Summer Horns
is the first studio album from
Dave Koz
since 2010's
Hello Tomorrow
. That said, it's not solely billed to him. The "and Friends" on the bill refers to three other contemporary jazz saxophonists:
Gerald Albright
,
Mindi Abair
, and
Richard Elliot
. Produced by
Paul Brown
, this is a big up-front horn section record, full of jazz, funk, and R&B covers, alternately by
Greg Adams
Tom Scott
Gordon Goodwin
Albright
. The four-sax line is augmented by brass in various places, too. While
Brown
's production sound stays within the genre of contemporary jazz -- it's both clean and bright -- the feel is all groove. Early on there is a finger-popping open-road vibe in the take on
Herb Alpert
's "Rise," and an atypical jazzy read of
Sly Stone
's "Hot Fun in the Summertime," with
Brian Culbertson
adding a trombone solo and chorus vocals by
Jonathan Butler
and
Jeffrey Osborne
.
Abair
's lead alto on the cover of
Paul Desmond
's iconic "Take Five" is slippery and warm, and rides the time signature beautifully; the multi-horn arrangement by
Goodwin
, with its layered and interweaving solos and upright bass in place of the piano and drums, is a nice touch.
Michael McDonald
's vocal on
Tower of Power
's "So Very Hard to Go" is every bit as soulful as the
Motown
covers on his own records.
Koz
's lead alto breaks are tasty.
Adams
' chart substitutes elegance for grittiness, but the emotion remains. While
Chicago
's "25 or 6 to 4" and
James Brown
's "I Got You (I Feel Good)" suffer a tad for their lack of wildness, both have interesting guitar touches and fine solos by
, respectively. Led by
Elliot
's expressive tenor,
Charles Stepney
Earth, Wind & Fire
's "Reasons" is a groove-laden midtempo babymaker and a set high point.
Rick Braun
's trumpet solo and
Butler
's gospel moaning vocal turn
Stevie Wonder
's "You Haven't Done Nothin'" into one of the set's dancefloor shakers.
's horn chart is funky, chunky, and righteous. The lone original here is the title track. It's pure contemporary jazz, with
delivering a nice soprano solo followed by
's fine tenor break.
Lenny Castro
's percussion and
Roberto Vally
's bassline keep the groove fluid and deep.
doesn't pretend to be anything other than it is: a good-time record that sounds like it was as much fun to make as it is to listen to. ~ Thom Jurek