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JOE BOWDEN ROOTS – TALES OF THE URBAN YODA |
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[51:26]
Andrew McAnsh (trumpet): Luis Deniz (alto sax): Gordon Hyland (tenor saxophone, horn arrangements): Michael Shand (keyboards): Robi Botos (keyboards): Andrew Stewart (bass): Rich Brown (bass, on Sentimental): Calvin Beale (bass, on Jazz Days): Joe Bowden (drums, keyboards)
Doodlin'
Groovin' High
Sentimental
Second Skin
The Golden Rule
Jazz Dayz
The Seventies
All for You
Bustin' Loose
Joe Bowden, drummer, sometime keyboardist, composer, arranger and producer is the engine that drives this nine-track album. The main band is a three-horn front line with rhythm but there are also excursions for a trio configuration of keyboards, bass and drums. Variety of this kind ensures that things never settle into a predictable groove.
You can find out why this album alludes to the Urban Yoda by reading Bowden’s succinct summary; suffice to say that it’s not a serious matter, nor does it demand knowledge of intergalactic terminology. ‘Roots’ is a better title in any case.
There’s a healthy dose of Funk in the playing as the sparkling trio opener, propitiously called Doodlin’, shows. If the Blue Note allusions of the title suggest, say, Horace Silver - well, you will find a kicking groove with a keyboard solo from Robi Botos that’s marked by real flair. In the ensemble tracks the horn arrangements are fine, if not overly complex. If I were vocalist Alana Bridgewater I’d be a bit disappointed to find my name missing from the personnel details on one track, Sentimental, especially as this is a bit of an R ‘n’ B cum funk workout that gets the toes moving; these Canadians swing hard, no doubt about it. There are some Crusaders-like moves on the attractive Second Skin where that tight front line and kicking, propulsive rhythm generates sweat. Sounds like echo on a Fender here.
Unusually Golden Rule opens with a Bowden solo, followed by a most elegant and eloquent alto solo from Luis Deniz, slowly weaving patterns over the supportive rhythm. The other trio piece is a mid to up-tempo melodically fertile Jazz Dayz, with a different keyboardist and bass player, Michael Shand and Calvin Beale. The Seventies is a sprightly opus that trips languidly around the beat in a clever and vivacious way. Sometimes the full band playing can be a little repetitious – I find this a little in the track All For You – but the rare trumpet excursion from Andrew McAnsh on the last track, Bustin’ Loose, adds some more front line variety (to be frank I could have heard more from these three, especially tenorist Gordon Hyland).
But the band has excellent chops, and the recording is right on the money. If you fancy generous funky R ‘n’ B licks, Bowden and his Bandmembers will give you a good 51 minutes’ worth.
Jonathan Woolf