Well, I caught the last two tunes of Roy's band at NAMM, and met him later at the show. When I got home I got the chance to check out the CD and I thought I'd give you some feedback. First this caveat, I am not as a rule a fan of solo bass players CD's. I like melody, good songwriting, and my favorite bass players are those who really know how to lay down a good grove. While I have bought many solo bass CD's, most don't stay in the rotation for long.
Now the nitty gritty stuff. First Roy did little (30 second) interludes of his solo playing between the ensemble songs. I thought this was a great idea. Instead of showing of his chops in a solo that has nothing to do with the context of the tune Roy does a fine job of dropping your jaw for just the right amount of time. I wish more players did this. What these interludes really showed was the range of Roy's chops, and he is certainly more then a slap and pop player. The chordal playing and frettless playing was exquisite, great stuff.
The first song scared me (Miss Sipi). I am not a fan of the smooth jazz idiom for the most part, and I my first thought was it's going to be another Silver Rain, ugh.
Everything from the guitar solo (Shane Roberts) to the melody was a bit to cliched for me. The next tune Urban legend (the title cut) I noticed a difference. First it was a great laid back funk grove, the melody had a nice hook, and the guitar player suddenly became a very inventive jazz monster! By the time I was done with the CD, I would have purchased it for the guitar playing alone. Who is Shane Roberts and on what planet has he been hiding? He's one of those guys who has massive speed chops, but a good sense of space, and can play out but still make it sound musical. The tune also has a great vibes solo by Jerry Taichor. The band kicks butt on this one. And Roy's Solo smokes, very musical, melodic, and cool.
The next Tune (Amen Corner) starts with a great chord Melody over a nice Blues/jazz vamp played by Roy. Then the band kinks in and it turns into some great hard core Jazz with a rock drive, it reminds me a bit of a fusion band kicking it on a Steely Dan tune. Again the guitar solo is killer. The Organ (Tim McDonald) has that Donald Fagen Nightfly vibe and lays a great solo too. This tune is followed by Weatherman which is dedicated to Joe Zwainal. it reminded me a lot of Heavy Weather era Weather Report with a guitar player, Roy lays down a great frettless solo on this one.
The next tune (Mojave) is probably my favorite as a song. The tune reminds me a lot of Continuum by Jaco with the same kind of haunting melody. The tune features a great electric piano solo, and more tasty work by Roy and Shane. The last tune (the Gables) is a classic jazz fusion romp, Roy delivers a great walking bass line thru the tune, and a great frettless solo. The tune reminds me of early Return to Forever (pre AL Dimeola), complete with a drum solo. All in All this band needs to be heard, they should be household names. It is a great BAND CD and comes highly recommended.
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/royvogt
