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It is sometimes theorized that, for every nationally known star with big promotional muscle behind him, there are hundreds of equally talented musicians playing the same sort of music in clubs across the country. Tomcat Courtney makes that theory seem reality. The blues guitarist and singer has spent decades playing in clubs, mostly in San Diego, without gaining any recognition beyond his immediate area. Blue Witch Records changes all that by releasing the 79-year-old's national debut album, Downsville Blues. Stylistically, Courtney is as familiar as a blues musician could be, playing electric blues guitar in a manner that could have been heard any time in the previous 60 years, and singing in a thick baritone about the vagaries of love. Writing his own songs, he also ventures into other subjects. The title song recounts his return to his Texas hometown, which has become unrecognizable in the intervening years, while "Disaster Blues" concerns the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. But for the most part, the songs hew to traditional, timeless blues concerns, and the solos, played over a tight backup band, are equally traditional. At a time when many of the old bluesmen have passed from the scene, maybe it's time for one who's been laboring in the shadows to get his recognition at last. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

Their moniker is deceptive because this huge (23-piece) outfit deals in everything from global dub ("Istanbul Twilight") to Middle-Eastern bass-and-drums ("By and Bye"). While this far-flung stylistic sampling might result in havoc, these folks keep it real by focusing on the groove. When they do kick into a straight-ahead funk riff on the title track, even this is peppered with their clever melding of Eastern motifs and dancehall vocals. This is something else, and that's a good thing. ~ Tom Sheridan, All Music Guide

With his second and last album under the Creed Taylor aegis, the complexities of Quincy Jones' catholic, evolving tastes start to reveal themselves. We hear signs of his gradual gravitation toward pop right off the bat with the churchy R&B cover of Paul Simon's mega-hit "Bridge Over Troubled Water," dominated by Valerie Simpson's florid soul vocal and a gospel choir. His roots fixation surfaces in the spell-like African groove of the title track, a dramatic tone poem that ebbs and flows masterfully over its 13-minute length. From this point on, it's all jazz; the roaring big band comes back with a vengeance in "Walkin'," where Milt Jackson, Herbie Hancock, Hubert Laws, and other jazzers take fine solo turns, and things really get rocking on Nat Adderley's "Hummin'." Major Holley is a riot with his grumble-scat routine on bass. The whole record sounds like they must have had a ball recording it. - by Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide


SOME PERSONNEL
Quincy Jones - Conducter
Pepper Adams - Baritone Sax
Hubert Laws - Flute
Jerome Richardson - Soprano Sax
Freddie Hubbard - Trumpet
Benny Powell - Trombone
Eric Gale - Guitar
Toots Thielemans - Guitar, Whistle
Herbie Hancock - Piano
Bob James - Piano
Grady Tate - Drums
Ray Brown - Double Bass
Ron Carter - Double Bass
Milt Jackson - Vibraphone

Grover's 2nd album for Motown was not released until after he had already bolted the label and already had his 1st release for Elektra Records. Album is now out of print and that's really a shame because there is some very good material here. There is a cover of the Michael Jackson classic, Stevie wonder written "I Can't Help It" just for starters. The entire CTI gang is back on for this release: Eric Gale on guitar, Richard Tee on the keys, percussionist extrodinaire Ralph MacDonald, drummer Idris Muhammad and a young, hungry bass player named Marcus Miller



PERSONNEL
Grover Washington - Synthesizer, Saxophones
Richard Tee - Piano
Eric Gale - Guitar
Ralph MacDonald - Percussion
Marcus Miller - Bass
Idris Muhammad - Drums
Randy Brecker - Trumpet

To get immediately to the point, if Me'Shell Ndegéocello's Comfort Woman isn't regarded as one of the finest contemporary soul albums of 2003, then those who review music for a living had better get eardrum transplants and a transfusion of blood to get rid of the sawdust, or quit to sell used cars, work in a fast-food establishment, or pump gas. The marketplace is tricky, but if this disc doesn't sell, then Madonna needs to fire her marketing department at Maverick. Comfort Woman is a deeply sensual album, sexy as hell and drenched with lush, richly textured bass grooves that bubble under warmly and luxuriantly in a series of songs that may not be all that divergent in tempo, but don't have to be either. This is late-night music, where the sound of a bass doesn't so much pop as it rumbles in the lower spine, looking for release. Make no mistake on Comfort Woman, space is the place and that place is reached via two vehicles, a perfect commingling of the spirits of dub reggae and mid-'70s soul and groove jazz. Think, perhaps, of David Sancious and Teena Marie as bandmates with Sly & Robbie in the rhythm section, Jimi Hendrix's "Rainy Day, Dream Away" as a music model, and Sade as vocalist -- you get the idea. The opening track, "Love Song," begins with a spacy bassline, rumbling in the lower register soft enough to ease its way into a song yet tough enough that it won't let the listener go. With a B-3 shimmering in the background, Ndegéocello begins to sing, so s-l-o-o-o-o-o-w-l-y: "If you want me, baby, just call/Let me kiss your body/Fill you with love/Let me feed your body/Feed it with love/I can't sleep...this is love/This is how I love you...." She croons with a breathy Smokey Robinson coo. On "Come Smoke My Herb," you can hear traces of both Shuggie Otis' and the Brothers Johnson's ballads infused with the brazen promise of Joni Mitchell and Gregory Isaacs meeting in bliss to swing and sway under a dubwise moon. Speaking of moons, "Liliquoi Moon" features guest guitarist Oren Bloedow, who adds his tonal dexterity to a soulfully psychedelic mix of woven acoustic guitars, a lullaby melody, and life-affirming lyrics until the end when Doyle Bramhall goes into overdrive in his solo, transforming the tune into a shape-shifting poltergeist of a track. Bramhall also lends his axe to "Love Song #3," which was truly inspired by Hendrixian grace and elegance à la Electric Ladyland. "Love Song # 2" and "Andromeda & the Milky Way" are sex beat tracks, music with a slow walking tiger in the hips as bass and keyboards stride out, loping, then halting and curling around the listener like smoke. Fact of the matter is, Comfort Woman is one of the most forward-thinking records to come out of contemporary soul in well over a decade. It's possible to remember when Prince made music as fine, sensual, and spiritual as this, but it's a struggle. This is Ndegéocello's finest moment on record thus far, and is as good as it gets in the field. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide