Customer Reviews

East Bay Soul

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Greg Adams recent release, East Bay Soul, comes out of the box smoking and never lets up. Split between vocals and instrumentals, Adams reached back and brought that funky, urban soul sound back from his past, yet when he mutes his trumpet he can slice through you like a hot knife through butter.

For the unschooled, Greg Adams was a founding member, and the horn arranger for 25 years, with the legendary soul -funk - R&B horn band from Oakland, CA; the Tower of Power. During those years, and still today, Adams not only arranged just about all of the Tower songs on all of their albums, but he has also arranged the horns and recorded on hundreds (yes, that's hundreds) of other artist's recordings for 25 years with the TOP Horns, but also since he has been on his own. His arrangements have their own brand and style. Between his horn chops and his writing abilities, he's just one of the absolute best in the business....hands down.

Adams left Tower of Power about 11 years ago and East Bay Soul is his fifth solo release. His first four were also great recordings that leaned more towards the smooth jazz sound, but here he takes us back...all the way back to his roots....to the Bay Area. Make no mistake, the horn section on this recording is front and center, and it consists of Adams, former Tower bandmate Lee Thornburg, Johnnie Bamont, Michael Paulo & Greg Vail. Several different vocalist appear on the CD, including Tom Bowes, former lead vocalist for Tower of Power back in the early 90's and Thornburg, whose vocal simply kicks butt on the R&B classic "Stop". Darryl Walker's vocal also soars on the moving "iHope". Rounding our the band is Joey Navarro on keys, James Wirrick on guitar, Brian Allen on bass and Evan Stone on drums, with a few guests pitching in here and there.

The CD opens with a great upbeat tune called "Survival of the Hippest" and closes with the haunting Adams/Bill Kent composition "Someone New". This song was originally recorded on a Tower of Power album nearly 20 years ago and it re-teams the vocals of Tom Bowes with Adams trumpet, under a sleek new arrangement. In between, there is something on this CD for everyone! I've been a fan of the funk all my life, however my personal favorite on this recording is the smooth Adams/Nick Milo tune; "What's It Gonna Be?". Tower fans will remember that Nick Milo held the keyboard chair with that band for many years in the 90's as well. To wrap it up, this reviewer recommends that you run out and not only buy a copy of this CD for yourself, but you ought to pick up a few more for your friends.... because that's what are friends for!

Jack Silva
New Bedford, MA

Greg Adams' journey goes back to TOP years back in the early 70's and since then this versatile trumpeter come a long way. "East Bay Soul" in a way reflects his extense career exploring different styles and textures. Surrounded by an impressive crew, Adams is not afraid to approach a variety of genres. "Survival of the hippest" with its raw beat and brief rap by vocalist Tom Bowes proves that from the beginning. Other songs like "Reading lips", "Jump, shout and holler", "I Hope" and "Someone new" also have vocals by Darryl Walker, Sean Holt and Lee Thornburg, besides Bowes but probably the most brilliant moments belong to the wind section (Michael Paulo alto sax, Johnnie Bamont tenor & baritone sax, Lee Thornburg trumpet & trombone and of course Greg Adams in trumpet and flugelhorn). Tight arrangements and exquisite trumpet & sax solos by Adams and his partners make the day. "Always take two" excels in this department as well as "Awaken". There's a couple of smooth jazz pleasers, the very cool "Five to Eleven" and "What's it gonna be" and even a short straight-ahead jazz in "Bop Drop". Nick Milo and Joey Navarro in keyboards with Milo partnering Adams in the rhythm arrangements, James Wirrick guitar, Brian Allen bass, Evan Stone drums and Johnny Sandoval percussion complete the rest of this outstanding band. Recorded and mixed to perfection by Carmen Grillo "East Bay Soul" is full circle for a gifted musician like Greg Adams a true survivor of an era where rhythm sections ruled.

A founding member of TOP (Tower of Power), Greg Adams takes you back...but not all the way back. He adds that special something...his own touch, that separates him and his wonderful 21st century troubadours from the rest. There are no audio samples, but if you are familiar with Greg's music, just think "Roadhouse" with vocals. Remember, this is East Bay Soul...so it showcases the talents of all of the members of the band and they've done a fantastic job. Great vocals in Reading Lips, with a similar rhythm rolling into Jump, Shout and Holler and the stylings of Sean Holt. Don't forget your flugel in What's It Gonna Be. My favs: Awaken and Five to Eleven (very sweet flugel and trombone).

