The Best of Mindi Abair

“April”

(Pretty Good for a Girl)

Stuck at home during COVID lockdown, saxophonist Mindi Abair had the opportunity to revisit some of the music she had recording during the past two decades. Among the tracks she unearthed were rarities and collaborations with blues and roots artists such as Gregg Allman, Booker T. Jones, Keb’ Mo’ and Joe Bonamassa. A lightbulb clicked on, and Abair decided to release a first-ever compilation under the title The Best of Mindi Abair on her own Pretty Good for a Girl imprint. While she does include some smooth-jazz hits dating back to her 2000 debut album Always and Never the Same and her 2003 breakthrough release It Just Happens That Way, and tunes from her four albums with the blues-R&B outfit The Boneshakers, she also features unreleased tracks and team-ups with the above-mentioned artists, as well as some new material. Among the latter is the contemporary-jazz tune, “April,” which she “recorded just before everything shut down,” she told JAZZIZ writer Jonathan Widran. “It’s reminiscent of my earlier smooth jazz hits. It marks a return to me being a solo artist and coming back to me.”