Soul Conversation
At first listen, it wouldn't appear that guitarists Mark Whitfield and JK would have much to talk about musically. Whitfield absorbed the influence of jazzers likeWes Montgomery, then went on to work with the likes ofBetty CarterandCarmen McRae. JK has been a top R&B; producer and session guitarist. It turns out that the two share a love for classic soul music. That makesSoul Conversationas bright and lively a duet idea asGeorge BensonandEarl Klugh's 1987 CD,Collaboration. The real joys of this project come when the two go point-counterpoint, statement and echo, as on "Talk to Me." The two spend the moody, wah-wah enhanced tune negotiating the subtle edges of a thick groove through improvisational trade-offs. At the end of each passage, they join and wind down the melody like two leaves falling directly on top of each other. Two's company most of the time here, but that tune and the shuffle-jam "Vision" feature a third who's worthy of opinion in the form ofHerbie Hancockand his Fender Rhodes.--Jonathan Widran