Us3: Snap, Crackle and Bop!

Geoff Wilkinson's music first gained wider attention through production library discs, often used for projects requiring a funky hip-hop style backing. Lesser known at the time was his involvement with Blue Note Records through his group Us3, which had a smash hit with a remix and sample of Herbie Hancock's "Cantaloupe Island," released under the title "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)," and selling 2.5 million copies in the '90s. After a break, Wilkinson returned to Us3 in 2025 with the instrumental album "Soundtrack" (Self Produced).

Snap, Crackle and Bop! reprises the earlier rap over jazz funk beats with Wilkinson mixing and MC Akil Dasan as vocalist in a reprise of a collaboration they enjoyed in the '90s. Alongside them are Ed Jones on saxophones and flute, Bryan Corbett on trumpet, flugel and trombone and Mike Gorman on a variety of keyboards. The opening "Cool Cat" is a funky number over a rollicking Hammond organ base, bringing back thoughts of Jimmy Smith and England's Georgie Fame, who, of course, had his own hit with "Cool Cat Blues" a rather different tune. Indeed Jimmy Smith gets a name check in the lyrics which focus on current cats aspiring to '70s cool culture before being told; "You ain't all that." It's a very catchy opener to an album that provides a lot of different moods.

"One Step Ahead" has a much cooler vibe, where Dasan exhorts us to be better people and care for others, following a brassy introduction and with fluent solos from trumpet and electric piano. Throughout the 12 tracks Wilkinson leaves room for some excellent jazz licks from the alumni. Jones gets an extended mellow intro on "Stand Up," and exchanges bars with Corbett to close out the third single released from the album, the optimistic "Have a Great Day." Jones features the flute on "Stay Longer," an introspective love song.

The sixth track, "Walk Away," is the most straight-ahead jazzy. It's mostly instrumental, with the words "Walk Away" spoken occasionally by DJ Mr Thing, who is also credited with scratching. It's a lyrical piece with Jones' best opportunities to show off his saxophone chops.

An abrupt change comes with "Catch the Vibe," a very hip-hop track with some impressive instrumental interplay and a lyric that includes a verse in Spanish. It leads well into the next track, "I Like to Party," something that is apparent throughout the album but especially here. These guys do like to party and while the studio recording and production are great in conveying the atmosphere, it would be great to hear this music played live.

The two instrumental tracks are credited to Wilkinson all the others jointly to Wilkinson and Baker. The lyrics to the song "We Like That" contains a classic rhyme:

"The groove hits you and goes down like jiu jitsu

Pride comes before the fall like Ceausescu"

in a track that opens with funky Hammond and brass and extols the virtues of peace-making over peace-keeping. There's quite a lot of positive politics (if you are somewhat to the left of centre) in this album. Two more rap tracks and a final instrumental "The Garden of Forking Paths" conclude the album. This ends with a couple of minutes of classic acid jazz from Jones and Corbett.

What begins as an unassuming listen grows steadily more rewarding over repeated plays. The album offers excellent rap, great jazz and an open invitation to dance, with an overall inventiveness and creativity running throughout. It does what it says: it snaps, it crackles and there's bop!