In 2020, former
Doors guitarist
Robby Krieger released the stellar instrumental jazz-funk outing
The Ritual Begins at Sundown, his first album in a decade.
Krieger was never really idle: He amassed hundreds of credits for everything from production to songwriting to playing, but he maintains a relatively low profile.
Robby Krieger & The Soul Savages marks the debut of his new quartet with keyboardist
Ed Roth, bassist
Kevin Brandino, and drummer
Franklin Vanderbilt. This instrumental ten-song set dialogues in jazz-funk, soul-jazz, prog, and funky rock with swagger and a relaxed immediacy.
Opener "Shark Skin Suit" is guided by a bubbling Hammond B-3 framing a synth vamp appended by fuzzy, strutting guitar that delivers meaty blues and R&B riffs atop the rhythm section's swinging groove.
Krieger's solo crisscrosses R&B, jazz, progressive rock, and spidery R&B. It segues into the second single, "Samosas & Kingfishers." A modal Middle Eastern vamp is offered by organ, then underscored and appended by
Krieger emulating the sound of a sitar. As rumbling tom-toms and fretless bass add dramatic circular rhythms,
Krieger follows
Roth onto the ledge and begins drifting into psychedelia on his slide. The trio shifts gears as
Roth solos on electric piano in direct response to
Brandino's loping bassline.
Krieger offers taut, emotionally satisfying fills and accents. The intro to "A Day in L.A." recalls the
Quincy Jones-penned theme to the
Redd Foxx TV comedy Sanford and Son in the intro. The lithe swing illustrates contemporary jazz-funk.
Krieger's multi-textured solo punches through the mix playing jazz and blues licks with a slide. "Kilzoni" is a set highlight.
Krieger's jazz-rock chops bridge the fusion ambitions of
Miles Davis'
In a Silent Way with
Return to Forever's
Romantic Warrior. While hinge track "Contrary Motion" is almost a straight-ahead rocker, "Never Say Never" is adorned by a funky shuffle driven by
Brandino and
Vanderbilt and a sparkling electric piano solo.
Krieger stretches to provide psychedelic funk through the melody. While "Bouncy Betty" is a bumping soul-jazz stroll, "Ricochet Rabit" draws on
Wes Montgomery's elegant influence in
Krieger's elaborate chord voicings.
Roth sits at an acoustic piano and swings the rhythm section hard. Closer "Math Problem," juxtaposes driving guitar funk, prog rock, jazz syncopation, and harmonic interplay between organist and guitarist, flanked by breaks from
Vanderbilt. The bassist, followed by the frontline, dislocates the harmonic center moving toward the kind of groove-centric freedom articulated by
Medesk, Scofield, Martin & Wood.
Robby Krieger & The Soul Savages is hip, relaxed, and confident. The quartet sounds like they're having an exceptionally good time and that translates to aural gold for the listener. ~ Thom Jurek
