Barbadian-born Saxophonist Elan Trotman Tops Billboard's Smooth Jazz Airplay with 'Runnin' Hot'

Barbadian-born sax-man Elan Trotman has been Runnin’ Hot, literally and figuratively.

That title track has been holding the No. 1 spot as a lead artiste on Billboard’s Smooth Jazz Airplay for the past three weeks.

Trotman is no stranger to the charts as he has previously led twice, featured on songs by Julian Vaughn – Afternoon Delight (September 2020) and Ride Along (July 2015).

The sax player and philantrophist of Head Start Music which benefits from the Barbados Jazz Excursion and Golf Tournament held in Barbados by the artiste, has kept his exciting career momentum going, consistently releasing great instrumental albums and singles that artfully blend contemporary urban jazz with Caribbean rhythms since his debut album Love and Sax in 2011.

Though he has had his share of purely independent releases, some of the multi-talented artist’s best vibes have come from his collections on Woodward Avenue Records, starting with the Billboard charting Tropicality in 2013 and continuing on his inspiring 2019 Marvin Gaye tribute Dear Marvin. Trotman makes a triumphant return to the label with “Runnin’ Hot,” whose title and vibrant, grooving energy make it the perfect single song soundtrack to summer.

Two cool career events in the interim could explain the effervescent, sizzling in the pocket magic Trotman creates with co-writer and producer/mixer Paul Brown and co-writer, bassist, keyboardist and guitarist Jeffrey Leroy Smith. In 2021, the former student of Harrison College, who migrated to Boston in 1998 on a full Barbados Scholarship and successfully completed a Bachelor of arts in music education from the Berklee College of Music, returned to Berklee as an associate professor in the Ensemble Department. He also performed on the soundtrack to the 2022 Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody – which may just explain the foundational danceable grooves that drive Runnin’ Hot.

The track begins with a trippy synth wash and tropical-tinged effects immediately mixed with Trotman’s soulful, melodic intro over a burst of steady funk rhythms. He blasts into the first verse with some snazzy, bubbling horn textures backed by a touch of synth atmosphere. The breezy blend of tight urban jazz power and tropical keyboard touches propels the tune forward – kind of like, as per the title, the rising of the hot summer sun.

Trotman glides along, then reaches for higher emotional notes leading into the wild, insanely infectious (even hypnotic) hook. Then while the drum beats and Brown’s percussion remain steady, he simmers down into the second verse section for a few bars before throwing off some brassy sparks rising along with an intense wall of sound that builds tension in the background.

He gets back to the hook, but this time with a richer swirling atmosphere and horn bursts off the main

melodic and grooving flow. Finally set free from the verse-chorus structure of the first 2:45 of the track, Trotman showcases his explosive and innovative improvisational artistry (which leads to a soaring crescendo), as if daring the swirling synth textures behind him to keep up. One more iteration of the chorus seals the deal, affirming an earworm that should last all season long. (NS/PR)