I have already stated my boundless admiration of Jimmy Herring when I reviewed the ARU's Nice, so imagine my thrill when I found out that Herring was releasing an album with a quartet of like minded jazz-rockers! Project Z's debut album (there would be only two due to the untimely demise of bassist Ricky Keller) is an exhilerating ride all around the jazz-rock landscape featuring a mix of very accessible numbers, some really wild experimentation verging on free and somewhere in the middle, my favourite stuff, the roaring and inventive tracks that pepper this record.
Now I may be a Herring fan, but the rest of Project Z are no slouches. Jeff Sipe is on drums and beyond being a former ARU bandmade of Herring's his musical CV is a long as my right arm. Ricky Keller is a killer bass player, fast and furious. Rev. Oliver Wells accompanies the trio on Keyboards with gusto and vibe, and Count M'butu (also a former ARU guy now with the Derek Trucks Band) joins on percussion on a couple of tracks. Speaking of Derek Trucks he guests on a couple of numbers as well.
Raging Torrent opens Project Z. It's one of these roaring and inventive ones: a fury of drum rolls and a super-fast bass-line sets the groove and when Herring's overdriven guitar comes in, you can't help but fall into the rushing stream. It's a great example of Herring's blend of jazz and rock influences. One of my frustration with a lot of jazz-rock is these wimpy synth-guitars that apparently some people think sound "rock". Herring's sound is mean and in your face. Rock as God intended.
Another stunner is Rainbow, the only song on the record where Herring plays acoustic guitar. It starts with a mellow piano intro played by Wells. After two minutes, when the rest of the band joins in, things get heavier, with a thick bass driven groove. The funk parade is kept mellow by Herring's acousticness though. Well's piano solo is supberb and Herring's own acoustic solo is graceful and melodic. Superb playing all the way through.
Herring lets his jazz chops rip on Separated Gestures. My guess is fans of Allan Holdsworth will lap this stuff up, although I have to say it's a little too out for my tastes. But there are many less threatening tracks on there too, like Augusta's Ankle or Mud Bug.
There's only one thing that's slightly annoying on Project Z and that's the many 30 second interludes between songs that in my opinion don't contribute anything and break the flow of listening. But in this day of iPods and music software, it's easy enough to skip and certainly doesn't justify missing out on this masterpiece of jazz-rock!
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