If you miss the sounds of
the Meters, of vintage Northern soul, of
James Brown, of 1960s jazz-funk, and of Hammond organ jazz by the likes of
Jimmy Smith, and if you wish you could hear all of them at the same time, then you're sure to get a kick out of this Leeds-based quartet. To call the
New Mastersounds "old school" doesn't quite do justice to their simultaneously backward-looking and forward-pushing sound, which fans of modern bands like
the Charlie Hunter Quartet and
Medeski, Martin & Wood will recognize immediately -- but so will those who cut their teeth on
Jack McDuff and
Lou Donaldson records. When guest vocalist
Dionne Charles comes in (especially on the barnburning "Looking for an Answer"), the result is like an unholy cross between
James Brown and
Aretha Franklin; when the band slips into Afro-beat mode on "Kuna Matata" (featuring singer Troy Tuscan), the result is, strangely, more like a cross between
Fela Kuti and
Barry White. ~ Rick Anderson