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Boston Horns: East Coast Funk |
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Rhythm Blues & Soul
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Saturday, 31 December 2005 10:10 |
The Boston Horns
East Coast Funk
By John Sinclair
The Boston Horns have been through a lot of changes since their early incarnation as the Heavy Metal Horns, working their way through a maze of band members, musical idioms and actual repertoire until they ve distilled their artistic essence into an irresistible elixir they like to call East Coast Funk.
The Horns Henley Douglas Jr. on tenor & baritone saxophones and Garret Sayluk on trumpet have settled down into the extremely supple and ceaselessly swinging groove now being generated by the sensitive and ever-sympathetic rhythm team of guitarist Jeff Buckridge, keyboardist Mark Longo, Mike Squid Rush on bass and Jack Howard Jr. at the drums. Here the working ensemble is augmented from time to time by Russ Lawton on multiple percussions and the conga drums of Yahuba, with extra-special guest Melvin Sparks adding his beautifully seasoned guitar solos to the front line on four selections.
What's also special here is that all the songs but one have been composed and contributed by members of the band. Each tune weighs in with its own flavor, introduced by a brisk, catchy melody and extended by muscular improvisations from Henley Douglas's fluent saxophones, the eloquent trumpet of Garret Savluk and the expressive guitars of Jeff Buckridge and Melvin Sparks. A group vocal on the instructive dance number Ain t Nothin 2it offers timely advice ( Just find a groove and do it & You got to find your own groove ), and the Jimi Hendrix masterwork, Crosstown Traffic features a fine lead vocal as well, sung over a charging arrangement which may well have been inspired by the classic Gil Evans treatment given the song back in the 1970s.
The album opens up with a slinky showcase for Sparks and the Horns titled St. Charles, which flows like the river Charles and sports the kind of funky strut that can be seen from the streetcar on the downtown end of the stately New Orleans avenue of the same name. Douglas contributes a forceful tenor saxophone statement, showing off his strong, mature sound and impressive growth as a modern stylist.
Soundcheck Jam may have developed out of something played one day by Savluk on stage before the start of a show, but it's a full-fledged Boston Horns number now illuminated by musical speeches from Douglas and its composer. Henley's bari lights up his own kdoggd7, subtitled Super-Hero Theme Music for Kevin Douglas, with Savluk on muted trumpet and Buckridge's guitar to the fore. The trumpeter and producer adds a heroic flourish of his own with the dramatic Jackie's Song, a fast-paced showcase for his own open horn and the confident guitar of Melvin Sparks, who inserts a little country flavor before the Horns return to the head.
Jeff Buckridge's Speedball is another brisk workout for the Horns on a traditional funk framework punctuated by Longo's organ washes, some tasty tenor sax-trumpet counterpoint and the composer's well-spoken guitar. Buttered Popcorn, a Longo-Buckridge collaboration, projects the smoldering ambience of a Lee Morgan session from the 60s, and the final cut, Garret Savluk's nicely heated Skillet, brings the album to a satisfying close with another welcome taste of Henley's baritone sax and some rollicking interplay from Rush and Howard on bass and drums. Buckridge gets in the last word with his guitar, and the Horns take it out.
East Coast Funk comes out of the gate riding high and sustains its elevated level of musicality and fun from beginning to end. Memorable instrumentals, a pair of well-placed vocal numbers, top-notch soloing, and a remarkable group empathy and unity of purpose make the Boston Horns stand out in any sort of company. This is an album you ll play and enjoy for years to come.
Detroit
June 3, 2003
(c) 2003 John Sinclair. All Rights Reserved.
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