Smooth jazz
superwoman
Candy Dulfer
is the total package -- she's pretty, dresses well, plays a mean sax, and sings a bit. At a time when the Dutch
smooth jazz
star's idol and mentor saxophonist,
David Sanborn
, released one of the most organic, stripped-down, and funky albums of his career,
Dulfer
seems intent on "gussying-up" songs with what somebody must have perceived as "hip"
electronic
production. Many
jazz
musicians have attempted such
electro-jazz
productions in the name of
Miles Davis
-styled boundary-pushing, only to end up with weak and boring albums that are neither
avant-garde
enough for
fans nor hip enough for
music fans --
Herbie Hancock
's
Future 2 Future
and
Tim Hagans
'
Animation-Imagination
come to mind.
Right in My Soul
is an
R&B
album of
wrapped in pseudo-
electronica
beats and loops. Having added singing to her act a few albums back,
mainly focuses on
vocal pop
tunes, utilizing her saxophone for lite-funky asides. Some of the tracks are pleasant enough, featuring catchy, melodic hooks and passable
improvisation
. The production here can be a problem, as it utilizes elements of
music styles such as
jungle
,
drum'n'bass
, and
hip-hop
. ~ Matt Collar