I re­cor­ded a while back. It was strict­ly a stu­di­o pro­ject, but en­thu­si­as­tic lis­ten­ers en­cour­aged me to form a band that could rep­li­cate that stu­di­o sound. We did, with some of the re­gion’s fin­est and groov­ing­est mu­si­cians. The re­sult is a sty­lish sound that takes you from af­ter­noon par­ty to soul­ful night­life.

“It was a joy lis­ten­ing to the Pas­sion Pro­ject. It’s re­fresh­ing, in­tel­li­gent smooth Jazz.” Judi Deleon, Ex­ec­u­tive Vice Pre­si­dent, San An­to­ni­o Parks Foun­da­tion

“Pi­an­ist and com­po­ser Bar­ry Brake re­cent­ly grac­ed the San An­to­ni­o Mu­se­um of Art, as part of our Scene at SAMA cock­tail/hap­py hour se­ries, with am­o­rous mel­o­dies and laid-back groov­es. From love at first sight to songs of com­mit­ted de­vo­tion, the Pas­sion Pro­ject play a brand of con­tem­po­rar­y sounds that Brake’s not a­fraid to call ‘smooth jazz.’ AND in the hands of Brake, you know it still swings.” Kory Cook, Mu­sic Di­rec­tor, KRTU 91.7 FM

“Barry Brake’s Pas­sion, a new pro­ject of the jazz pi­an­ist, fill­ed the gal­ler­ies with con­tem­po­ra­ry fu­sion. Its fun­ky drive spun a sur­real web.” Nancy Cook-Monroe, Life­style Col­um­nist, my­san­an­to­nio.com