Rob Dixon: Naptown Soul

Saxophonist Rob Dixon, who has called Naptown (aka Indianapolis) home for most of his adult life, salutes the city's enviable jazz heritage on Naptown Soul, leading a splendid quartet through its paces on four of his original compositions (one of which opens the album and three of which close it), a pair by Indy legend Wes Montgomery and two others.

Guitarist Dave Stryker and organist Sam Fribush are in the starting lineup (with drummer Richard "Sleepy" Floyd), and any time a guitar and organ are involved there is almost always some serious funk/rock/soul going down. Which is true here with a lone exception: the ballad "I Want You," on which Dixon trades his assertive tenor sax for a relatively smoother and more graceful soprano.

Then it's back to the tight and heavy two-beat rhythm for Dixon's "The Earth, the Sky," "Fields and Valleys" and "Four One," each of which reinforces the album's core premise. Dixon, an admirable soloist within that framework, has enlisted kindred souls in Stryker and Fribush who not only improvise with depth and assurance but lend Floyd strong and eager hands to keep the rhythm percolating.

With Naptown Soul, Dixon advances the city's long tradition of top-of-the-mark jazz, which has given us such internationally acclaimed artists as Montgomery (and his brothers, Monk and Buddy), J.J. Johnson, Freddie Hubbard, Slide Hampton, Royce Campbell, Melvin Rhyne, Virgil Jones, James Spaulding and so many others. Many forms of jazz have found a home there, from blues and bop to gospel, classical, swing, fusion, funk and more.

Funk and soul are dominant here, starting with Dixon's perky "Sly Vibe," continuing through Montgomery's themes ("Bumpin' on Sunset," "Naptown Blues") and seldom pausing for breath through the grand finale, "Four One." Sleepy Floyd is anything but that, hammering forcefully away on every number, while Stryker and Fribush hustle to keep pace (which, thanks to their awareness and expertise, they always do).

For what it is (jazz funk generously spinkled with passion), Naptown Soul is quite well done—but one would expect nothing less from musicians of that stature.