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Blue Keys
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Blue Keys
Current price: $17.99
Barnes and Noble
Blue Keys
Current price: $17.99
Size: CD
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Since releasing
Shaw-Neeq
, his seminal 1971
Black Jazz
debut album while still a member of
Ray Charles
' band, guitarist
Calvin Keys
has recorded only sporadically. In 1975 he issued an extremely worthy
follow-up titled
Proceed with Caution!
, but joined
Ahmad Jamal
's group and didn't record as a leader until the mid-'80s. He signed with the venerable indie
Wide Hive
in 2000, issuing the crucial acid jazz classic
Detours into Unconscious Rhythms
.
Blue Keys
marks only his fourth outing for the label.
This nine-track set is performed by a star-studded cast that includes
Gary Bartz
on alto sax,
Steve Turre
on trombone and shells,
Babatunde Lea
on percussion, bassists
Henry Franklin
and
Scott Brown
, saxophonist
Doug Rowan
, drummers
Thomas McRee
Mike Hughes
, pianist/keyboardist
Mike Rinta
, organist
Mike Blankenship
, and pianist/producer
Gregory Howe
.
Set opener "Peregrine's Dive" juxtaposes jaunty post-bop, Latin rhythms, and elegant funk. Introduced by a minor modal piano, a sprightly jazzy guitar run, and
Bartz
's moaning alto,
Turre
's trombone enters atop a shuffling, breaking drum kit and double bass.
solos first, weaving sumptuous lines around the band before
enters, pushing the crew with a rhythmic approach.
Keys
adds expansive vamps in direct interplay with trombone and drums. His solo weds complex, rhythmic chord voicings and fluid, edgy single-note runs. The jam ultimately swirls together, moving frenetically yet steadily. It's almost danceable. "CK 22" is introduced by a fingerpopping bass riff before keys and trombone decompress them with open modal circularity; playing both trombone and conch shells,
offers harmonic support while
delivers a deep blue solo. Speaking of blues, "At Arrival" showcases
' canny playing, atop a walking double bass, congas, and drums, while "Making Rain" is a funkier look at jazz-blues a la
Phil Upchurch
T-Bone Walker
. "Six to Seven" explores dub reggae, post-bop, blues, and funk.
' five-note theme is buoyed by brass and reeds atop bumping congas, taut basslines, and percussive syncopation. His guitar winds complex scales yet never abandons the groove. A much edgier blues appears in the title track. Initially,
revisits his journey with the
Charles
band, melding leads, chords, and vamps with a piano accent and swinging Chicago-style horns. Closer "BK 18" is the genuine jazz-funk article. A horn section vamp is urged by the drum kit to set up a frame for
, who makes use of
Bob Marley
's Get Up, Stand Up" in the lyric riff. Rhythmically inventive,
solos directly at them before letting the horn section exercise a lyric, harmonic motif that hovers between
Fela Kuti
James Brown
. The middle-eight breaks the jam open as horns, breaking drums, hypnotic bass, and a meandering keyboard line flow around and through his playing. Following
serpentine, cut-to-the-bone solo, the tune concludes with spacy dubwise effects and brassy authority. Though recorded eight years later,
picks up where
Electric Keys
left off yet is more musically advanced and groove-centric. This is powerful stuff. ~! Thom Jurek
Shaw-Neeq
, his seminal 1971
Black Jazz
debut album while still a member of
Ray Charles
' band, guitarist
Calvin Keys
has recorded only sporadically. In 1975 he issued an extremely worthy
follow-up titled
Proceed with Caution!
, but joined
Ahmad Jamal
's group and didn't record as a leader until the mid-'80s. He signed with the venerable indie
Wide Hive
in 2000, issuing the crucial acid jazz classic
Detours into Unconscious Rhythms
.
Blue Keys
marks only his fourth outing for the label.
This nine-track set is performed by a star-studded cast that includes
Gary Bartz
on alto sax,
Steve Turre
on trombone and shells,
Babatunde Lea
on percussion, bassists
Henry Franklin
and
Scott Brown
, saxophonist
Doug Rowan
, drummers
Thomas McRee
Mike Hughes
, pianist/keyboardist
Mike Rinta
, organist
Mike Blankenship
, and pianist/producer
Gregory Howe
.
Set opener "Peregrine's Dive" juxtaposes jaunty post-bop, Latin rhythms, and elegant funk. Introduced by a minor modal piano, a sprightly jazzy guitar run, and
Bartz
's moaning alto,
Turre
's trombone enters atop a shuffling, breaking drum kit and double bass.
solos first, weaving sumptuous lines around the band before
enters, pushing the crew with a rhythmic approach.
Keys
adds expansive vamps in direct interplay with trombone and drums. His solo weds complex, rhythmic chord voicings and fluid, edgy single-note runs. The jam ultimately swirls together, moving frenetically yet steadily. It's almost danceable. "CK 22" is introduced by a fingerpopping bass riff before keys and trombone decompress them with open modal circularity; playing both trombone and conch shells,
offers harmonic support while
delivers a deep blue solo. Speaking of blues, "At Arrival" showcases
' canny playing, atop a walking double bass, congas, and drums, while "Making Rain" is a funkier look at jazz-blues a la
Phil Upchurch
T-Bone Walker
. "Six to Seven" explores dub reggae, post-bop, blues, and funk.
' five-note theme is buoyed by brass and reeds atop bumping congas, taut basslines, and percussive syncopation. His guitar winds complex scales yet never abandons the groove. A much edgier blues appears in the title track. Initially,
revisits his journey with the
Charles
band, melding leads, chords, and vamps with a piano accent and swinging Chicago-style horns. Closer "BK 18" is the genuine jazz-funk article. A horn section vamp is urged by the drum kit to set up a frame for
, who makes use of
Bob Marley
's Get Up, Stand Up" in the lyric riff. Rhythmically inventive,
solos directly at them before letting the horn section exercise a lyric, harmonic motif that hovers between
Fela Kuti
James Brown
. The middle-eight breaks the jam open as horns, breaking drums, hypnotic bass, and a meandering keyboard line flow around and through his playing. Following
serpentine, cut-to-the-bone solo, the tune concludes with spacy dubwise effects and brassy authority. Though recorded eight years later,
picks up where
Electric Keys
left off yet is more musically advanced and groove-centric. This is powerful stuff. ~! Thom Jurek
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