Soul Express CD Review

Shades Of Soul is the brainchild of Jeff Lorber, and collaborators Nathaniel Phillips and Marlon McClain from the Dazz Band. I had expected this CD as far back as 2000 on the Major Hits label, and even earlier. The project was halted following the sad, untimely passing of Art Porter who recorded some jams with Jeff prior to his accident. Thankfully this album has now seen the light of day and I think that there will be something on it for everybody. It isn't as essential as I had hoped, but it is not as bland and twee as Jeff's recent sets which have fallen into the trap that is 'smooth jazz'. I think that Jeff Lorber is more at home with the funkier side of jazz and he really excels at the smoother side of soul. His previous works with James Robinson, Karyn White, Michael Jeffries and Benét have been outstanding in many ways, and I hope that this set sees a trend back to this style of work.

Terry Stanton from The Dazz Band offers his vocal chops to a number of songs, the best being the cool, paced opening song, "All Night Long". Fans of The Dazz Band will love this, even if this not a full-bodied, full-on vocal cut. The beat arrangement is sparse, the acoustic guitar forefront and the keys definitely rooted in the early 90s soul tradition. Superb!

This is chased up by a typical, trademark, funky Lorber effort - without knowledge of the artist we would know within 15 seconds who was responsible for this groove; fun, fresh, funky and totally cool without being smooth in the derogatory sense. Art Porter joins Terry on the funky party groove of " Enjoy Yourself" - think Dazz's "Ain't Nothin' But A Jam Y'all" and you won't go far wrong. The Herb Alpert inspired Chris Botti pops up on two cuts, the first being the instrumental number, "Gazpacho" which is very nice indeed, and "San Vicente" which is more akin to Miles Davis' playing than anything else. This is another typical Lorber construction so it wins from the start.

Evelyn King's "Love Come Down" is given a fairly positive reading but I would have preferred a new track featuring Terry on vocals. I love this guy's voice and think that it could have been better employed on some proper fully developed songs, especially ballads. "We Got To Live Together" is co-written by the lads along with Eric Benét (as is "Shades Of Soul", incidentally) and is a 70s orientated guitar driven slab of jazzy funk. Vocals are courtesy of Terry again, and I am sure Eric adds his smooth, golden tonsils to the harmonies. Where on earth has his "Better And Better" album gone? Let's have it now, please!

This funkiness continues with the OK "Get Wid' It" and "Shades Of Soul" which another Dazz Band type of funky jam. "Gansta Jam" did not impress; in fact anything that alludes to that unsavoury trait does not bode well with me, so it’s not surprising. Much better is the final cut, "Hey Uh" which apes Roy Ayers' "Hey Uh - What You Say Come On". This is a good album with some very favourable moments, but I personally would like more proper songs and ballads too for that matter. Let's hope Jeff turns his attention to this for his next release
- Barry Towler