Stone Soul

Aspiring jazz musicians may know Mongo Santamaria as the pen behind "Afro Blue", perhaps the simplest and most inviting of all the standards in the songbook. Honestly, I didn't know much more than that either before I came across his Stone Soul (Columbia) while digging through some records at K Starke after work yesterday. This is kind of a cross-over album of sorts, with percussionist Santamaria assembling a soul band to reinterpret some pop songs of the day, including "Son of a Preacher Man" and "Stoned Soul Picnic" (what up Laura Nyro).

The look of this album is deceiving: the close-up of a plate of black-eyed peas, corn bread, and chicken on the cover is reminiscent of some of the cheekier Blue Note album designs from the lake 60s. But this is no jazz album. The horn players attack in an R&B style, to such an extent that some of the extended solos can be frustratingly monotonous. Clearly the highlight, then, is Santamaria's percussion teamed up with Bernard Purdie on drums (if you don't know Purdie's catalog, correct that). But it takes these guys the entire length of the album to finally let loose and show some fire on what is clearly the best track, the Temptations' "Cloud Nine". See for yourself.