Customer Reviews

Looking Up

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Gregg Karukas is truly at the top of his game. It is amazing how he consistently improves on his previous outing. Never have I heard anyone "tickling the ivory" like he does. I always thought "Blue Touch" would be hard to top...foolish me. There is not a bad song on the entire disc. Gregg is truly one of the smooth jazz masters. If you need to disolve the stress of the day, just plop "Looking Up" into your player (or any other Gregg Karukas CD for that matter). An incredibly solid performance by one of the smooth jazz greats!

I have long been a fan of Gregg Karukas, and this is my seventh cd by him. I looked forward to this new release with great expectations, and I certainly wasn't disappointed! Along with a line of excellent fellow musicians, Karukas fastens the grip as one of my absolute favorite smooth jazzers. Buy it and listen for yourselves!

Veteran keyboard maven Gregg Karukas returns with his latest
effort " Looking Up' a terrific smooth ride. Featuring a stellar
supporting cast that includes Peter White, Richard Smith, Thom Rotella and Michael O'Neill, this is a terrific CD from start to finish! Highly recommended!
Joseph Bertie
Smooth Jazz fanatic
Woodside,New York

This is the 9th Karukas CD that I have purchased, and he continues to be my favorite contemporary jazz keyboardist. What keeps me coming back for more is how consistently he creates such positive, upbeat, melodic music. "Looking Up" is no exception. In fact, even the title captures the positive feel of the entire CD. Also, Gregg is a master in the studio. Once again, he composed, arranged, produced and recorded every track. The sound is great, and as usual, he has surrounded himself with a group of terrific musicians. Every song is a "keeper". If you are not familiar with Gregg's music, this CD would be an excellent place to start. If you know him, then you know what to expect....Gregg Karukas consistently delivers great music!

FANTASTIC CD FROM BEGINNING TO END--COULDN'T POSSIBLY PICK A FAVORITE SONG. GREAT JAZZ CD WITH NO DISTRACTING VOCALS. HIS BEST SO FAR.

One of the most superb keyboardists in Smooth Jazz has released one of our most favorite CDs of 2005, LOOKING UP. Karukas has always had a knack for kick ass melodies (it's okay to use that term in Smooth Jazz, we're not prudes). However, on this new release he is demonstrating a whole new level of mastery on his compositions. This new partnership with Trippin `n' Rhythm Records promises to take the format's favorite sideman out of the wings and place him at center stage. His new label mate is Paul Hardcastle ... You know what they say about birds of a feather? Gregg's LOOKING UP is definitely as tasty and musically interesting as the exceptional, new, chart topping, Hardcastle release. Special guests include Rick Braun, Ricardo Silveira, Peter White, Thom Rotella, and Richard Smith. The entire album is truly enjoyable from beginning to end, so while it's challenging to pick out stand out tracks to highlight, we'll try... The sizzling and smooth, "London Underground" is the first to come to mind. A hit for Smooth Jazz radio from coast to coast. Another gem is the latest radio single, "Show Me The Way," sure to be a big favorite with music enthusiasts this fall as well as the sensuous "Deep Into You," and something near and dear to my heart, the Caribbean influenced, "Lost In Negril" (yes please).  LOOKING UP is definitely in my Top 10 favorite Smooth Jazz releases in 2005 for it's fashionable and alluring listening experience. ~SANDY SHORE

"Looking Up" is absoulutley wonderful! Every single song is great. Gregg Karukas is simply smooth jazz finest musician. This CD is extremley enjoyable and creative.

I've been a fan of Gregg Karukas for many years, and his albums just keep getting better. This is a fine creation that I enjoy more every time I listen to it. The tunes are relaxing without being mediocre, contain a complexity that invites repeated plays, and varied enough to appeal to different moods on different days. I enjoyed "Girl in the Red Dress" from the beginning, but as time goes on "Deep into You" has become my favorite, and although I didn't realize it at first, "Lost in Negril" is a wonderful creation that takes me back to fond memories of that part of the world.

The question I ask is, "How does he do it?" Gregg Karukas has done it again. What has he done? He's created another masterpiece. You don't often find a CD where every song on the disk has the potential to be a hit. I have found that with Gregg Karukas, you get more than you pay for. Anyone who wants to venture into the smooth jazz arena would do well to start with Gregg Karukas. Looking Up is just another stellar performance in a long list of great CD's from Gregg. "Girl in The Red Dress" kicks it off with a bang and the smoothness never stops. No matter how many times you listen to this CD, it never wanes. You say you're traveling and need a nice CD to listen to, this is it. You're chillin' out by the fire with that special someone, this is it. You're entertaining guess at a dinner party, this is it. In other words, this CD fit any and every occasion. If it's not a part of your collection yet, stop wasting your time and get it. You won't be disappointed at all!!!

Being fairly new to the music genre of Smooth Jazz, I just recently came across this album and Gregg Karukas and listened to the 1 min samples offered on the Trippin Rhythm website - I just loved the sound of Gregg's music, so I bought this album. It is wonderful from beginning to end in my opinion. All the tracks are great, my personal favourites being "Looking Up" and "Girl in the Red Dress" and "Isabella", which to me is everything a smooth jazz piece should be and more - this song is beautiful - buy this album, if only for this one track!!