Though Jessy J (the J stands for Jazz) has been releasing music a lot longer than Jessie J, she suffers the distinction that Google search doesn't want to bring her up. The search engine simply assumes you misspelled the more well-known Jessie J. The smooth jazz musician is simply relegated to the background, which almost seems to fit her music.
Second Chances is Jessy J's latest album and follows her established formula for smooth jazz mixed with Latin rhythms and R&B beats, in which her excellent saxophone playing often takes center stage in the songs. In fact, the songs on this album sound like they could have, for the most part, appeared in any of her other albums. Her music contains few lyrics, instead the focus is on the music itself. And that's where the album stumbles.
Second Chances opens with "Listen 2 The Groove," which she co-wrote with Jeff Lorber. The song loosely features lyrics, in that the title is repeated throughout the song, barely rising above the saxophone that haunts the entire album. It works well enough as an intro to the album as it's fairly simple and engaging, preparing you for what is to come.
The songs, even the two cover tracks "Feel Like Makin' Love" and "Magalenha," are fairly mundane and don't jump out as separate entities. The album sounds rather safe and similar, until the last few songs. "Double Trouble" stands out as the strongest track on the album as it does away with the unnecessary repetitious lyrics and lets each instrument - saxophone, acoustic guitar and piano - have its moment to shine on the track, as if they were in competition to outdo the other.
"Double Trouble" is followed by the equally interesting "Mambo Gumbo," which is clearly inspired by New Orleans and features Johnny Britt on lyrics. The album then closes out on "Twice," which features Latin rhythms and resumes the style most of the album's other tracks follow.
Unless you're already a smooth jazz fan, this album really isn't for you. Jazz enthusiasts have been fairly positive towards Second Chances, but it would seem to work best as background music.