Savio Rego

Cool name, cool guy, cool songs! The San Francisco Bay Area resident is deliberately setting his course to Smooth by Smooth West with his debut release ALL I WANT. If Sade and John Mayer were to have a love child, he would sound like Savio Rego… cool, soulful pop with chilled beats wrapped around an acoustic guitar. Savio’s songs are seductive, there’s no question about it… featuring lyrics revealing open lust and melodies leading straight into hooky choruses. In my world, you can’t ask for more. Songs like the Latin-tinged “Senorita,” the breathy, “Miss You” and the subtly exotic “Jamaican Queen” are sure to reel in new fans real fast. Savio Rego grew up in Bombay and San Jose, CA… started playing guitar at the age of 13 (first song he learned was “Patience” by Guns N’ Roses). Before releasing ALL I WANT, he explored Aviation and Finances. Focused and steady, he holds a Commercial Pilot License and has worked for a Fortune 500 financial services company. Today, however, he is exclusive to his music… he says “that’s where his passion is.” With more than enough passion to go around, ALL I WANT is all you’ll need to make your personal play list a lot more exciting. ~SANDY SHORE - SmoothJazz.com

Savio's syncopated rhythms are exciting and relaxing at the same time. His vocals are hypnotic and his playing is more like a dance on the neck of his acoustic guitar. He tops it all off with a latin accent that makes me want more.
- Michele at Java Jam

Latin music has its own special way of being sexy, and when it's combined with jazz it kicks it up a notch on the sexy scale. All I Want is Latin jazz and it has such a subtle way of seducing you that you don’t
know what is happening to you, until you are totally in love. That’s what this album is really about when you listen to it from start to finish--love.

All I Want is very emotionally charged. Whether the songs are dealing with longing (Miss You) or lust (Jamaican Queen) you’ll be reduced to mush. And it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know this is just how
Savio wants you. Savio plays with your senses. Each song has a certain sensuality to it that transcends the baser needs. Savio sings with a voice that’s almost like a whisper into a lover’s ear.

Senorita opens the album slowly, almost gently, trying the waters to see what you are ready for. The steady drum beat and the acoustic guitar tease the listener with the promise of more. This is a hint of what is
to come. This album is musical foreplay, pure and simple.

All I Want is one of those albums you want to put on when you have a mission for the evening that has nothing to do with a dance floor--though that evening might well start there, with a little slow dancing. Even the instrumental Chai Time has a way about it that will leave you thinking of things other than a warm cup of tea.

Most albums that deal solely with love songs end up being trite, but not this one. The songs speak to you on a personal level. The lyrics are never cliché, and the rhythm is always slow and steady and just a touch
primal.

With eight songs, Savio begins and ends a love affair, and at the end of Love For Me leaves his listeners spent and dying for more. To say this is a good album doesn’t say enough. Few albums out there reach their
listeners on such an emotional level. All I Want reaches deep and it touches the soul of each person that listens. This is probably the most album of the year, maybe even the last five years. The CD should bear a warning label on the sleeve, stating that if it is played while alcohol is consumed, the artist can’t be held responsible for any offspring that might show up nine months down the line! Yes, that’s how romantic this
CD is.

Move over Jim Brickman. Move over Harry Connick Jr. Move over Michael Buble. Savio Rego has out-romanced all three of them and then some. All I Want is a romantic journey worth taking whether you are in love or not. It will open your senses and fill you with sensuality. It’s a pure joy to listen to. This is definitely a must-have album for any music lover's collection this year. Open your ears and your hearts to the beauty of Savio’s All I Want.
- Andrea Guy, Live Journal

Review Summary: It’s a rare thing these days when an artist can produce an album within a genre that you swear you’ve heard a thousand times before and genuinely stand out above the rest. Savio Rego’s All I Want is that kind of album.

Full Review:

The trouble with specialty genres is that, sooner or later, preconceived notions of what a particular category’s made up of will begin to appear more often than needed. If something works once for the listening audience, it’s brought before the general public until they’re sick of it. This can happen with any type of music and the Smooth Jazz format is no exception. It’s a rare thing these days when an artist can produce an album within a genre that you swear you’ve heard a thousand times before and genuinely stand out above the rest. Savio Rego’s All I Want is that kind of album.

Born in Bombay, India and raised in San Jose, California, Rego’s charisma exudes through each composition. His style of guitar playing is a gentle caress that extracts a range of emotions, all of which complement his song writing. Right from the first selection, your mind and soul are in good hands. “Señorita” is a slam dunk of a single, bare bones Latin dance existing only in hushed vocals, melodic strums, and an understated thump. Amazingly enough, that’s all you need to get lost in its mesmerizing rhythm. As potent as the song is in its original form, it’s only a matter of time before it receives a remix treatment. Lyrics like “hit the dance floor all night / to techno beats and flashing lights” is practically an invitation for ocean floor deep house enhancements.

