Jack McDuff: The Soulful Drums
For his part McDuff seems perfectly content to play second fiddle sidling to the front mostly on slower tunes like the twilight “The Party’s Over.” Dukes on the other hand solos at length on nearly every number roaming over his kit with an almost manic intensity that suggests a kid alone in a candy shop anxious to plunder as many jars as possible before adults arrive. From the number of grunts and shouts its clear that all his ferocious stick-wielding kicked up quite a sweat, but his preference for endless press rolls at the expense of subtler accents suggests that his bravado may have got the better of him. Fortunately his bombast subsides significantly on later tracks like the ballad “Cry Me a River.” “Hot Barbecue” bastes in flavorful groove and unison band shout advertising the titular delicacy, while the closing rundown of “Redwood City” offers an enticing glimpse of earlier Dukes/McDuff project, the Nomos band, which adds Tyler and Shelvin to the line-up. Put simply these albums are a textbook case of “giving the drummer to much.” But despite the sometimes debilitating skew inherent in the music a good time, funky feeling pervades and as a break beat reservoir ripe for DJ plundering this disc is a veritable treasure trove.
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Track Listing
Soulful Drums/ Two Bass Hit/ Greasy Drums/ Moohah the DJ/ Moanin
Personnel
Jack McDuff- organ; George Benson- guitar; Red Holloway- tenor saxophone; Joe Dukes- drums; Alvin
Album information
Title: The Soulful Drums | Year Released: 2001 | Record Label: Prestige Records