Patrick Yandall just keeps setting the mark higher every time he walks into the studio. After a different recording session titled New York Blues, which actually focused on his blues playing (as the title suggests), he is back with the trademark smooth jazz peppered with rock and fusion licks.
Yandall can be razor sharp, tasteful, and subtle like Joe Pass or fiery and rockin’ fusion like Al Di Meola on Laws of Groovity-which are not very bad comparisons to make if I should say so myself. This is his seventh album and the fourth that I have covered.
Every time I hear a new album by this artist I want to say that this was the best yet, well at this point everything that I have heard is the best he can be at the time of the recording. That puts it all into proper focus for me. Yandall continues to evolve and take different paths like on “The New Sound,” which features some female vocals straight out of the nightclub mix genre with the familiar jazz notes sandwiched in between. He never lets his guard down and strives for something different for his listeners to sink their “ears” into. He remains steadfast and true to his muse by not veering too far off the norm or becoming too complex or heavy, the quiet storm approach is the status quo for him on this album. The title track is the man at his most funky and flavorful best. The intro bass lines set the pace (played by Yandall, he actually plays all the instruments and writes all the songs except tracks 1 & 8) and then the mood an atmosphere take the nod from that intro and the tracks develops from there.
I remember asking Patrick who his band was on the last release, and his reply was “me.” He is truly an amazing artist that has the knack for putting out excellent albums every year. I know if I get a package and open it up with a Patrick Yandall CD inside there is never a doubt I will not love what I am about to hear, and then proceed to listen to it at least five times before I sit down to write how I feel about it.
If you have not had the pleasure of the Patrick Yandall experience, it is time to check him out now. This collection of songs is superb. The two particular tracks I mentioned are exceptional and personal favorites but to be perfectly honest there is not a weak link on this entire album.
