Recorded for
Berry Gordy's short-lived Workshop Jazz imprint,
Roy Brooks' simply but authoritatively titled
Beat fuses the intellectual rigors of the modern idiom with the physical prowess of soul-jazz to create a record of uncommon scope and reach. Working with
Horace Silver Quintet colleagues
Blue Mitchell,
Junior Cook, and
Gene Taylor alongside Detroit contemporaries
George Bohannon and
Hugh Lawson,
Brooks channels influences spanning the breadth of the Motor City scene, resulting in a clutch of challenging but engaging performances with the unmistakable patina of the embryonic Motown sound. While their technical proficiency is stunning,
Brooks' rhythms never lose sight of the almighty groove, and for its hard bop stridency, the record has the proverbial good beat and you can dance to it.