Oh man, I think I stubled upon the ALBUM OF THE YEAR for me while on vacation!
Akira Jimbo Smile Smile
It's just such a well produced album, every tune is hummable and catchy and all of the musicians are killer! It rarely gets any better than this in the area of modern jazz / fusion.
Catchy instrumentals: check!
Killer drummer and grooves: Akira Jimbo, check!
Solid bass: Abe Laboriel, check!
Great keys: Otmaro Ruiz, check!
and out of this world guitar playing by Allen Hinds and Carl Verheyen! They trade solos too on one track, it's eargasmic stuff
In fact, I dig Allen Hinds' work on Jimbo's albums more than his own solo efforts. He pushes the envelope more on this one. The guy just doesn't play a bad note! And he lets loose here as well, which is something he seldom does as his playing is usually layed back, tempered with the right amount of fire in the right places.
Was great driving music, I was smiling all throughout
Next to this gem, the sound track to my recent Subic adventure was these two albums:
This is Tommy when he was still playing alot of electric. It's all amazing music, accessible fusion with great guitar playing and many classic moments. I recall listening to these albums alot when i was starting out with guitar, Tommy is a household name down under and these albums were pretty big at the time.
Seeing him and his brother Phil live is a jawdropping experience.
