Friday, January 20, 2017

NEW RELEASES: FOUR TOPS – NATURE PLANNED IT; ART HIRAHARA – CENTRAL LINE; ERIC LAU - EXAMPLES

FOUR TOPS – NATURE PLANNED IT

Why did Motown ever let the Four Tops get away? This album was their last for the label – and it's an excellent one, filled with soul, sweetness, and some of the best arrangements the group had in their later years! The soul component is super-high – with tight group instrumentation that reminds us of the best Philly backing combos of the same time, but leaner too – as Dennis Coffey and Wah Wah Ragin are on guitars, Jack Ashford handles percussion, and Leonard Caston adds some nice funky keyboards. The real talent, though, is the group – and Levi Stubbs is in fine fine form on cuts like "She's An Understanding Woman", "I Am Your Man", "If You Let Me", "Nature Planned It", "Walk With Me, Talk With Me Darling", and "Happy (Is A Bumpy Road)". Even includes a great version of Todd Rundgren's wonderful track "We Gotta Get You A Woman"! (Limited edition!)  ~ Dusty 
Groove

ART HIRAHARA – CENTRAL LINE

Art Hirahara is a beautifully fluid pianist – one who really won us over with his last album on Posi-tone, and who seems to soar even more here – working in a fantastic trio that includes Linda Oh on bass and Rudy Royston on drums – plus some occasional tenor from Donny McCaslin! Oh and Royston have this round presence that really resonates strongly with Art's piano – creating this wave of soulful energy from the ground up, even on the mellower moments – with a tonal depth that's sophisticated, yet never forced at all. When McCaslin comes into the mix, his sound is a bit more separate from the three – yet in a way that only underscores their cohesion and beautiful sensitivity together. Titles include "Little Giant", "Sensitive Animal", "Central Line", "Kuroda Bushi", "Astray", and a version of the Chico Buarque tune "As Minhas Meninas".  ~ Dusty Groove

ERIC LAU - EXAMPLES

A beautiful back-to-basics set from Eric Lau – spare instrumentals that focus wonderfully on the best sort of interplay between beats and keyboards – never overdone, never overly-long, but a great reminder of how wonderful the format can be in the hands of the right musician! There's a crispness to the tunes that's wonderful – and a freshness that's really surprising, especially if you think that everything's already been done in the genre – which might have been our position, until we opened our ears to the goodness on the set! Titles include "Harmonics", "Rahw", "Harps In Space", "Lift Off", "Rhythm King", "The Sun & Beyond", "Flute Time", "Myo Shuffle", and "Everything Will Work Out Fine".  ~ Dusty Groove



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