This immensely versatile guitarist was creating and with his late partner as 20 years ago; years before both genres were known by their current names. A popular force back then and still going strong, is in that rare position of being both an influential elder statesman and a modern innovator, and he's big with a wide variety of singers too (including ). He's been in the mellow, radio-friendly mode more than ever before with his current label, , which specializes in picture perfect airwave hits, and for the most part, those hard to resist, melodic gems are what this latest disc is about. The opening track, lives up to its billing, with the guitarist trading his percussive and aggressive lines back and forth with 's jumpy ivories and 's scorching sax lines. The title track and aren't quite as taxing on 's jazzy ability, but the bounce is irresistible and the hooks (especially the guitar-horn blend on the latter) are captivating. Fortunately for fans who know what is truly capable of, the label lets him do some exploring away from commercial considerations on two tracks that top out at over seven minutes -- the -flavored (which begins as an acoustic mood piece before evolving into a crackling jam) and the mystical A real melody emerges, but this one is more about Eastern atmospheres, soaring electricity, odd sound effects, and voices and creative percussion patterns. fans will most enjoy another somewhat piece which features musing over dense percussion patterns and floating textures. ~ Jonathan Widran