The latest compilation of chilled-out groove music from the Sequoia label finds compilers
David and Steve Gordon continuing to stay just on the good side of new age mushiness, combining exotic rhythmic and melodic elements with nice, solid grooves -- at least most of the time. This collection opens on a weak note, with
Urs Fuchs' "60 Answers to 33 Questions," on which laconic Brazilian percussion meets 1960s-style vocalese at
Kenny G.'s house. Things don't improve much on the next track, "Surfin the Sunwind" by Joe Weineck; on this one some rather nice smooth jazz guitar is overwhelmed by synthesized sweetening and ends up sounding like a bad
Lee Ritenour outtake. On the other hand, Althea W manages to get away with invoking the names of both
Jaco Pastorius and
Miles Davis on the impressive "Jaco Miles Away," and there's some actual tension and release on David Gordon's "A Night in Martinique." TAU's weird and funky "La Montagne" is probably the album's highlight, and the program probably should have ended there instead of continuing with the embarrassing
Deepak Chopra-on-Ecstasy twaddle that is
Ashron's "Balanced Love." Not bad overall, but not really essential. ~ Rick Anderson