Sometimes, artistic evolution is best achieved with collaboration. A developing performer, strong in certain areas, teams with a veteran who offers complementary expertise, and the results can be...well, in the case of
Eric Marienthal
and
Jeff Lorber
, some of the genre's snazziest melodies and most combustible grooves since 1991. On both that year's
Oasis
and 1993's
One Touch
,
Lorber
's edgy keyboard bravura offered the
Elektric Band
saxman the ultimate playground for riffs ranging from silky and steamy to joyfully schizofrenic. While those discs were balanced production wise with
Russell Ferrante
's artsier jazz sensibilities,
Street Dance
fully entrusts the capable
to funk around, then smooth out the punchier edges himself. A wise choice all around. While the musical soul mates seem to have the most fun on pulse-accelerating wailers like
"Shake It Loose,"
Marienthal
's truest expressions emerge on cooler cookers like the toe-tappin' title cut and more poignant gems like
"Yosemite,"
on which he laces the more heartfelt side of his alto with late-nite flute sprinklings. On these, as well as with the alto/soprano weavings on a smoky cover of
Genesis
'
"Hold on My Heart,"
mellows his own tendency to overfunkify, creating easygoing soundscapes rather than the wall of in-your-face insanity to pleasing effect. All of these fuse together in trademark
fashion, echoing certain pieces from previous discs, but with some of his freshest hooks ever (he co-wrote seven tunes). ~ Jonathan Widran