🎧Episode 111: Production Yacht, Fusion Fire & A Smooth Classic That Should’ve Been #1

This episode opens in surprisingly authentic waters. Jonathan kicks things off with a sleek, classic yacht rock–styled track from production house Bigger Story Music—a reminder that sometimes the most faithful recreations of West Coast polish are hiding in unexpected corners of the music world.Curtis then shifts gears into high-velocity jazz-fusion with a blistering performance from Hiromi and her band Sonicwonder, where technical brilliance somehow still leaves room for melody and hooks.We also return to The Deep Cut State, asking entirely reasonable questions about recurring studio aesthetics, suspicious stylistic resurgences, and whether smooth production eras ever truly die… or just relocate.In the category songs, Jonathan brings a Cover featuring Fourplay alongside Phil Collins, blending polished jazz textures with pop-era familiarity. Curtis closes with a #1 In Our Hearts selection from George Benson, delivering timeless groove and the kind of crossover magic that still feels like it topped the charts—even if it technically didn’t.Production yacht authenticity, fusion virtuosity, smooth collaborations, and another file added to the Deep Cut State archives.Audio note: Curtis’ microphone went rogue during this recording session. It’s been fixed going forward.Curtis Gross is a self-employed video editor.Jonathan Workman is an adult learning consultant based in Wichita, KS.---Make sure you are subscribed to Why Is This So Hard For You. Type Why Is This So Hard For You in your podcast provider, hit that subscription button, and leave us a five-star review. This will make it easier for other podcast listeners to find the podcast.---The intro music is the first 30 seconds of the Ornette Coleman tune "Song X" fed into AI software that attempts to output the song to a solo piano transcription. The outro music is the first 30 seconds of Sonny Rollins' version of the tune "St. Thomas" fed into the same software.