Power of Soul

The jazz drummer’s third solo album features four prolonged psychedelic soul jazz instrumentals, two for each side of the original vinyl release, created by a band that sounds way bigger than its guitar, rhythm section and pair of horns would suggest. The title track, a Hendrix cover, is a bold, strident, brassy, tripped-out grinder of a tune, with a wailing distorted guitar solo, and a deliciously detailed extended percussion/drum break before it collapses in on itself at the end. The following three tracks are less intense, a trio of  languidly funky, meditative, impeccably-played small-band soul jazz. The pace is generally unhurried, the mood introspective but upbeat, and they swing and groove effortlessly, while flugelhorn, soprano sax, and keys supply the licks and solos. It’s all done in 34 minutes with not one second wasted. Gorgeous.