Message From the Godfather
The James Taylor Quartet'sA Message from the Godfather,  certainly isn't going to win any awards for originality. You'd be forgiven if, after popping the disc in your CD player, you begin to think you've mistakenly ended up with aLonnie SmithorGrant GreenBlue Note reissue from the late '60s or early '70s. But, as fans of that era's organ-heavy funkified "soul jazz" could tell you, originality isn't everything. Produced bySnowboy, the British DJ and percussionist whose own recent releases have evoked early '70s Latin jazz players such as Eddie Palmieri,A Message from the Godfatheris a throwback in the best sense of that word, a rollicking party album that places the groove front and center and never lets up. Dominated by the fat sound of Taylor's Hammond B-3 organ and by the analog production that makes the album sound as if it really were recorded on a sweaty night in 1970, this is one of the best albums Taylor has come up with to date, and certainly his most organic. That last quality can be a double-edged sword, as saxophonist and flutist John Wilmott and guitarist David Taylor's solos sometimes meander a bit and could possibly have benefited from a little editing. Still, warts and all it'll be hard not the throw this on the stereo next time there's a party in your living room.--Ezra Gale