Cab 2
Unlike some Tone Center offerings, which can be thinly masked excuses for a fusion-blowing workout,Cab 2succeeds on both compositional and soloing levels. With drummer Dennis Chambers, organistBrian Auger, and bassist Bunny Brunel (once ofChick Corea's '80s band), here joined by speed-king guitarist Tony MacAlpine, the album revels in theHoldsworth-Elektric Band-Vital Informationformat, retaining high levels of spontaneity throughout. The lineup is well balanced: Chambers is both incredibly funky and creative with his blazing drum romps, while Brunel is consummately lyrical and able to comment on Chambers's furious feet and finger explorations. Melodically, old-timer Auger keeps his head down with lush R&B; stabs of B3 organ riffage--the perfect complement to MacAlpine's often hyperbolic, dazzling fretboard mayhem. Mostly, the quartet keeps it high, hard, and fast, running the voodoo down over Brunel and MacAlpine tracks such as "Decisions," "Top Spin," and "Song for My Friend," which employ brisk odd-meters and (what else) serpentine melodies. It's only when this fusion supergroup dwells on midtempo material ("Temperamental," "Sunday") that they run short on fuel, plodding where they should be pummeling, snoring on the job when fusion demands high-speed mental acuity. For its pure soloing prowess, often bittersweet melodies, and boiling arrangements,Cab 2goes all the way.--Ken Micallef