Friday, December 28, 2007

James taylor's 4th Dimension


Always-great work from the mighty James Taylor -- one of the few artists who's kept his groove going for over a 20 year period! Back in the 80s, Taylor first caught my ear as a "new" organist playing with a classic 60s Hammond sound -- funky, soulful, and right on the money -- and all these many years later, James is still very much at the top of his game, able to handle a Hammond with a flair that few other players can match! This set is a stripped-down, classic-styled affair -- a bit funky at times, jazzy at others -- always with Hammond in the lead, and supporting rhythm from guitar, bass, and drums. There's no vocals on the set, and Taylor gets plenty of space to stretch out and do his thing on the organ -- cutting some wonderfully mean lines that we'd rank right up there with classic 70s jazz funk from Charles Earland or Leon Spencer. Titles include "Picking Up Where We Left Off", "Dead Leg", "Showdown", "Acorn", "Mr Z", "Easy Time", "Boot Up", "Like A Fool", "Mincemeat", and "Special Plus Extra".

2 comments:

scaniafunk said...

thanks a lot for James Taylor.
Always admired his music so this one was a treat. Thanks again and keep
up the good work!

scaniafunk

Satchelmouth said...

I had all but forgotten about this dude ( after a shameful Acid Jazz phase in my youth :) ) so am very interested to have another listen. Thanks for sharing!