When Thom Rotella started recording his first solo album in the mid-Eighties, he was simply looking for a creative outlet apart from his busy career as a session player and jingle writer. In fact, the guitarist was completely unaware of the emerging New Adult Contemporary radio format that would soon make him one of its core artists, with his three recordings for DMP—The Thom Rotella Band (1987), Home Again (1989) and Without Words (1990) topping playlists and sales charts across the country. These days, the terminology for his blend of melodic jazz, funk and soul is "smooth jazz," but Rotella, who returned after a several year layoff with How My Heart Beats, is at the top of his game, once again an undeniable presence in the genre.

Telarc Jazz Zone released Rotella’s eloquent solo holiday recording Spirit of the Carols, which led to a new recording deal. The guitarist’s association with the label continues in the all original, non-seasonal vein with the lively, instantly infectious Can’t Stop, another powerful, melodic and rhythmic showcase for Rotella’s electric string passion. While his early career in contemporary jazz found him favoring acoustic, the plugged-in mode best reflects Rotella’s growth as a player, and represents where he is at creatively in 1997.

"I’ve made a big shift in my overall sound in recent years, and after going back and forth for a while, decided to aim for a whole new sound and make the big shift to the electric," says Rotella, who grew up in Niagara Falls, NY inspired by acoustic and electric guitarists alike, from Wes Montgomery to George Benson and classical virtuoso Andres Segovia. "Ironically, the more aggressive playing on the new album isn’t too far from the jazzy electric sound I started with when I was younger. When it came time to do my solo projects, the acoustic seemed to work better with the songs I was recording at the time. But these newer songs were better suited for the electric."

"In many ways, then, Can’t Stop takes me back to my roots as an up and coming player trying to become the next Wes Montgomery!" he adds.

Another element Rotella was more conscious of this time was a greater rhythmic variety between songs. "For the most part, Can’t Stop is a more up record than any I’ve done before," he explains. "And then there are the few slow songs that balance things out. In the past, I kept things mid-tempo almost throughout, but here, there’s more energy on the funk tunes and a moodiness on the ballads, greater extremes and dynamics overall."

To help achieve his aim of capturing the spontaneous feeling of his live band, Rotella works here alongside a mix of longtime cohorts as well as some new players. His revolving ensemble on Can’t Stop includes a total of four keyboardists, Mitch Forman, Larry Cohn, Jim Studer and Chris Rhyne; bassist Vail Johnson, percussionist Arnold Lucas, drummer Land Richards; saxman Joe Turano; and trumpeter Chris Tedesco. In addition, Rotella calls upon two superstars of smooth jazz, saxman Gerald Albright and trumpeter Rick Braun, to perform on three songs apiece.

"The other striking element on this album is the way I interact with the horns," he says. "I’ve never used the sax before, and on How My Heart Beats, I didn’t use the trumpet as a solo instrument. They add a new color to my sound, a different energy which provides contrast to the guitar, and helps me convey both intimacy and excitement."

"Intimacy" and "Excitement" could be used to describe the varying vibes throughout the set list on Can’t Stop, from the snappy, breezy opening romp "What’s The Story" through the smoky, lights down low ballad "Mood” and the vibrant, retro soul meets hip-hop flavors of "Dance The Night Away." Rotella’s affinity for the Seventies soul sound also shines through on the easy shuffling beat and thoughtful melody of "Lights Out," while the wired, potent funk of the title track brings to mind the most appealing breezes of the George Benson influence.

Rotella may not consider himself a strictly jazz player in the traditional sense, but his improvisational sensibilities are in rare form on the moody, synth orchestra flavored "As Close As We Can Get". After a lighthearted, spirited fusiony jam on "The Thought of You," Rotella shows off his love for the blues, texturing an organ harmony with hip-hop on the relentlessly funky "Belly Up". Rounding out the set are the exotic, driving "If Only" (featuring acoustic guitar accompaniment) and a lilting, thoughtful plea for the listener to "Stay The Night."

Thom Rotella may be best known to longtime smooth jazz listeners for his five popular releases since 1987, including last year’s How My Heart Beats on Positive Music, but they only tell part of his story. One of the most renowned session guitarists on both coasts, he’s performed or recorded with fellow smooth jazz artists Rick Braun, Keiko Matsui and Doc Powell, as well as pop stars Donna Summer, Cher, The Beach Boys, Lionel Richie, Bette Midler and Frank Sinatra.

His multi-faceted composing talents have taken him far beyond NAC radio as well, as he has written music for shows like Santa Barbara and China Beach; in recent years, he has also been busy creating TV commercial jingles and underscore music for a wide variety of accounts, including Ford, Cadillac, Goodyear, Chevrolet and Northwest Airlines. In addition, Rotella has also performed on The Tonight Show, The Tracey Ullman Show and numerous movie soundtracks, including Same Time, Next Year, The Gods Must Be Crazy and Mississippi Masala.

Born and raised by a very musical family in Niagara Falls, Rotella set his sights on a musical career by the age of eight and began jamming with rock bands in high school before enrolling at Ithaca College (as a Radio & TV major) and then transferring to Berklee College of Music, where his focus was on performance and improvisation. With the help of mentor Tommy Tedesco, Rotella quickly established himself as a top call studio musician in Los Angeles; he soon, realized, however, that he needed something more creatively fulfilling to balance that aspect of his burgeoning career.

"All my life, I wanted to be a studio musician, but it wasn’t enough for me after a while," he says. "It’s rewarding work in its own way, but I knew that a career as a solo artist was inevitable. So I put together a band, started playing clubs and pursued that avenue as well."

For a time during his years with DMP, Rotella moved back to New York and became a fixture in the studios and on the club scene as well. The jingle business brought him back to L.A., where he built a home studio and began retooling his sound in anticipation of the next phase of his solo career.

Can’t Stop is not only the latest offering from this next phase, but it is also Thom Rotella’s most diverse and satisfying recording to date. His music was there at the beginning of the genre, helping to create the whole smooth jazz explosion, and here it is again, primed to lead the music into the next millennium, with equal parts grace, style and passion.