You know Greg's work or you wouldn't be reading this. I say, don't pay any attention to the naysayers on this review board. Try it on for size and make your own decision. The Feb. 1 reviewer is really melodramatic in his description of what was SO wrong with this CD. It just astounds me that one would spend so much time and energy on something they don't like. Opinions on music is very subjective...decide for yourself. Enjoy!

As an entire project one did appreciate its variation with several standout pieces on this album; however, on balance it did feel a bit flat as it did not exude both the energy and enthusiasm that is indeed a hallmark of Mr. Adams previous recording.

Always creative, you can count on Greg Adams to deliver smooth jazz with a twist that dares to think outside of the box.

Stand-out tracks: What's It Gonna Be, Always Take Two, Survival Of The Hippest.

Bravo!

I have to admit that I prefer instrumental jazz to vocal, but I like the occassional vocal tracks that smooth jazz artists use.
This album was a real disappointment--almost all vocals. No covers that I know of. There was only one track (#10) that gave us
the Greg Adams of previous albums.

Being that the leader Greg Adams is well known as a founding member of Tower of Power and Amazon did not offer a preview at the time of purchase, I took a chance. I popped the CD in and was immediately disappointed with the audio quality. Every cut sounded as though it was recorded in a garbage can with the lid on. The most prominent instrument was the bass and that sounded muffled. Overall, it was the most uninspired CD I've ever purchased and I learned a valuable lesson; "If Amazon does not provide an audio sampler, I will not buy the CD." If you are a fan of Tower of Power, you will be disappointed with this CD. Greg, back to the woodshed!

If you're expecting a smooth jazz trumpet CD, don't buy this because you'll probably wind up being as disappointed as I was. I had hoped for some stylish horn grooves and a smooth jazz-style Tower of Power polished sound, but you won't find that here. First of all, you'll notice that there are no audio samples of this CD on the Amazon website. There should be because they would let you know that, while there are a few decent tracks on this release, there are also a bunch of senseless and pointless vocals. Do you expect to her growling, howling, grunting vocals on a smooth jazz CD? When you look at how Adams' music is being marketed, you expect to feel midnight in a smoky jazz club. You won't get that here. Track #1 "Survival of the Hippest" is an upbeat grove, but the theme repeats ad nauseum, really never takes off or goes anywhere, and is suddenly interuppted by Tom Bowes gruff rapping. What a waste. Track #2 Bob Drop is frustratingly short. It ends after just 44-seconds. Track #3 Reading Lips is all vocals, all the time...and the backing music is pretty limp. Track #4 Jump, Shout and Holler is another vocal cut by Sean Hall. Totally forgettable. Track #5 "What's it Gonna Be?" is one of the few standout cuts on the CD, and it's the kind of nice groove that I expected to hear more of, a nice muted trumpet with a slow chugging pace. Track #6 Always Take Two was decent. I'd call it Big Band Smooth jazz...it had a nice feeling to it. By #7 "I hope", I really started losing interest in this CD and felt like I'd wasted my money...it starts off with a vocal by Darryl Walker and I just didn't care for it at all. Track #8 Awaken started to revive my interest, it had a good beat and a nice brassy horn feel to it right away, somewhat spoiled by a slight detour into schmaltzy lyrics...This could have been a dynamic track if they'd just left out the vocals! #9 Stop...more vocals. Kind of a roadhouse blues feeling to this track, but I had really hoped for more trumpet playing and less singing. #10 Five to Eleven reverted to the smooth jazz feeling I'd hoped for...it's either the best cut on the CD or a close #2. Too short, though! Why don't these musicians stretch out and take chances? #11 Someone New...begins with, what else, another vocal! This sounds like it was sung by Barry Manilow. What a waste. So, eleven tracks, only two are decent that don't have vocals. Another complaint: these musicians and Greg Adams seem to take the easy way out when it comes to ending a song: they always just fade it out after about 3:45. No creative endings to any of them. As I said at the beginning of my review: there should be audio clips for all music sold on Amazon. It would give the buyer a better sense of what's actually on the CD. As for East Bay Soul, don't waste your time. Greg, you can do so much better than this! Please!

Greg Adams is the best arranger in the music business. Great songs excellent quality

This is a fabulous album. I love every song on it. Little bit of everything and easy to listen to. Buy this and ENJOY!