The soulful
American Pie pairs
Groove Holmes with electric pianist
Larry Willis, suggesting a more nuanced and restrained interpretation of the organ/electric piano formula that energizes
Holmes' Blue Note classic
Comin' on Home. Ably supported by guitarist
Gerald Hubbard, bassist
Jerry Jemmott and percussionist Kwasi Jayourba,
Holmes and
Willis weave a mellow, stoned-soul groove that twists and turns with lazy precision -- although the material derives from sources spanning from
Don McLean to
Anthony Newley to
Holmes himself (the fine originals "Catherine" and "Fingers"), the mood and tenor of the set never wavers, but the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts. ~ Jason Ankeny