Jazz purists are known for being very dogmatic; as they see it, anything that has even a hint of rock or funk influence cannot possibly be jazz -- regardless of how much improvising a musician does. But Santi Debriano isn't a purist, and he hasn't allowed dogma to get in the way of his creativity. On Soldiers of Fortune -- Debriano's first album as a leader -- the bassist has one foot in fusion and the other in straight-ahead post-bop. Some of the material is essentially straight-ahead, including "Eventual Return" and the probing "Morning Melody." But more of a fusion outlook prevails on amplified offerings like "Plants," "Awake at Last," and the 11-minute "Dream Research," all of which give guitarist Dave Fiuczynski plenty of room to let loose and burn. When Debriano recorded this album in 1989, it's doubtful that he was thinking, "I want this performance to be fusion, and I want this one to be straight-ahead." Rather, it's safe to assume that Debriano and his sidemen (who also include pianist Kenny Werner, vibist Joe Locke, reedman John Purcell, and drummer Ronnie Burrage) simply went into the studio and played what felt good at any given moment -- instead of trying to please the purists, they were trying to please themselves. And that would explain why Soldiers of Fortune (which came out in France in the early '90s but wasn't released in the U.S. until 1997) sounds organic rather than contrived. Debriano was wise enough to let his creativity guide him on this promising debut. ~ Alex Henderson