Search - Victor Bailey :: Thats Right

As an original member of both Joe Zawinul's Zawinul Syndicate and Ramsey Lewis's Urban Knights, bassist Victor Bailey has played both contemporary jazz with a rock edge and R&B-laced jazz. On this nine-track disc, he straddles both worlds quite effectively. Besides a totally out-of-place and somewhat self-indulgent vocal piece titled "Where's Paco," this is a solid program of post-fusion music. The Parliament/Funkadelic medley of "(Not Just) Knee Deep" and "One Nation Under a Groove," and the catchy "Rope-a-Dope" are great examples of progressive 21st-century jazz-funk, while guitarist Dean Brown, and especially keyboardist Jim Beard--who's a revelation throughout the proceedings--shine brightly in blistering solos that emphasize the rock in jazz-rock fusion. Underrated reedman Bennie Maupin also appears on two tracks. He plays the kind of lines on his bass clarinet that he did with Herbie Hancock's Headhunters in the '70's on a hot tune he wrote called "Steamy," switching to tenor sax on the title track, which closes the album. Despite the firepower of his guests, Bailey's bass isn't overshadowed at all. --Mark Ruffin