NORTH '2UNES' WOODALL Straight @ You
US 2Unes Records, 2007
1) Rock Steady 2) Sweet Baby 3) Going In Cirles 4) All I Need Is You 5) Rain Forest 6) MVP 7) Find Your Way 8) Just Add Water 9) Café 290 10) Let's Groove
I have lost almost ALL my interest in what passes as "Jazz" in America today. I feel that this...
“Smooth Jazz” stuff has gone well beyond polished to the point of being featureless and
unremarkable. The European and British take is one I am far more excited about, but I have to
say this set is from the US, is one that I definitely approve of. North “2Unes” Woodall
does not fall into the mind-numbing abyss which is the home of most of today's
Smooth Jazz heavy hitters. North is a passionate guitarist who certainly knows how to mould
the instrument to his songs. The album also succeeds due to a healthy mix of styles and
tempos with a heavy vocal presence.
As with many “jazz” sets these days, the album contains a number of covers but on here, at least,
these are approached in a truly jazzy and innovative way. The Whispers' excellent
“Rock Steady” is still recognisable and has been masterfully crafted into a very buoyant
and cheerful number, as has a more recent song, “Find Your Way” by Kem. North’s style is
a tasteful blending of the smoother side of Dennis Coffey – think “Under The Moonlight”
from 1989 – and the blues edge of the late, great Eric Gale. I think that the
Earth, Wind & Fire cover is my least favourite but the horns are spot on and the
guitar playing is easily on par with Norman Brown. I was really impressed with “Sweet Baby”
which is really top-quality. The quality, I have to say, is easily on par with what we would
expect to hear from the likes of Verve or Heads Up.
If you enjoy the sax blowing of the superb Kenny Blake then the solo performance on
this song is simply excellent and will definitely be to your liking. The soulful appeal
is always forefront and no more than on this song; this is an easily accessible track.
Eric Gale comes to mind with the brassy, bluesy and laid back saunter of
“Going In Circles”, and is nicely balanced against the preceding vocal cut,
“All I Need Is You” with its vibrant arrangement and strong piano-led rhythm. I am
easily bored with today’s jazz, but gladly this CD kept my interest up and has more
than kept me company of the dreaded journey to work and the mad dash home! Better
than most of the releases, I hope that North maintains this momentum and manages a
second release along the same lines, hopefully with a firm foundation in soulful vocals.
Highly recommended and definitely a refreshing listen! Marketed via www.soulchoonz.com,
this set has been triumphed in the UK in various outlets and also available online
– so no shilly-shallying – check it out!
- Barry Towler
