The Jazz Masters

Paul Hardcastle released some albums as the Jazzmasters in the '90s in addition to his normal output. The Jazzmasters moniker is somewhat misleading -- the Jazzmasters are essentially a Hardcastle solo project featuring vocalist Helen Rogers as well as the occasional contributor like reedist Phil Todd. The first Jazzmasters album appeared in 1991, with subsequent albums coming every few years. The Jazzmasters albums explore more electronic sounds than Hardcastle's traditional output; it's not strictly dance music, but is quite lively and seemingly trendy for contemporary jazz music. The albums sold very well; however, critics were less than impressed. © Jason Birchmeier /TiVo