Shawn-Neeq＜限定盤/Blue With Black Swirl Vinyl＞

Guitarist Calvin Keys Shawn-Neeq is his 1971 leader debut for the Black Jazz label that began doing business that very year. Keys established himself in the early 60s with saxmen Eddie Cleanhead Vinson and Preston Love. His hard-grooving blues and bop chops landed him first-call gigs with the primary soul-jazz organists of the era, too. He worked with Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff, Brother Jack McDuff, and Richard Groove Holmes. Shawn-Neeq appeared during the same calendar year as two other future classics from Black Jazz: Doug Carns Infant Eyes and Walter Bishop, Jr.s Coral Keys. Label boss Gene Russell gave the guitarist the freedom to hire his own sidemen. Rather than choose an organist as an accompanist, he hired a rhythm section composed of pianist Larry Nash (L.A. Express), bassist Lawrence Evans, and drummer Bob Braye. Flutist/bass clarinetist Owen Marshall appears on several cuts as well. Keys composed three of the sets five middle-length tracks. Marshalls B.E., however, opens the set. He twins a modal, droning, bass clarinet with rolling drums and a rumbling bassline to introduce Keys, who cuts loose from the jump with biting single-string lines as he and Marshall introduce an infectious yet sinister-sounding vamp. A pulsing bassline undergirds Nashs Rhodes, comping with meaty chords as Keys executes fleet, mean, nasty blues and funk lines before Marshalls squalling bass clarinet solo; the guitarist responds with chunky, exploratory chords. Nash extrapolates, but stays in the pocket as Braye breaks all over the place in double time. It is not only a set highlight, but a high-water mark in Keys career. Criss Cross (no relation to the Thelonious Monk tune) is a driving hard bop jam, with a long, knotty, soulful solo from Keys. A tasty chromatic break from Nash follows as the pairs bandmates shout their approval. The title track is a gorgeous midtempo ballad that seamlessly melds soul, pop, pillowy psychedelia, impressionistic modal music, and even easy listening. The interplay between Keys, Nash, and Marshall is canny: its songlike and spacious. Gee Gee is introduced by Evans groove-centric upright. When the band emerges with the riff, it comes straight from the Ramsey Lewis Trios reading of the spiritual Wade in the Water, but moves farther afield toward spiraling hard bop a la Horace Silver. Keys solo is almost pointillistic with its edgy asides, and his tough chord voicings are so expansive, they provide a natural foundation for Marshalls funky flute break. Closer B.K. melds the open-ended electric groove jazz of Miles Davis (Tribute to Jack Johnson was also released in 1971), mutant soul-jazz, and edgy Sly Stone-esque funk. At over nine-plus minutes, the band comps behind Keys as he goes on winding, greasy, bluesy, harmonic adventures without once forgetting where the pocket is. Half-a-century after Shawn-Neeqs initial release, it remains a primary example of 70s jazz-funk at its most creative and fierce. ~ Thom Jurek