Customer Reviews

People People Music Music (Dig)

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

 

 

Hey all you GC fans out there - it's time for a new groove! This is GC's 6th studio albulm (along with various live set CD's and so forth...). I'ts been 5 years since "It's All In Your Mind", and I'm loving this new one. We've got some worthwhile tracks going on here, and I'm just happy to here from them again. The first track, "Forgotten Travellers" is an appetizer that reminds you who GC is. Now, they're still doin' it with track 2, "DFU", which is a real catchy number, remnant of "Ransome" from "It's All In Your Mind". Of course, they have to give us one full vocal, so we've got #3, "what If", a funky track that actually makes you think about who you are as a person. I truly dig # 4, "Eat No Space". This is a sultry, moody slow song that reminds me of why I fell for this band to begin with. Then, "Tito" begins to wake you back up as a flavorful and melodically savvy track with some cool latin backgrounds. "KOG" is a great number that helps to satisfy the GC addict in all of us, with it's staple horn involvement, along with some intelligent keyboards coming thru (one of the best on the album, in my opinion). "Outermost" is another essential track that puts you in that quasi-spacy mood that we've all grown to love with GC. But just when you think that they've gone soft, the come strong with "Set Up," a spicy, funk-ridden, up-tempo groove that embodies the wild side of GC. "Speak like a Child" again gives us that loungy somber feeling that a true GC fan can't live without. They end with a neat live version of "Outermost" that's certainly worth hearing.
I encourage all GC fans to get this CD. All in all, it's a tad different, but they have lost none of their flavor and talent. As I construct a Groove Collective playlist on my computer, I'm pleased as punch to put these new gems in the mix. The more I listen, the more I appreciate this latest effort. A note to the band: In this day and age of "music" that is simply produced to sell, it is most refreshing to get this highly anticipated CD. Every time I introduce a listener to your material, they are impressed. Know that you have fans in the great state of Indiana!!

Yours Truly,

Eddie from Indy

This release by groove collective feature a more focus approach on jazz rhythms with the already present latin flavor. This may have occurred due to the new signing with the Savoy Jazz label. At any rate, it's good music and still has a lot of the "collective" elements. Standout tracks are the loungy "what if" and the smooth "speak like a child". This one is worth getting.

If you are a lover of Latin beats then Tito (Tito Puenti) and Mambomongo are worth purchasing the album for alone.
If you want something to drive you to work or drive you to a club then this is the one for you. It's one of the most overlooked albums I've heard in years.

this is a pretty dope album. not quite as dope as "We the People," but definitly on the right track. they fell off for a few albums imo, but this is a return to form.

I really enjoyed this album and think it is among the best albums they have produced. It is hard to take a band that is so good live and bring it into a studio. These guys have done it and it is fantastic. I just read that they were nominated for a Grammy. Congratulations guys!

This album marks the return to form for the Collective who release their best album since the classic `We The People'.

After a five years recording hiatus, the New York City acid jazz outfit is back with a leaner sextet lineup, a more Afro-Cuban focus, and the familiar weighty bass lines of Jonathan Maron on his Guild Starfire and Univox Coily.

Maron melds retro funk and terse tumbaos into killer ostinatos on tracks like "What If", the Afrobeat "DFU" (featuring Fred Wesley) and "Outermost".

His playing is chunky but my pick is the aptly titled ballad "Eat No Space".

Listen also to "Forgotten Travellers" and the organ led "6 for Fred".

The Latin cuts kick hard such as "Tito" and "Mambomongo" .

Don't miss the straighter Jazz cuts such as the Hancock cover "Speak Like A Child" that is truly brilliant.

1. I don't know who mastered this album but is has the worst sound quality I've heard in a very long time. For example, you can faintly hear the high hats and cymbals but the (mediocre) congo playing comes through loud, if not clearly.

2. This album features a ton of, well about 5, guest artists that exists seemingly to only water down the music even further. You should also be a fan of (amateur)horn playing because there are more horns on this album than any previously.

3. This album never gets going. They have, for the most part, abandoned ther funk/ soul style and are trying to play a more straight ahead style of jazz of which many other groups play much better.

4. 2 stars - because it's better than nothing.