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

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

Dangerous Curves