Down To The Bone
Crazy Vibes & Things
(GRP – 2002)
by Ray Redmond
Down To The Bone’s trademark grooves are in place on Crazy Vibes and Things, the outfit’s newest release. On a Roll darts out on organ wings, adding percussive layers, horn layers and then exploding into a jazz/funk groove. Music Is My Drug combines jammin’ horn arrangements with a strong percussion section and vocal accompaniment to produce a Mongo-Santa Maria like feel. Faring from London, the acid-jazz influence is apparent throughout the CD. Glow slows it down, stretching out the piano a bit and then growing in intensity toward the end.
Producer-arranger Stuart Wade has put together a tight compilation here. Searching FOr A Simple Groove harkens back to the Eddie Harris days, and in the end they find it. My One and All is an earthy track that features the vocals of Hi St. Soul and smooth guitar of Paul ‘Shilts’ Weimar. Most of the tracks here have are mellow and grooving without feeling too ‘smooth’. On the whole this is a gritty, jazz/funk album that continues in the acid-jazz tradition we are so lucky to get from across the water.