SLOW TRAFFIC TO THE RIGHT

This is totally a mesmerizing album for me. I mean the title of the album is a clue and the music here has been called commercial, smooth Jazz, funky and the like yet it's way more than those descriptions. In fact give this record several spins before deciding because this is a smorgasbord of sounds carefully placed by seasoned veterans of the jazz scene. Bennie Maupin the sax and bass clarinet master played on "Bitches Brew" and other legendary albums by Miles plus he was part of Herbie Hancock's band in particular the "Mwandishi" period. Bennie gets Pat Gleeson to do his thing with those synths plus the great Eddie Henderson on trumpet. These two were part of the "Mwandishi" trio of albums. Most prefer Maupin's debut "The Jewel In The Lotus" for it's originality and he has Herbie playing on it along with Billy Hart and Buster Williams from the "Mwandishi" days.

Top three include the opener "It Remains To Be Seen" with that very interesting start and then we get this sax melody that is repeated that I like. Bass and drums only before 5 minutes then guitar and piano join in before the piano starts to lead. Sax is back and this is catchy stuff. Some vocals late and I like them. "You Know The Deal" has some nice upfront bass with trumpet, sax and more. Love the sound of Henderson's trumpet here. Guitar before 1 1/2 minutes replacing the horns then it steps aside after 2 minutes as we get bass, drums and piano standing out then the horns return. "Quasar" is my final top three and the closer. Drums and a dramatic intro then lots of atmosphere before the bass and electric piano come out of that, sax and drums too. Man I love the bass lines here, so good. Synths will sweep through at times but the bass is my focus here. Trumpet kicks in and then later we get a calm just before 4 minutes, yet the bass continues. Somebody stop him!

A solid 4 stars for this piece of art.