Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

What do you call a man with a fishing line on his head? Rod! I am always a little suspicious and think there's something deliberately enigmatic about using just one name to identify yourself as an artist. But here's Rod Harris, a West Coaster whose album is well named for musical 'Chameleon' is exactly what he is. Playing many instruments himself and clearly a gifted keyboard player and soulful singer, this falls mainly into the soul arena with touches of pop, rock, gospel and jazz adding their influences along the way. There are instrumental pieces blended into the mix and the result is gorgeous. What grabs me? There's the understated R&B jazz fusion of "Fly" and the unusual groove of "I Need You" with a guest vocal appearance from one Yulanda Bell who does a great job. "Get Up" is probably my favourite with its clean R&B feel and then there's the frankly funky "The Church". There are a couple of moments that mar the proceedings. The closing gospel song "A Surrendered Life" is a bit wobbly but the biggest culprit is "She". It's a spoken story which I guess is meant to be clever, telling about Rod meeting a beautiful woman in a café and trying to pick her up. And it turns out to be his wife. Big joke huh? And totally obvious but hey! Even geniuses obviously have their off days. Having said that, in every batch of CDs that I review, there are always a couple of albums that stand out way above the rest and this is definitely one of them. Rod is beyond categorisation.

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.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.