Tony Adamo: Soul Glide

"Soul Glide" is the latest offering from singer/composer and hipster nonpareil, Tony Adamo. The track is a slick R&B throwback with an Eddie Harris "Listen Here" vibe and groove. It is an enjoyable listen and it has terrific momentum and bite.

Over a solid rhythm bed from this spirited ensemble, Rob Sudduth's tenor opens the track with a tight "Famous Flames"-like line that chants a musical "you dig?" Adamo joins the party singing lyrics that are lathered up with 60s R&B dance lingo. That is a bit of a twofold departure for the Reno-based Adamo: here he sings all lyrics, as opposed to his trademarked "sing-speak," a technique he virtually owns outright. And those usual Adamo lyrics offer more jazz hipster inside material—names, places, and the haunts of the hip. None of that here, either. Regardless, Adamo is an inviting entertainer with honesty and integrity about the material he offers; and he is a deeply soulful singer here.

Bay Area ace guitarist Chris Pimentel enters the fray with a perfectly fitting solo ride. He is followed by saxman Sudduth who appropriately channels Junior Walker and all the great R&B saxmen. Former Herbie Hancock Headhunter," Mike Clark, a frequent performer on Adamo material, picks a killer pocket along with Richie Goods' boss bass and John Mackay's ballsy B-3. The ensemble closes as MacKay struts his stuff to the track's end.

"Soul Glide," while a bit of a departure from some of Adamo's prior material, is a fun track that, if one closes one's eyes, sets us gliding in a different and perhaps more soulful place and time.

Comments