I'm picking a thumptastic little fusion jazz number today.  Just 'cause I feel like it.

Around fifteen years ago, maybe more, there was a local radio station that went by the call letters KEZL.  Now, that may make you think "easy listening", as in elevator/doctor's office drivel.  But no, this outfit played a lot of really good fusiony jazz and new-age type stuff, and it seemed like every evening during a work commute I would hear some great track I'd never heard before.  It was a definite alternative (before that term had become such a lame cliche) to the hair metal and dance club dreck that dominated the airwaves at the time.

Sadly, KEZL would later mutate into a "smooth jazz" format, and you know what that means.  Kenny G hell.  Arf. 

Nevertheless, I was still thankful for the great tunage it had played earlier.  One such example was "Rio Sol" by Lee Ritenour.

Click here to watch a live performance of "Rio Sol" on YouTube, featuring prolific session bassist Abraham Laboriel.