All Music Guide
New York label ObliqSound's PD relationship with Finland's Ricky Tick label is really a fruitful one for those on this side of the Atlantic, and we should sit up and take real notice. For starters, this association brought Finnish reed and woodwind boss Timo Lassy's debut Soul The Jazz Of Timo Lassy, to American shores in November of 2007. Drummer, arranger, bandleader and composer Teppo Mäkynen, a.k.a. Teddy Rok, Five Corners Quintet, Teddy Rok Seven, Jukka Eskolaproduced that monster of an album, as well as this one. But the Stance Brothers' debut album Kind Soul is not a jazz record primarily. Jazz certainly has its plentiful place here, but there is much more to this groovedrenched mosaic. Teddy Rok put this trio togetherIsaiah Stance: vibes, keyboards, percussion; Dwayne Stance: bass, guitar; and drummerto play some pieces he wrote that he imagined as an orgy of beats and samplesbut al the music here was played by a band. Funk, soul, exotica, early 70s jazz and hip hop all come t...ogether in a brew that is as fingerpopping and natural as it is savvy. The set kicks off with the Aside of the single "Steve McQueen." Dwayne's guitar in full on Billy Butler groove mode kicks it off before Breaks comes in mid chorus, and then a dubwise, simple electric bassline and those vibes laying down a hip, nocturnal, and utterly cool lyric line carry the tune through its repetitive, even hypnotic vamp. There is a terrific vibes solo by Isaiah in the heart of the tune, but its in the snare and cymbal breaks and the guitar that the tune gets its feel. When "Prayer," falls in immediately on its heels, with some killer hand drumming and string samples la id in the backdrop, it feels like a mirror image of the tune, like a TV theme gone all druggy. Tyrone Desmond guests with a rolling whipsmart tambourine on a smoking cover of George Duke's "Capricorn," and Diamond T. Sparks' helps out on "Dynamite, with a wristsnapping snare intro is accented in the backbeat by a funky, liquid bassline and those vibes repeating the head and covering the New Orleans strutting funk in the groove. Check the flip side of the single, "Jay's Lament," as well for a mellow, postmidnight Bob James' styled stroll into seduction and space. Rok can call it a lament if he wants to, but this is pure love jam, all loose, subtle and smooth. "Blow Back" features Desmond's guitar laying in a sneaky wah wah lead over Dwayne's taut rhythm lines, and always those drums and vibes bringing multidimensional rhythms out of the ether and right into your face, without once losing the essential, simple and heavyweight groove. The jazzy soul in the set's closer He May Be Moody," is the most lyric tune n the disc, but it's one with a whole different level of surprise and sophisticationthe harpsichord touch from Isaiah is a nice one and the cowbell solo is utterly monstrous; let's just say this jam goes out a on a whole different level than it began on. This is highly recommended for listening, dancing, and partying, and . . . other stuff. Check it. - Thom Jurek, All Music Guide Read more Less
