Keyboardist, composer, and producer
Jeff Lorber didn't let the COVID-19 pandemic slow him down. He spent much of 2020 producing artists -- including
Herb Alpert -- while writing and demoing new tracks of his own. Longtime drummer
Gary Novak regularly showed up at
Lorber's studio to record while social distancing. Bassist
Jimmy Haslip added his parts via the Internet, and
Lorber's guests participated in the process the same way. That said, these 11 cuts are tight, seamlessly integrated, and come off with an organic energy. His guests are all old friends. The horn players include
Bob Mintzer,
David Mann, and
Gary Meek; guitarists include
Paul Jackson, Jr.,
Robben Ford, and
Michael Landau.
Hubert Laws lent his flute to a couple of jams, while saxophonist
Gerald Albright actually played bass on "Memorex."
The double-time groove in the title cut opens the set as a breezy sprint.
Lorber states the vamp on the Fender Rhodes, framed by synth bass and guitar as
Novak and
Haslip drive the tempo.
Mintzer enters on the second chorus, extending its harmonic reach to the stratosphere without losing the groove. The bright, funky, bluesy interplay between
Jackson's guitar and
Mann's sax on "Back Room" is infectious. "Sun Princess" commences as a lithe, contemporary jazz groover.
Lorber grafts on tenets of
Pat Metheny's euphoric harmonic vocabulary to frame his canny piano fills and solo. "Mind Reader" is one of two cuts that benefit from
Ford's guitar exchanges with
Mintzer and
Lorber. Momentarily referencing the vamp from
Grover Washington, Jr.'s "Mister Magic," the rhythm section funkily bumps and bounces around the front line, pushing them inside the melody. When they emerge, it's as a unit soaring toward the horizon together. "Memorex" is cooking jazz-funk with knotty horn and keyboard lines contrasting melodic vamps and counterpoint as
Albright's popping bassline wrangles with the piano and
Mann's horns for dominance. "Louisiana" is uncharacteristic of the
JLF. Drenched in Southern-flavored R&B, its lilting, sunny melody is intercut with elegant bass, sax, and keyboard lines -- on piano, synths, and a B-3 -- as
Landau's guitar channels the gritty funk of
the Meters' guitarist
Leo Nocentelli. "Chick," dedicated to the memory of
Chick Corea, is pure fusion. The bubbling rhythm tracks are saturated with snare breaks and a churning, bumping bassline from
Haslip framing
Meek's gorgeous soprano saxophone and
Laws' flute that join in an adventurous lyric statement.
Ford returns with all burners cooking on "Truth."
Lorber offers his funkiest clavinet atop his layered keyboards, while the horn interplay between
Mann and
Mintzer is sumptuous, and deeply in the pocket.
Lorber's complex cadences underscore the earworm melodic hook, and he delivers a mean meat-and-potatoes jazz-funk solo. What makes
Space-Time such a joyous and compelling listen are
Lorber's tunes. They are penned and arranged with uncommon detail, revealing the considerable strengths of his sidemen who, in turn, deliver savvy creativity, abundant technical facility, and wide-open joy in return. As a whole,
Space-Time is flawless, resonant, and stands with
Lorber's best recordings. ~ Thom Jurek
![Merci Miles! [Live at Vienne]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0603497844616_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Merci Miles! [Live at Vienne]")
