Jazz In The Present Tense

THE SOLSONICS: “Jazz In The Present Tense” (Chrysalis)

I’VE NEVER been able to quite get into where jazz is coming from. I mean, I like Miles Davis’ Sketches Of Spain and John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme, and I’ve even got a few Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor albums, but . . . jazz has never really moved me. Perhaps it’s the instrumental nature of the music, or perhaps it’s because a lot of jazz tends to take a decent melody and go round the world in eighty ways with it.

The Solsonics are not going to radically change my mind about jazz. However, there will be times when Jazz In The Present Tense will be perfect. These will be nostalgic, mellow, late night times when you want to embrace the world with a hug. Because this album is all about innocent hope and positive vibes and funky/jazzy feelings.

In fact, although it proudly states “jazz” in its title, there’s as much meaty fun on these tracks as anything else. There’s even some rap sampling on the superb ‘Now This Is Where We Do It’, some actual rapping on ‘Inside Is A Stride’, and a definite nod to reggae on the equally superb ‘Mountain Man’.

Strangely, for me, I would have liked this album more without vocals, because the lyrics are invariably that bit too sugary and hopeful. All this ‘let’s get on together, let’s all be happy and shake hands’ just sounds so naïve that it feels corny. ‘Blood Brother’ is a good example of such well-intentioned naïveté. “We’ve got to live together in peace/Why can’t we learn to love and live in postivity?” Oh, about a million reasons, actually.

If you’re of a sunny, positive disposition and you like your jazz/funk served up on chunky grooves, you’ll definitely like this. I like it too, despite myself.

• Gerry McGovern