Jan Hammer: "MELODIES" Jan Hammer: music from "BEYOND THE MINDS EYE" Rachelle Ferrell: "INDIVIDUALITY (Can I Be Me?) Burt Bacharach: soundtrack from "CASINO ROYALE" Jean-Paul Bourelly: "TRIPPIN'" King's X: "DOGMAN" Sly: "FRESH" Myron: "DESTINY" "The Definitive Monkees" Mystikal: "TARANTULA"

Some folks are impressed by the fact that the incredibly gifted (or perhaps it's the incredibly hard-working) Jef Lee Johnson plays everything, including guitar, bass, keyboards, and sax, and is a formidably potent vocalist as well. Let's emphasize that he is an off-the-hook player, especially on his main instrument, guitar, on which he is capable of conjuring jawdroppingly brilliant, careening stylistic collisions of legato-laden fusion, angular outness, and state-of-the-art acid-funk.

Jef has a highly expert foot in many camps, contributing to the point of collaboration with such heavyweights as James Carter (www.allaboutjazz.com/reviews/r0600_020.htm), Rachelle Ferrell and George Duke, and touring and recording with Erkyah Badu and D'Angelo. His recordings with Rob Reddy (www.allaboutjazz.com/reviews/r0999_136.htm) and Ben Schachter show his expert "downtown" side, while recordings with polrhythmic master Ronald Shannon Jackson and Jamaaladeen Tacuma reveal a volatile funk-fusion fire.

Jef has a few recordings of his own out, including his latest, "Hype Factory" (SEE: www.dreamboxmedia.com). Given the range of styles at which he is proficient, it’s no surprise then that it’s a double cd clocking in at over 120 minutes. Other good news-while some of his previous recordings have been tough to get, this one is available at all the usual online retailers. If you’re in the mood to really dig, seek out his simultaneously released (so far, only in France), single disc News From the Jungle, a searing group collaboration featuring the Prince’s rhythm section, bassist Sonny Thompson and drummer Michael Bland.