Marc Antoine is back with a new release in four years. It is called Laguna Beach, and coincidentally Marc has moved to the Golden State from their longtime home in Spain. His thirteenth album, Antoine produced “Laguna Beach,” wrote eight of the nine songs and called upon some of his accomplished friends to collaborate with him, something he couldn’t do easily when he lived abroad for twelve years. “When you live near LA, you can call anyone to come and work with you. Once I built my new studio over here, fired it up and began working on new material, I knew I just had to make a few phone calls to get the right guys to play on it,” said Antoine, who reached out to soloists Philippe Saisse (keyboards), Rick Braun (trumpet), Greg Vail (saxes), Armand Sabal-Lecco (bass), Tim Welvaars(harmonica) and two-time Grammy winner Paul Brown (electric guitar), who mixed the album. Anchoring the tracks were drummer Gorden Campbell, upright bassist Roberto Vally, keyboardist Marco Basci, and percussionists Gumbi Ortiz and Richie Gajate Garcia. Incorporating an interesting variety of sounds, tapestries, moods and styles remains the guitar alchemist’s forte. Antoine’s compositions on “Laguna Beach” are enriched with his spirited sense of joy and gratitude after enduring major heart surgery in 2012 to repair an incapacitating atrial fibrillation problem only to be followed by hand surgery two years later to relieve the crippling pain and permanent nerve damage he endured while playing the guitar that locked the fingers on his left hand in odd positions. After “pretty much hitting rock bottom” in 2014, Antoine and his wife, Rebeca, decided to make the move back to California where they resided prior to Spain. It turns out playing the guitar is ideal physical therapy, enabling Antoine to work through the scar tissue in his hand. “I remember vividly what a hand therapist from LA told me, that the only way to fix this is to change my ways,” Antoine recalled. “I have a deep relationship with my guitar. It’s a little bit like a marriage: if you don’t put effort into it, there is no life in it. So playing, and most importantly, playing with joy, love and respect is the key. I am so grateful for what is going on in my life right now and I am back enjoying my instrument, which fixes all problems. It is for real: life through guitar therapy.” Title track “Laguna Beach” spent 11 weeks on the Billboard Smooth Jazz Song top 10 list including 2 weeks were at Number 1 and Number 1 on Allen Kepler's Smooth Jazz Top 20. "Born in Paris later resident in Madrid now living near L.A. guitarist Marc Antoine is a global citizen in the true sense of word. His object of desire is specifically his new hometown Laguna Beach (2016). This place to live is now in the center of his interest and thematic core of his new project. To fulfill his musical dream he got help from Gorden Campbell (drums), Roberto Vally (upright bass), Marco Basci (keyboards), furthermore bassist Armand Sabal-Lecco, saxophonist Greg Vail, percussionists Gumbi Ortiz and Richie Gajate Garcia, and special guests Philippe Saisse (keyboards on “Why Not,” “Deixa” and “New Morning”), Paul Brown (electric guitar solo on “This and That”), Rick Braun (trumpet on “Minority”) and Dutch harmonica master Tim Welvaars (on “Deixa”). The musical journey begins with Why Not, the fusion point of acoustic guitar of Spanish heritage and the bluesy jazz. That acoustic guitar fits to contemporary jazz horns and piano one can hear note for note. On This And That Marc allows another string to sound, we may better know by Jonathan Butler. This is South African swing and Paul Brown adds his warm electric guitar to Marc's steel-string guitar. Laguna Beach is his tribute to the vivid place in South California, where so many smooth jazz musicians are at home. Deixa is the Portuguese word for "letting go". An effortlessly played Samba, which could easily be located in Brazil. Gives melancholy more depth to the guitar playing? Minority searches this approach featuring Rick Braun on muted trumpet. Romantico seems to be a stereotypic title for a Latin Jazz tune with the instrumentation of a Tango, where acoustic guitar meets bandoneon. But there is the flair of dancing and romancing which makes it so accessible. With a sonic High Five Marc builds a cheerful, lively and magnificently fashioned connection to smooth jazz. New Morning is a swinging Bossa Nova wake-up call without any pretentious attitudes spreading pure happiness. The title Twice Upon A Time is a sophisticated alteration of Once Upon A Time, the begin of all fairy tales. In this special case the access into the sound universe of classical music. With Laguna Beach Marc Antoine creates a portrayal of his personality as modern-day musician. His album combines masterly historical flavor and the delicacy of contemporary jazz." - Smoothjazz.de