Guitarist
Doug Munro
has a chicken-scratch sound and penchant for brief melodic statements that can be infuriating for those
jazz
passengers waiting for aural liftoff.
John Scofield
-isms aside,
Munro
's
Up Against It
does contain some inventive arrangements based around the Hammond B-3 organ of
Jerry Z
. Despite a humdrum version of
Miles Davis
and
Charlie Parker
"Donna Lee,"
most of
is easily recommended. Notably,
's version of
"Softly As in a Morning Sunrise"
utilizes a creepy,
Munsters
-sounding background organ riff, while the title track is straight-up '60s
soul-jazz
. ~ Matt Collar