Chris Standring - Ten (2016)

The trademark groove that guitarist Chris Standring cultivated with recordings such as ‘Soul Express’ and Love & Paragraphs’ served to define him as a serious contributor to the evolution of contemporary jazz. Not only that, his innovative use of a string quartet for the albums ‘Blue Bolero’, ‘Electric Wonderland’ and ‘Don’t Talk, Dance!’ further enabled him to stand out from the crowd. Now, in the familiar company of Andre Berry, Rodney Lee and drummer Dave Karasony, he is back with his tenth studio project, the appropriately titled ‘Ten’.

This collection of ten original compositions opens with ‘Ready Steady Flow’ that (complete with splashes of Standring on vocoder) also happens to be the first track serviced to radio. Held down by Berry on bass, this edgy number is in the good company of ‘Like This Like That’ that is added to in no small measure by fine organ from Rodney Lee.

Elsewhere the easy paced ‘Snake Oil’ is given a nice twist by interjections of sax from Dino Soldo and, although Standring uses ‘Bossa Go Go’ to embark on an intoxicatingly rhythmic roll, it is with ‘Parisian Blue’ that he finds an understated but perfectly executed jazz vibe.

In terms of personal favorites the superbly turned down ‘Soul Vibration’ is a real delight yet right up there with it is ‘Piece Of Cake’ that sort of sneaks up to captivate the listener in the most subtle of ways. As the tempo slows yet further both ‘Carousel’ and ‘Never Too Late’ can aptly be described as beauty personified but it with ‘Magic Carpet Ride’ that Standring really pushes out the boundaries. Deep and moody, sensuous and jazzy, he comes up big on both guitar and keys while later, when Standring reprises the tune on acoustic guitar, he makes it sound brand new.

Make no mistake; this is a really top-notch CD that is sure to evolve into one of the standout releases of 2016.

Tracklist:

1. Ready Steady Flow (4:26)
2. Snake Oil (4:21)
3. Magic Carpet Ride (6:53)
4. Carousel (4:31)
5. Like This, Like That (4:39)
6. Soul Vibration (4:24)
7. Bossa Go Go (3:53)
8. Parisian Blue (3:59)
9. Piece Of Cake (4:01)
10. Never Too Late (5:36)
11. Magic Carpet Ride (Reprise) (1:23)