Whether in rock or jazz, the beat can get hit hard, as on these two recent releases.
Singer and guitarist Sarah Borges times up with Binky/b, Eric ‘Roscoe’ Ambel/g-key, and Phil Cimoni-Ed Arnold/dr for ten originals that feature her rough and ready voice in a variety of blues rock settings. The band sounds a lot like the 70s band Free (or its later incarnation, Bad Company) on “Let Me Try It” and “Grow Wings” have similar riffs, while her indie voice sears over frantic punk pulses on “House On A Hill” and “Headed Down.” The band really hits hard as Borges taps into Suzi Quatro on “Lucky Rocks” while boogieing on “Oh Victoria.” 70s FM music revisited?
Bassist/leader Max Moran brings together a rich collection of jazz artists like Donald Harrison/as and Nicholas Payton/tp on board for this album, but the grooves are leaning mostly on the hard funk and muscular soul rock side of things, although it works very well. A bit of rap attitude takes place with a big horn section on “All Right” with Payton in the lead, and the Afro Cuban “Continuation” has Harrison searing through the percolating percussion. The team flexes muscles on “Red” and the band digs deep on “The Grass” while more romantic moods are evoked lun a lush “Far Away.” You even get a speech from James Baldwin on the closing “Freedom” that ends the album with some street cred. Urban renewal.