Search - Brian Jackson :: Gotta Play

Feelin This

Ahmed Chronwell | Washington DC | 06/20/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Brian is one of the forerunners of todays concsious hiphop soul movement because of his multi-instrumental brillance with Gil Scott Heron 30 years ago, and now he releases his debut. It has the vibe of a radio-ready smooth funk album but has a few radical touches. His band is topnotch and Num, a multi-instrumental wizard who sings and shines on his own interlude and on the cover of the Gap Band's Outstanding, plays African percussion instruments to vary up the sound. The saxaphonist also posseses a sandpapery tone that steers this CD away from Fourplay/Najee territory decisively. Jackson's solos are built strongly too to make this a welcome addition into a dusted strain of radio jazz."

Mind and Body

Thom Loubet | New York City | 10/24/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As the composer and arranger of such Gil Scott-Heron classics as "The Bottle" and "Home is where the hatred is," Brian Jackson walked a precious line between jazz and R&B and was a primary forefather of acid jazz. With his first solo album, Gotta Play, he continues down this path surrounded by a collective of some of the fiercest young players on the New York scene. Though the listener will find a healthy dose of joyous blowing within these tracks, the group exhibits a clear focus on tight composition and musicality with all parts done in deference to the groove. The solos burn, but the great triumph of this album is its vivid mood. The songs employ Jackson's emblematic dense harmonies supported by a creamy, head-nodding pulse. This is a lounging record if ever there was one, and it should not be missed."

A must have!

A. Shenbanjo | London, United Kingdom | 12/15/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I've been a fan of Brian Jackson and more specifically Gil Scott-Heron/Brian Jackson since purchasing on a chance 'From South Africa to South Carolina' as a 15 year old soul/jazz funk fanatic some 25 years ago. I've always felt Gil's work, at least musically, never quite reached the heights of the halcyon days achieved with his key collaborator. Along with the Last Poets, Watts Prophets, Nikki Giovanni and lesser known political poets of the Black Power era (I will avoid the disparaging term 'proto-rappers'), these two musical pioneers very much re-wrote the musical landscape, with their hard-hitting reality prose/song alerting us that America still had(s) some considerable way to go in delivering socio-economic and political justice to its Black populace.

I picked up this album after hearing 'Parellel Lean/Home is Where the Hatred Is' on London's Jazz Fm, which just left me totally mesmerised. Not only does it improve upon the original, with Gil's haunting monologue at the start taking the listener on a drug-laden journey of urban despair, but there's also a sad poignancy empahasised by his own well-documented battle with substance abuse.

As a long-term fan, I've got to say that hearing these two highly gifted talents re-uniting after over 20 years, if regretfully for only one track, is enough to justify purchase of 'Gottta Play'. While 'Parellel Lean' represents the album's undisputed highlight, the rest in no way dissapoints. 'Yada Yada' for one, is an infectious little jazz-funk instrumental jam reminiscent of Lesette Wilson's recent work, smoothesque, but with attitude and feeling in the playing. Simarlarly, the aptly titled downtempo 'Moody Too', takes us on a pleasurable path of sublime cosmic funkiness, with Jackson's electric piano runs giving messrs LL Smith and George Duke a good 'ol run for their money.

Overall, 'Gotta Play' marks an accomplished return from one half of one of the most innovative musical partnerships of the past 3 decades. Now howz about that comeback album with Gil Scott-Heron we've all been waiting for?









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