Come in Funky

From the moment Ron Carter's fingers tap on his legendary double bass, as if knocking on a doorway to Jazz-Funk heaven, this album invites you in. Diverse sessions of original instrumental Jazz and Funk fill these tracks with coolness and joy, courtesy of keyboardist Tobin Mueller, saxophonist Woody Mankowski and bassist Ron Carter. Some of these tunes will transport you back in time, to when almost everything (music, clothes, language) owed its hipness to the Funk wing of 1970s Jazz. Some are unique contemporary Jazz etudes that resonate with playfulness and humor. Unlike most Funk recordings, 7 of the 13 tracks have no percussion, relying instead on the bass or keys for momentum. This lends a nimble clarity to the music. Mankowski's sax drives the Big Band pieces. Mueller's organ, electric pianos and synths provide more than the connective tissue, they resonate with energy. Carter's dancing bass lines shape several Interludes (along with Mueller's keys) into whimsical duets that act like pallet cleansers between the larger pieces. It all adds up to a smorgasbord of Jazz delights. In addition, a Bonus Track (featuring recently deceased guitarist Fran Dagostino, known to his friends as Ziti), becomes the perfect place to chill at journey's end. Ziti would have loved the way his acoustic blues guitar is magically mangled by inspired electronics. "Come In Funky" is the second collaboration between Tobin Mueller and Woody Mankowski. Their first, "The Muller's Wheel" (2010) charts small combo Jazz from Bop-Swing to Fusion. (It was re-issued in 2012 as "Müller's Wheel.") Mankowski also appears on Mueller's award-winning Jazz album "Rain Bather" (2009), as well as "A Bit Of Light" (2006) and "Song of Myself" (2012).