Boogaloo to Beck: A Tribute

by Scott Yanow On this unusual set, organist Dr. Lonnie Smith, with guitarist Doug Munro, and (on five of the 11 selections) tenor-saxophonist David "Fathead" Newman do the improbable. On Boogaloo to Beck: A Tribute, Smith takes a full set of songs by rock performer Beck and turns them into funky soul-jazz. In fact, the results often sound like a late-1960s Blue Note album. The individual selections are not all that memorable or inspiring (it is doubtful that any of these Beck tunes will catch on in jazz), but Smith and his bandmates play quite well and deserve credit for trying to come up with fresh material for their grooves.