On their fourth album, 2022's wryly titled
Forecast, instrumental jazz supergroup
Jazz Funk Soul further embrace their hooky, soulful sound. The record follows 2019's
Life and Times, which found guitarist
Paul Jackson, Jr. taking over for original guitarist
Chuck Loeb (who tragically died from cancer in 2017) and joining forces with the other founding members, saxophonist
Everette Harp and keyboardist
Jeff Lorber. Though subtle, the change from
Loeb to
Jackson was significant, as each player brought his own distinctive style to the band's overall sound. With
Loeb, the trio favored soaring, brightly attenuated pop-jazz melodies. While that melodicism remains a core part of the group's style (just check out "Count Me In"),
Jackson brings a crisp, rhythmic R&B sensibility to their sound, informed by his many years of working with artists like
Quincy Jones,
Michael Jackson, and
Whitney Houston. If
Life and Times evoked the funky soul-jazz of
the Crusaders and sax icon
David Sanborn, then
Forecast makes such comparisons vibrantly explicit. Cuts like the opening "Hustle," "Fish Grease," and "Funkin' in AZ" spotlight the warm interplay between
Harp's juicy sax lines,
Lorber's rich keyboard harmonies, and
Jackson's bluesy fretboard riffs. Particularly evocative of
the Crusaders' sound is "When the Time Comes," with its warm acoustic bass groove and summery, laid-back atmosphere. The trio even pay tribute to their late bandmate with the poignant slow-jam album closer "CSL (For Charles Samuel Loeb)." With
Forecast,
Jazz Funk Soul underline their reputation as masters of no-nonsense, soulful contemporary jazz. ~ Matt Collar
