Drummer/percussionist Tom Teasley puts a fresh meaning into “soul” music, as his rhythm work has the feel of a reflective Balm of Gilead. These two releases have him in clever partnerships, each with its own wonders and charms.
Lunchbreak finds Teasley playing and hitting anything not moving with the intuitive trumpeter Dave Ballou, with the latter gracefully mourning on long tones for “Tips In Baghdad” and hiply bopping over the caravan’d cadence on “Four Or Six”. The chimes are breezy on the dusk-toned dream of “When The Wind Cries” with some mystical muted brass floating over the currents of “Lullaby”. Drums shake and ramble under Ballou’s frisky open horn on the nourish “Mop Shake & Roll” with the Indian vocal percussion of Konnakol being delivered by both Teasley and Ballou’s plunging horn on the Central Asian “Riqq Talk”. The two get bluesy on “Jongno” and Teasley gets meditative as he solos around the RAV VAST drum of “Gratitude”. A journey through timelessness.
Before departing from earth, Baptist-toned vocalist Charles Williams joined with Teasley for a mix of various messages, poems and arias. There are spoken messages of wisdom as on ”African Proverbs”, declarations of a defiantly positive faith during “I Still Believe” and “Wade In The Water” and Pentecostal pumping with the tambourine on” The Blues”. Willams gets earthy over the hand percussion on ”Funga Alafia” and broods for “Cherokee Tale” . Spiritual spirituals.