Consider This

Guitarist Ray Obiedo and the fiery Tower of Power horns help turn the throbbing retro-soul-meets-Memphis-flavored-soul-jam "Horn-afication" into one of the most memorable cuts on keyboardist Roger Smith's Consider This--one of smooth jazz's most diverse outings of 2000. Smith begins with the moody undercurrent of the Hammond B-3 beneath the bright, percussive brass, then keeps that brooding texture going beneath a call and response between the horns and his happy-go-lucky keyboard melody. He lays back a bit after this on the gentle funk blues of "Thinkin' Bout Ya!" and the pleasantries of "I'll Always Love You," which wouldn't draw much excitement but for vocals courtesy of the Temptations. Led by flügelhornist Mike Bogart, "Just For Love" plays like a languid Chris Botti tune. It's not until Smith gets back in our face with a raucous hip-hop cover of Michael Jackson's "Remember the Time" that he taxes his chops in the funk and improvisational areas. Odd that he chooses a cover to show some of his best piano work. Smith also goes hog-wild on the percussive insanity of the fusion piece "Hopscotch," which finds him racing circles around Michael Gregory's scorching electric guitar edges. Those whose heads are spinning after that will find solace in the gently rhythmic keyboard-acoustic guitar duet "Workin' It," written by Peter White and featuring his friendly melodic grace. The two get a little more frisky on a bouncy cat-and-mouse approach to their other collaboration, "Uptown." Smith thrives at rhythmic and stylistic smorgasbords, and Consider This is rich with them. --Jonathan Widran