Lyrically, the album deals heavily with love, lust, and obsession, so it’s nice to hear the last three songs steer things in a different direction. While still talking about love, you get to hear Rego’s take on breakups and falling out of love. A perfectly placed instrumental (“Chai Time”) acts as a transition piece between the head-over-heels protagonist from the last five songs and one who’s loved and lost within the last two. Incidentally, “Chai Time” could become a chill-out/smooth jazz staple. Atmospheric without being droning, contemplative but not heady, it’s an all-encompassing wind-down tune that’s perhaps best experienced with the tea that bears its name.

“Movin’ On” plays on the 12 bar blues pattern in an upbeat fashion, jazzy and airy despite the fact that the relationship is clearly over. Notice the breathy vocals of Rego as he croons with cool, “If you never really loved me / don’t tell me it’s my fault.” As the disc comes to a close, a spotlight shines down on a man and his guitar. “Love Me For Me” is Savio at his most vulnerable, singing sweetly and with remorse (in sharp contrast to the man who was “Movin’ On” just a song ago). It not only concludes the album in grand fashion, but reminds you of the undeniable talent of this man. In a world where Auto-Tune won’t die fast enough, what you see (and hear) is what you get with Savio Rego. His music is skeletal in sound, but seductive nonetheless, and Adult Contemporary stations across the nation should be beating a path to his door.
- Jason Randall Smith, Impose Magazine

Review Summary:
Savio Rego's musical debut is a collection of soothing ballads, blending R&B stylings with solid guitar playing.

For all the influences that have gone into the making of All I Want, it's remarkable that the album is as consistent as it is. Savio Rego cites many various cultural and genre styles that have helped him craft his debut, including R&B, Rock, Trance and Latin music, which are all prevalent throughout the eight tracks featured here. The result is a hybrid of sorts between John Mayer and Everything But The Girl (the group that missed you, like the deserts miss the rain) that while good, is still an acquired taste.

Rego's greatest strength is his ability to create an incredibly soothing mood from track to track. That's not to say that every song on All I Want sounds the same, but there is a very similar feeling and dynamic to each piece that brings the listener to a very calm place. Mostly this is accomplished by the smooth production that oozes a kind of '90s R&B atmosphere. All the songs go along at a slow to mid-tempo pacing dictated by a gentle, presumably machine produced beat that can produce a toe-tapping effect at times, but more so helps generates a pleasant atmosphere. The tone is furthered by Rego's voice. He doesn't give the impression that he's the greatest vocalist in the world, instead he uses a husky John Mayer-esque style that aims to draw out the sensuality of his lyrics.

All I Want isn't exactly a deep album from a lyrical stand point. Rego sings of love, love never obtained and love since gone. The verses and choruses are generally kept simple and the rhyme schemes are fairly predictable (All I need/is my Jamaican Queen/I can see/We're meant to be) (You are so fine/If you could only be mine/I have one more rhyme/be mine). But with the atmosphere Rego crafts, the lyrics ultimately become superfluous, with the way he utilizes his voice, Rego could be singing completely random words and they'd sound pleasant. The words fitting the music is just an added perk in this case.

The biggest factor varying up the music is Rego's guitar playing. "Senorita" is drenched in Spanish guitar with some Spanish lyrics to boot, while "Moving On" is as about as close to a rock/blues song as it gets here. No matter what song, Rego's ability to play is what sets the album up above the typical fare. "Chai Time" and "Love Me For Me" are unique experiences unto themselves as the former is an instrumental track and the latter is solely Rego and his guitar. Between these two songs is the basis of Rego's music. "Chai Time" is able to provide a compelling listen thanks to Rego's light acoustic picking played against the beat heavy backing. "Love Me For Me" does the same with the enjoyable guitar work and Rego's voice.
- Heath Andrews, ReviewYou.com

Guitarist/vocalist Savio Rego's All I Want is about intimacy, not just in terms of its lyrics, but in the relationship Rego has with his listeners. Rego often sings in a hushed, whispery tone not unlike John Mayer, and his acoustic guitar is soft and lush, creating layers of silky smoothness. Even when electronic touches appear, they are subdued and tasteful. This is a quiet, moody record that creates an atmosphere of warmth and calm reflection. The overall effect is like having Rego performing in your living room.

Pulsating bass and fluid chill-out textures give heft to Rego's minimal arrangements on "Senorita." There is a trace of Seal's soulfulness here, but Rego doesn't aim for his commercial slickness; like everything else on the record Rego keeps the groove fairly simple and free of studio excess. Often it is Rego's breathy voice that is the track's main hook. It certainly is attractive—a plaintive croon that paints summer afternoon clouds as they part. On "Muse" and "Jamaican Queen," Rego drifts into a dreamy, highly romantic zone, caught in the throes of love. "Jamaican Queen" offers smooth jazz without the cookie-cutter blandness and sonic sterility that sometimes infects the genre. Rego's emotions seem genuine, and his bittersweet delivery is powerful while remaining gentle.

The Latin beats and tropical percussion of "Be Mine" and the snappy funk of "Moving On" find Rego at his most animated. They add energy and spunk to what is a generally slow-paced yet deeply engrossing effort. As far as coffeehouse albums go, All I Want is effective in its ability to convey and evoke innermost feelings. Its goals may be modest but its impact is heavy.
- All About Jazz, Robert Michael Sutton