Album Review: Introducing The Rare Sounds

I’ve written quite often about Eddie Roberts. There’s good reason for that: he stand tall among the music community as an artist who makes music that’s soulful, tasteful, appealing and varied. Now, plenty of artist make music that checks one of those boxes. Fewer still can claim to two or three. But Roberts scores top marks in all categories. Which brings us to The Rare Sounds. Teaming up with two members of like-minded outfit The Greyboy Allstars (Robert Walter on organ and bassist Chris Stillwell) and adding drummer Zak Najor from Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, The Rare Sounds make their recorded debut on the forthrightly-titled Introducing: The Rare Sounds.

So what, you may well ask, sets this quartet apart from Roberts’ main group, The Mastersounds (which has a similar four-perosn lineup) and/or the five-man Greyboy Allstars? Fair question. Both groups, after all, are at their core instrumental outfits.

While The New Mastersounds serve up their brand of booglaoo funk, the Greyboys lean in a decidedly soul-jazz direction. The Rare Sounds neatly split the difference. There’s a jazz undercurrent to the tunes, with lots of tasty lead work from both Walter and Roberts But the dance-oriented character of the Mastersounds figures into the mix as well. The music conjures a classic vibe: no need to reinvent the wheel or add modern elements when the old-school approach fits well.

The tunes groove, developing as the players dig into the music. And while all four are skilled improvisers, the music on Introducing has a tight, sturdily-constructed character. These cats can dazzle within the confines of a composed tune just as well as they do when heading off on flights of musical fancy. Six of the album’s eight tunes are originals (three each from Walter and Najor), and each delights and satisfies in its own way. And the second of two covers is a most unexpected one: a clever, smouldering, finger-poppin’ and wah-wah-fied reading of DEVO’s “Through Being Cool.” Fun stuff all around, and highly recommended.