Idris Muhammad
's
House of the Rising Sun
is a legendary
soul-jazz
album, and for good reason. First there's the fact that,
Grady Tate
notwithstanding,
is easily the greatest of all
drummers. Next, it is revealed that label boss and producer
Creed Taylor
was at his most inspired here, and wasn't afraid to err on the
rhythm and blues
side of the
jazz
equation. The material is top-notch, and
David Matthews
, who orchestrated and arranged this date with the exception of one track --
"Sudan"
was written by
Muhammad
and
Tom Harrell
, and
Harrell
arranged it -- was on fire. As a bandleader,
is shockingly effective. Not because one could ever doubt his ability, but because of his reputation as one of the great studio drummers in
. Finally, this is the single greatest lineup in
Kudu
's history, and features the talents of
Don Grolnick
,
Eric Gale
Will Lee
Roland Hanna
Joe Beck
David Sanborn
Michael Brecker
Hugh McCracken
Bob Berg
Fred Wesley
Patti Austin
, and a dozen others playing their asses off. From the title track which opens the album, with
Austin
reaching the breaking point in her delivery, to the stunningly funky groove in
Ashford and Simpson
"Hard to Face the Music,"
to the minor key
funk
of the
Chopin
-adapted theme in
"Theme for New York City,"
to
's triple-timed drums and killer Eastern-tinged hooks, and a read of
the Meters
'
"Hey Pocky A-Way,"
with
's dirty finger poppin' bass atop
McCracken
's bluesed-out slide work, this is a steaming, no let-up album. Add to this a gorgeous version of the
Ary Barroso
Brazilian
classic
"Bahia,"
and you have the set for a classic
album. But the complete disregard for the political correctness of "
Jazz
" itself, in order to get the deeply funky and soulful grooves across, is what makes this set so damn special and even spiritual in its inspiration.
purists lost all credibility when they slagged this one off, caught as they were in tainted, even racist views of the past that made no allowances for
musicians to actually follow their time-honored tradition of mining the
pop
music of the day to extend the breadth and reach of
itself. Anybody who wants to believe that
George Gershwin
is somehow more important than
George Porter Jr
. is already lost in his own cultural fascism.
, who understands this better than anyone, pulled out all the stops here and blasted out one amazingly tough, funky slab. Brilliant. ~ Thom Jurek