Breaks: The Whitefield Brothers and Harold Ousley

Herein, you will find (digital) proof as to the well being of new funky grooves. But nonetheless, they arenâ??t necessarily subservient to those old, soulful combos of the seventies.

Having sprung, in part, from the always funky Souls of Mischief – who were themselves really in a league of their own – The Whitefield Brothers, in a relatively short time have received a great deal of attention for their lone disc of pure, instrumental groove. The album was initially released in 2002 and pretty quickly went out of print. Helping to jack up the resale value, though, was the demise of Soul Fire Records, who originally put the disc out. Thankfully, though, Stones Throw has seen fit to reissue the album, although with a notably more lame cover. But regardless of what it looks like, each track seeks to work out some middle ground between funk, soul, rnb and afro-beat. The inclusion of the latter, though, is centered around the six minute “Weiya (Serengeti Beat).” Most of the elements present in the song are easily found amidst any of the other eight tracks on the disc. What actually makes this track noticeably different – apart from the shocking way in which the drums were recorded and produced – is the addition of chanting on top of the enormous drum beat. It can’t be said that this is even the highlight – although if it were, it’d be more than enough.

As this modern work finds itself contrasted with an older selection, the difference in production value is readily apparent. And although In the Raw and Harold Ousleyâ??s The Peoples' Groove intend to do different things, the later would be easily discernable as an artifact from a past era.

Ousley, on this date at least, plays in a laid back overtly soul inflected jazz style. At some points it wouldnâ??t serve this work to be referred to as soul jazz due to its tonal and compositional leanings. But who knows?

Before cutting into Ousleyâ??s effort though, the cover of Kris Kristoffersonâ??s â??Me and Bobby McGeeâ? needs to be dispensed (and no Janis didnâ??t write it). If not for the familiarity of the melody, thereâ??d be nothing objectionable here at all. Although, the track does find the band at its most laid back and least urgent. Covering a work such as this could mean that the band needed a few extra minutes of music to fill out the disc, but it is possible that they all just enjoyed the arrangement. Either way, itâ??s not the high point and coming after the pair of strong tracks that begin the disc only emphasizes what â??Me and Bobby McGeeâ? lacks.

The rest of the album moves between soul, funk and African influences. The drumming on â??El Exi-Henteâ? might seem out of place momentarily, but as Ousleyâ??s sax kicks in, everything begins to make a bit more sense. And itâ??s in his tone here that the album is predicated on. No one should claim that Ousley is some unsung, masterful soloist, but the consistent sound that he coaxes from his instrument is worth any hassle in tracking this disc down.