Home
Soul Purpose
Loading Inventory...
Barnes and Noble
Soul Purpose
Current price: $14.49
Barnes and Noble
Soul Purpose
Current price: $14.49
Loading Inventory...
Size: OS
*Product Information may vary - to confirm product availability, pricing, and additional information please contact Barnes and Noble
displays a variety of influences on
, his second album to be marketed as a
release. The title track, as its name suggests, borrows from '60s
, even if much of it is played on synthesizers. In his sleeve note for
he writes, "Learning every
song was a big part of my musical education." Actually, that tune doesn't sound much like
, but
(nominally a Brazilian number) and
certainly do, though
smoothes out the band's familiar
rhythms. He attempts to show off his
chops on a cover of
's
that sounds more like a studio goof, lasting only a minute, but his version of
actually shows reverence. These differing genre exercises are the most notable aspects of the album, but they really just provide variety to what is otherwise a fairly pedestrian set of
pieces. As is de rigueur for the genre, a steady, smooth-but-slightly-funky rhythm track underlies a couple of repetitive melodic patterns on each song, over which
solos on acoustic piano, sometimes adding a Hammond B-3 organ or Fender Rhodes track. His improvisations have narrow limits, and the pieces simply roll along for about four minutes each before fading out. A couple (
) have rudimentary vocals consisting of a line or two. It's a formula designed to appeal to
radio and is as anonymous as most of what is played on such stations. The
track indicates
is capable of more, but the blander stuff no doubt pays the bills. ~ William Ruhlmann