Dangerous Curves

The title of the last cut on Jeff Golub's first outing for his new label, GRP, King Curtis's "Soul Serenade," provides a perfect summation of the CD's contents. Soul is exactly what separates Golub's blues-soaked guitar from the usual "contemporary instrumental" fare. In addition to his magnificently minimal fingersnap arrangement of the Curtis classic, he offers another soul-sax masterpiece, Grover Washington's "Mr. Magic." Golub's own compositions, such as "Droptop" and the title cut, recall yet another funky tenor titan: Eddie Harris. Golub's tone is sweet, but his attack is tangy; no flash, just the elegant and emotive instrumental phrasing of a great singer--Al Green, not Mariah Carey. At one time, there was a genre--"soul-jazz"--that would have fit the former Rod Stewart sideman's music like the proverbial glove; today, he gets lumped into "smooth jazz." Within that format, Golub's use of real instruments rather than programming, his rock edge, and his genuine feeling are dangerous indeed. --Michael Ross