Here’s one of the guys who started it all-the mix of jazz, R&B and “smooth” sounds. Unlike his sideman K Gorelick (aka “Kenny G”), Lorber has kept the ability to swing it, and teamed with Jimmy Haslip, he keeps the sounds popping.
The rest of the band aren’t exactly slackers, either. Former Yellowjacketers Robben Ford/g, Bob Mintzer/ts as well as drummers Vinnie Colaiuta, Ash Soan and Gary Novak keep the tempos cooking. Gary Meek/sax, Michael Thompson-Paul Jackson/g and Lenny Castro/perc round out the band and David Mann provides the snappy horn arrangements. You get here lots of upbeat grooves with an irresistible backbeat as on “Get Up” and the AWB-ish “Mustang” with a hip tenor sax solo. Some Soul Train horns deg dep on “Right On Time” and Haslip himself makes his bass sizzle on “Starfish” and the easy glide of “Tenth Victim.” A Stevie Wonderish “Deep Green” and Fabulous Flamer “Soul Party” shows what Lorber can do with the keys, and they truly glisten on the groovemeister of a title track. Could jazz really be this popular again?
Heads Up Records