Jakob Manz: Groove Connection

German alto saxist Jakob hits the funk factor on this album with a core unit of Roberto Di Giola/key, Karin Hammar/tb, Bruno Muller/g, Tim Lefebvre/b, Per Lindvall/dr and guests Mark Harrington/voc, Nguyen Le/g and Paolo Fresu/tp. The toe tapping set includes a spoken recitation by Harrington on the rock s teady “Jazz Is A Spirit” featuring F resu’s muted Miles-ish horn. Manz gets funky on “Little Lucy” and there’s an overall mood of James Brown Famous Flames on the wld “Soul Good Man” and the hip “Dancing On The Ceiling”. A Sly and Family Stone-influenced “Soul Tiger” includes some groovy guitar soloing by Le, while the horns get as chaotic as a Neopolitan traffic jam on Via Nazionale on “Wade In The Water”. Leider of the pack.

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