Mark Adams was the keyboard player and musical director in Roy Ayers’ band for 25 years. He collaborates with other Ayers side men like drummer Chris DeCarmine and bassists Donald Nicks and Emanuel Chulo Gatewood, and other top level players like vibesman Monte Croft and sax player Dave Mullins to create a fitting tribute to Jazz Funk legends Roy Ayers and Lonnie Liston Smith ‘This is Neo Soul’. There are good covers of Ayers’ classics ‘Sweet Tears’ , ‘Don’t Stop The Feeling’ and the especially good ‘Vibrations’ ‘featuring the earthy soulful voice of Chic vocalist Kimberly Davis. She also appears on the uptempo ‘Open Letter’ which has a typically Ayers groove to it. ‘Dre’s World’ is a nice funky track with a Headhunters style groove. The cover of ‘Expansions’ and the instrumental ‘LLS groove’ give a nod to Lonnie. Overall a very strong album made by top musicians illustrating how great their mentors were and how their sounds shaped music over the past 60 years.
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