Jeff Golub is categorized in the
smooth jazz genre because he's an instrumentalist; at heart, though, he's an
Eric Clapton styled rockin'
blues guitar player who, on
Out of the Blue, finds himself stumbling happily into
Tower of Power-like jam sessions. He pulls no punches from the start, rocking hard and furious with his distorted electric thrust darting around and over
Ricky Peterson's brooding B-3 and a three-piece horn section on
"Wanna Funk?" Same idea, south of the border style, on the similarly hard-hitting
Latin blues hurricane
"Manteca," where
Golub explores some improvisational territory in between sizzling solo sections by his longtime friend
Rick Braun.
Golub co-produced the album with keyboardist
Philippe Saisse, whose comparatively laid-back style keeps
Golub in the cool on more mid-tempo, easy to latch onto pieces like
"Indiana Moon"; the guitarist gets more aggressive as the song progresses, but the hooky piano harmony line stays a constant.
Saisse helps bring out
Golub's completely meditative side on
"The Velvet Touch" for about half the tune before the electricity rises once again. It's as if
Golub just can't keep his virtuosity to himself, no matter how emotionally restrained the trappings.
"Groanin'" is a unique departure which plays as though
Golub got up one night in a straight-ahead
jazz club and tried his hand (pretty convincingly, at that) at the
bebop quartet thing. ~ Jonathan Widran
