In 2019, following their joint tour of Japan, guitarist
Robben Ford and saxophonist/keyboardist
Bill Evans recruited jazz bassist
James Genus and
Steely Dan drummer
Keith Carlock to cut
The Sun Room in a Nashville studio. The group is back with
Rolling Stones' bassist
Darryl Jones in the bass chair. Recorded in the same studio, this set's focus relies heavily on a more rockist jazz-funk and blues.
Common Ground was co-produced by the saxophonist and
Clifford Carter, and its nine tracks clock in at just under an hour. The session gets unruly early on with "Ever Ready Sunday," a mean, funky, jazz-rocker. Kicked off with a power chord vamp by
Ford,
Jones rumbles behind
Carlock's snare and hi-hat breaks.
Evans solos on soprano and
Ford follows with a meandering meld of jazzy arpeggios and blues licks. "Crabshaw Don't Care" is an easy jazz-funk groover with
Evans' alto sharing the head with guitar. The backbeat cuts deep as
Jones' bass embellishes. "Sentimental Mode" is laid-back and breezy. Soprano sax paints the melody atop a lithe chord progression before
Ford's lead joins with an elegant blues feel. "Hearts of Havana" begins with a series of Latin breaks from
Carlock as
Jones bubbles underneath.
Ford's flamenco-tinged fingerpicked chords introduce
Evans' lyric soprano melody. Following his melodic solo,
Ford adds a blues vamp straight that recalls the one in
Boz Scaggs' "Payday" before delivering a gorgeous solo composed exclusively of chord shapes underscored by punch-and-roll fills from
Jones.
Evans' soprano break offers an abundance of harmonic ideas. German pop singer
Max Mutzke guests on the title track. Drenched in jazzy soul, the rhythm section creates a steamy frame for the singer and a guitar solo. Single "Passaic" opens with a fingerpopping rhythm section vamp that
Evans' tenor swings on. He and
Ford solo, then trade fours inside the meaty, walking groove. Though "Stanley" commences as an airy jazz ballad, it is transformed by the frontline into a nasty, dynamic jazz-blues with biting guitar and sax work. "Dennis the Menace" is angular post-bop wed to knotty jazz-funk. The rhythm section's fluid interplay allows for elastic soloing from their bandmates. Closer "The Little Boxer" emerges from
Ford's and
Evans' riff-like interaction on the scalar melody. (The guitarist's minor vamp recalls
Neil Young's in "Down by the River.")
Evans interjects a wandering soprano solo, bridging keys and modes. Though its tension roils,
Carlock and
Jones show restraint and exceptional taste in locking down the groove.
Common Ground employs modern jazz as the ground for exceptional -- and playful -- group communication through rock, funk, and blues. The tunes offer imagination and sophistication -- as well as good vibes -- and showcase a masterful shared vocabulary that holds great possibility for future development. Here's hoping for a third installment. ~ Thom Jurek
![Desire [Remastered]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0827969239322_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Desire [Remastered]")
