As Promised
Smooth-jazz musicians sometimes get bashed by naysayers who don't believe they possess the goods to play "real jazz" - you know, the kind that's supposed to put hair on your chest. Keyboardist Alex Bugnon gets that rap occasionally, but it's guilt by association only. Dig: Many is the person who thought Herbie Hancock, for example, was selling out, way back when, with his Headhunters band. And many of those people are just now beginning to enjoy the band's innovations. So, the guy who can't hear the beauty of bugnon's music today may just come around to it in, say, 20 years. And here's what Johnny-come-lately will hear when the light finally comes on, if he happens to be checking out "...As Promised": soulful, resonant horns, keyboards, and wah-wah guitars on "Onward, Upward"; a version of John Coltrane's "Naima" that looks to hip-hop without losing the lovely ballad's otherworldliness; Lalah Hathaway's sweet scatting on the gritty "Won't Be a Fool"; and the vibrant sonic landscape of "Simple Song," with Hathaway's warm vocals floating over a deep bass groove and Bugnon's keyboard lines flying like eagles into the distance.--- Larry Nai, JAZZIZ MagazineCopyright © 2000, Milor Entertainment, Inc.--From Jazziz