Reviewed by Matthew Cordle

Think Joe Sample and Bob James with some Justo Almario woodwinds thrown in and you'll be able to picture the style Ben's aiming at here. There is sadly just one major problem - the music on this CD doesn't groove, and if nothing else, jazz has to groove, especially West Coast jazz! If it doesn't make you swing, if your toes don't tap and your head doesn't nod, if you don't reach for your shades and start to roll back the roof of your car before you realise you don't have a convertible, then it's not West Coast jazz. The drums and bass programming is wooden, as if all parts have been strictly quantised, the synth guitar, synth flute and synth sax parts, complete with highly dodgy-sounding pitch bends, are woefully unconvincing. In fact the only things that flow at all are the real sax on a few of the tracks such as "We Worship", and the real piano performances on tracks such as "He Covers Me". Frustratingly there is nothing wrong with the actual music, and Ben can obviously write good jazz, but it needs a proper band to give it some feeling or a lot more detailed work on the programming if it is to stand up alongside other smooth West Coast jazz artists.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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