Moodymann ~ Black Mahogani II
Enigmatic producer
Kenny Dixon Jr. delivers four tracks which clock in at a total of just over
35 minutes. Black Mahonagi II could therefore be an album, a single or an
EP. First track, When She Follows, moves forward with a driving, acoustic
bassline aided and abetted by busy drums, fluttering Rhodes and Moodymann's
tripping, abstract vocals. It’s an 18 minute opus which navigates a
shifting array of predominantly instrumental passages, featuring some fine
solos and never tiring before its sudden end. The three remaining shorter
tracks centre themselves much more on Moodymann's vocals and float between
house, jazz and soul. The whole affair plots a course through a constellation
of points including Donald Byrd’s 1969 Fancy Free, classic Sly and the
Family Stone and 4 Hero’s occasional collaborations with saxophonist
Chris Bowden. This is soul jazz, not the lazy off the peg kind, but music
which lives up to its name.
Colin Buttimer
September 2004