Customer Reviews

Just Enough

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I'd never heard of Roger Smith prior to his joining the Tower Of Power. Nick Milo had made a decent replacement for Chester Thompson in the early 90's, though he wasn't prone to solo work. He concentrated on laying the foundation and being steady enough to flourish there. This was evidenced by the 1999 TOP Soul Vaccination Live CD . . . there was a marked absence of organ solos.

Jump to present. Nick Milo is gone and replaced with the unknown Roger Smith. His name had no KICK to it. He needed a nickname or something. But I rationalized and said to myself, He can't do any worse than Nick, but no one will ever do it like Chester again. And then I saw TOP in concert in Manassas, VA. And Roger took hold of Only So Much Oil (In The Ground). I was totally blown away. I became a great fan of the man and I know I owe him a huge apology for slighting his name (I apologize, Mr. Smith!!)

On his latest CD, there are no bad efforts. I'm a sax man, I've been playing for over 40 years and I don't really listen to too much outside of sax CDs. But I was compelled to buy this one just for curiosity's sake, not to mention loyalty to TOP for exciting my senses over the years with their exceptional horn work. Listening to this, I can actually visualize his long nimble fingers floating over the keys effortlessly, and him sitting there with that large smile on his face -- loving every second of playing. It really is therapy for most of us, and Roger really gets the most out of that.

I can't say I have a favorite, but don't look for dead air. Don't expect TOP ditties; it ain't that kind of music. It stretches Roger to other dimensions -- more smooth jazz oriented, this offering is captivating.

I can only speculate that Jimmy Smith had something to do with his development. I should have realized from that reference that if he plays organ and his last name is Smith, I should expect only great things. I got the message.

Now, go buy this CD. You will not be disappointed.

For someone who was touted as funky as Roger Smith, this was a pretty pedetrian alblum. All the hype about his connections with ToP really got me wanting this alblum, and the short clip that I did hear online got me going. Alas, reality! It was ok, but nothing to get my heart pumping. Like movie trailers, what I heard online was as good, by a long shot, as it was going to get. Buy it, knowing that it won't get any better.