At its best, soul-jazz has successfully blended the accessibility of R&B with the freedom and spontaneity of jazz. Many of
David "Fathead" Newman
's more commercial recordings of the 1960s and 1970s fit that description, like
Hank Crawford
,
Grover Washington, Jr.
Stanley Turrentine
, and
David Sanborn
Newman
showed a lot of R&B fans that improvisatory horn solos weren't something to be afraid of. Improvisation, however, isn't something that you will hear a lot of on 1976's disappointing
Mr. Fathead
, which was produced by
Joel
and
Jonathan Dorn
. For the most part, this erratic and unfocused LP isn't soul-jazz, most of the material is either disco-funk or lightweight instrumental pop. A few of the tunes are OK;
"Groovin' to the Music"
is a catchy disco-funk item along the lines of
the Brass Construction
the Crown Heights Affair
, and the gritty, infectious
"Mashooganah"
is somewhere between soul-jazz and fusion. But for the most part,
wastes
's considerable talents. This record is strictly for completists. ~ Alex Henderson