The joyful trend towards all-star tours in smooth jazz began in the
mid-'90s with Guitars & Saxes and became the standard on summer
festival circuits well into the 2000s. One of the most exciting and
popular of these has been the Sax Pack,
a clever turn of phrase that brings to mind great showmanship and
supreme cool -- qualities that popular and soulful genre saxmen Jeff Kashiwa, Kim Waters, and Steve Cole have in spades. All of them have enjoyed lengthy solo careers but were inspired when Kashiwa
presented the idea of a trio tour around 2003 after seeing a PBS
documentary on The Rat Pack. The concept was an instant success, and has
resulted in lengthy annual tours ever since, but no doubt record
company red tape held up the process of committing the energy of their
three horns to commercially released tracks. Shanachie, Waters'
longtime label, won the rights, and this "debut" album -- while not
fully capturing the blistering energy and improvisations this trio
projects on-stage -- is full of outrageous, melodic, mostly
high-grooving fun. A little short at nine cuts, they seem to be playing
it a bit close to the vest until the final three originals, when they
cut loose on the bubbling, retro-soul tune "A Little Bit Closer," the
urgently soulful, free-spirited jam patterned after their longtime idol
"Maceo," and the moody, blues-drenched closer "Goin' Home," which gives
them all ample stretching time as the others back them with sensuous
horn section subtlety. The disc kicks off with the playful, instantly
infectious first single "Fallin' for You," which all three wrote but
totally captures the vibe of many of Kashiwa's
previous hits. They load the front end of the track list with in the
pocket, perfectly catchy original tunes that only hint at what they're
capable of, but part of smooth jazz's success is being cool and polished
so they get away with it. Live, their covers of "The World Is a Ghetto"
and "Tequila" are major party tunes, while here the festivities are a
bit more candlelit (but again, well played and supremely slick and cool)
and less raucous; Jeff Golub's
guitar contribution on "Tequila" adds some great crunch to the mix. The
mixed bag here epitomizes the dichotomy between radio-ready pop
instrumentals the smooth jazz format jumps on, and the festive jams that
happen when great musicians play live. The good news that even the
songs that leave us wanting more sizzle are still enjoyable to tap along
to. (by Jonathan Widran)
Personnel: Ranedy Bowland (guitar) Wayne Bruce (guitar) Steve Cole (saxophone) Chris Davis (keyboards) Jeff Golub (guitar) Gerey Johnson (guitar) Jeff Kashiwa (saxophone) David Andrew Mann (drums, synthesizer) Mike Ricchiuti (keyboards) Bernd Scvhoenhart (guitar) Kim Waters (saxophone)
Tracklist: 01. Fallin´ For You (Cole/Kashiwa/Waters) 4.33 02. The Sax Pack (Cole/Kashiwa/Waters) 3.37 03. All I Really Want (Cole/Kashiwa/Waters) 4.26 04. The World Is A Ghetto (Allen/Brown/Dickerson/Jordan/Levitin/Miller/Scott) 5.28 05. Tequilla (Rio) 6.17 06. You Are My Staqrship (Henderson) 4.47 07. A Little Bit Closer (Cole/Kashiwa/Waters) 4.40 08. Maceao (Cole/Kashiwa/Waters) 5.59 09. Goin´ Home (Cole/Kashiwa/Waters) 5.33 ARMU 0049
