One glance at the personnel, which includes such popular "smooth" players as tenors
Kirk Whalum
and
Boney James
, trumpeter
Rick Braun
, and pianists
George Duke
Jeff Lorber
, could easily lead one to believe that this CD is filled with vacuous and mildly soulful background music. Actually, the playing on
Downright Upright
is a surprise, for most of the selections are reasonably creative renditions of
soul-jazz
. Four songs (
"Cantaloupe Island,"
"Mercy Mercy Mercy,"
"Cold Duck Time"
"Chameleon"
) are
standards
given rightfully soulful treatments, and most of
Bromberg
's originals are worthwhile although a couple veer close to smooth. Most listeners knew that
could play worthwhile
jazz
if placed in that context but the fine solos of
and particularly
will surprise many.
Less of a surprise is the virtuosic bass solos of
Brian Bromberg
, a master at tapping. None of the music on
would be considered innovative and the style itself is more than 30 years old, but to hear these
pop
/
musicians challenging each other a bit is fun. One wishes that they did it more often. This CD was nominated for a Grammy award in 2007 for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. ~ Scott Yanow