BILL EVANS
Soul Insider (ESC Records)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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Saxophonist Bill Evans pulls out all the horns for his exploration of soul jazz on Soul Insider. At one point or another he's featured on alto, tenor, soprano and baritone, both as a soloist and as a part of his Voodoo Horns with Lew Soloff (trumpet) and Conrad Herwig (trombone). The basic group is rounded out by Ricky Peterson on B3 and piano, Dean Brown on guitar, drummer Steve Jordan and percussionist Don Alias, with James Genus and Tim Lefebvre sharing bass duties.

As great as that lineup may sound, there are a couple more names of particular note. Soul jazz veteran Les McCann is on hand to sing his own lyrics to a pair of Evans compositions, and Evans' bandmate from his time with Miles Davis, John Scofield, takes the guitar out of Brown's hands for a pair of tracks.

Evans manages to quote all the soul jazz conventions in the course of his eleven new originals on Soul Insider, but manages to avoid sounding cliched, bringing a fresh perspective to a timeless style.

Track List:

Vans Joint * Cool Eddie * Lose My Number * Cheeks * You Sure Look Good To Me * Big Mama * Sneaky * Gimme Some * Older Days * Thump * The Shorty Shuffle

© 2001 - Shaun Dale