This is one of my all-time favourite ‘Hidden Gems’. Packed full of great playing by a stellar band and featuring some fantastic original compositions, this album caught my attention from the opening track and has been one of my most played CDs ever since.
Sweet Soul was recorded in 1991 and released under Erskine’s own Fuzzy Music label. The rhythm section features the leader on drums with Marc Johnson on Bass and Kenny Werner on Piano. Front line duties are handled primarily by Joe Lovano on Sax but the album also features appearances by John Schofield on Guitar and Randy Brecker on Trumpet.
The first track, ‘Touch Her Soft Lips and Part’ is an arrangement of a piece originally written by the English composer William Walton in 1943 as part of his film score for Henry V. Under Erskine’s direction, it becomes a lush and understated jazz ballad with Joe Lovano caressing the melody with great restraint and beautiful phrasing while the rhythm section provides a simple, yet musically perfect approach to accompaniment. Kenny Werner’s piano solo always gives me goose-bumps and there is a fragility and ephemeral beauty to the whole piece that is deliciously captivating.
This minimal, thoughtful and delicate approach to the group sound is the rock on which the rest of this album is built. The title track ‘Sweet Soul’, an Erskine original, is an unbelievably slow, yet somehow ultimately almost funky track with gorgeous horn parts contrasting with John Scofields’ biting guitar sound to provide both Sweet and Sour.
‘Press Enter’, a Kenny Werner composition is unusual in that it alternates between 5/4 and 4/4 and ‘To Be or Not to Be’, the other track written by the pianist, is a more up tempo swinger featuring a killer trumpet solo by Randy Brecker.
As well as compositions by band members and a couple of standards, Sweet Soul also features a few originals by Vince Mendoza with the hauntingly introspective 'Angels and Devils' being a highlight.
The album finishes with a trio version of Dave Brubeck’s ‘In Your Own Sweet Way’ and this sounds like it started life as an incidental bit of fun in the studio as Kenny Werner manages to shoe-horn a whole host of quotes into the solo and the general arrangement – everything from the theme from ‘James Bond’ to ‘Sleigh Ride’.
What sets this album apart for me is sense that all egos were left at the studio door and these great players focused simply on great ensemble music making. Nobody overplays, the music is given plenty of room to breath and the compositions are both interesting and inventive.
Add to this some great production (the cymbals in particular sound gorgeous) and you have an album that is truly worthy of mention. It is no coincidence that this album is the first to feature in my ‘Hidden Gems’ series; I absolutely love it and I highly recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in good jazz.
