Most of the tunes here are composed by keyboardist/bassist/arranger Shane Theriot, who plays to the strengths of the two leaders. Brown reveals his early days as a drummer with a well pulsed sense of note selection, while his tone has hints of influence from the Montgomery/Benson/Ritenour school of playing while Carlton is , well, Larry Carlton. This combo works fantastically on Theriot’s tunes that harken to The Crusaders such as the R&B-ish “Stomp” and the shuffling boogie soul shuffle of “Gone Fishin’” with added horns from Ron King/tp and Greg Vail/sax. Theroit’s drum programming, bass and keyboards work create vintage Steely Dan atmospheres on the deeply grooved “Hip Pocket” while “Soul Searchin’” Is a gorgeously spacious and spacey atmospheric theme. For some of these tunes, the gents trade off themes and solos, while even more enticing is when the two do twin lead themes, as on bassist Robert Vally’s “Blue Skies” or on fellow four stringer Kenny Gradney’s gritty swampfest of “Keep Truckin’ On”.
As with all guitar albums, the best moments are the relaxed blues pieces, and there are a couple of gems. Brown and Carlton trade indigo’d conversations with Lenny Castro/perc, Travis Carlton/b and Gorden Campbell/dr on the sublime “Say What’s On Your Mind” and Brown takes a trip to the Delta with his acoustic guitar and back porched voice and Carlton picking and grinning on the rural “Shelter”.
It’s albums like this that make you want to pick up the guitar and want to take some more lessons. Inspiring and inspired.