Soul Book/Mocha Motion

構成数 : 1枚
合計収録時間 : 01:12:13
2 LPs on 1 CD. Originally released on Prestige. Personnel includes: Freddie Roach (organ). As Freddie Roach's Blue Note career progressed, his work increasingly celebrated contemporary black culture, and accordingly developed a greater interest in funky, jukebox-ready grooves, a stylistic departure from his initial melodic finesse. Roach took both interests with him to Prestige, as demonstrated on The Soul Book/Mocha Motion, a U.K.-only two-fer compiling his first two albums for the label. Roach definitely brings the hard funk on parts of The Soul Book, but there's a laid-back, even meditative quality to others, which is surprising since his liner notes seem to suggest a concept album about the urban grit of Harlem. That isn't a problem, though; The Soul Book is a fine effort that, even if it doesn't hang together quite as well as his Blue Note dates, does find Roach exploring an impressively wide range of sounds. Mocha Motion is a more consistently funky affair than its eclectic predecessor, and that's both a good and bad thing. Good, because the album works up a solid groove that's maintained from start to finish; bad, because more of the material leans toward the generic. There's an underlying Latin tinge to many of the tracks thanks to conga player Ralph Dorsey, but the dominant feel is unquestionably soul-jazz. Roach partially redeems the less memorable tracks with his fleet-fingered solo work, but it's not quite enough to prevent Mocha Motion from becoming one of his weaker releases. Still, heard in this context as part of a two-fer, it's certainly passable, and the overall package will be worth tracking down for the bigger fans of Roach's brand of soul-jazz. ~ Steve Huey
録音 : モノラル／ステレオ (Studio)