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Soul jazz is alive and well. With a sound that updates Wes Montgomery<\/strong><\/a>‘s fluid lines and combines that style with a head-nodding groove that will be familiar to fans of boogaloo revivalists such as The New Mastersounds<\/strong><\/a> and Soulive<\/strong><\/a>, Keys is in fact the real deal. Having cut his teeth as an able sideman to the likes of Ahmad Jamal<\/strong> and Jimmy Smith<\/strong>, Keys’ career releasing albums under his own name only began in earnest relatively recently; though 1997’s Standard Keys<\/em> was his fifth album, the previous four were released across a span of some sixteen<\/em> years.<\/p>\n On Electric Keys<\/em>, he’s backed by an able ensemble that bills itself elsewhere as The Wide Hive Players<\/strong>. Keys shares songwriting duties with his band mates, as well, but as is so often the case with jazz, the compositions are often frameworks \u2013 albeit tasty, inventive ones \u2013 for solo excursions. The warm, intimate ambience of the ten songs on Electric Keys<\/em> is a constant, though the tunes themselves are varied lot. Melody is to the fore on tracks like \u201cLove and Innocence,\u201d wherein the horn charts sustain enough interest to carry the song. Keys’ sinewy guitar simply makes it even better.<\/p>\n When the group gets down to some funkiness (as on \u201cBackyard\u201d) it’s thanks in no small part to the hard-hitting drum work of either Thomas McCree<\/strong> or Josh Jones<\/strong> (the credits don’t make it clear who’s on which track). The band walks the fine line between complicated melody and straight-ahead funk, and the results will please aficionados of both approaches. Utility man Matt Montgomery<\/strong> is credited with songwriting, bass, piano and keys.<\/p>\n On the title track, the band plays with a fiery intensity not found elsewhere on this already fine disc; here Keys tears up and down the fretboard while the drummer \u2013 again, not sure which one \u2013 lays down an insistent, searing groove. The band is firing on all cylinders; those who dig rock but not-so-much jazz may find this the best entry point on the album. Echoes of Hendrix<\/strong> and McLaughlin<\/strong><\/a> can be heard, though Keys never loses his identity in the process. On \u201cTelegraph Blues\u201d and \u201cThe Hernia,\u201d Keys breathes new life into the well-worn format; while the band does pretty much what you’d expect, Keys’ jazz-inflected runs expand the dimensions of the form. Best of all, with each at under four minutes, the tracks make sure not to wear out their welcome.<\/p>\n On \u201cSenior Moment,\u201d the horns go all exploratory, and Keys heads down the same knotty path. But the funky foundation \u2013 drums plus Montgomery’s assured bass \u2013 anchors it all in accessible territory. The disc wraps up with \u201cTouch,\u201d a gentle and beautiful solo spot from the guitarist.<\/p>\n
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