Henley Douglas RnB play with instrumental wizardry on Vital Signs 2, Amore’s Prayer. Named after Henley’s daughter, this double disc masterpiece offers many different approaches to the funk-jazz match up. The listener feels he received a huge meal that satisfies on many levels. Along for the ride with saxophone man Douglas Jr. is trumpeter Garret Savluk, electric guitarists Charlie O’Neal, Brandon Tarricone, and Peter Fedele, trombonist Squantch, bass player David Walker, drummer John Litis, and percussionist Yahuba.
Title track “Amore’s Prayer” opens the disc with Douglas blowing a soft, slow, and very smooth jazz line. Its waves of motion are large, all encompassing yet at the same time, mellow, easeful. He’s just getting warmed up. He soon leads his combo through this jazz pop piece like a pied piper of rhythm and groove. It’s impossible to not get hooked on Douglas’s melody line as it is rich with all good elements of horn playing. His backing outfit offers a spicy percussion run as well as solid but unobtrusive bass and drums. A fluid guitar line reminds of the best of jazz players as the horn continues its spiral of warm melodic flow. It’s that sense of many moving parts that keep this a feast for the ears.
“Bombs For Peace” makes a sprightly appearance here. Douglas blows a wildly loose line that screams with joy amidst a pushy groove and alongside a bristling guitar line. This action packed piece grabs the ears and doesn’t let go. It makes us feel like dancing fast. That is due to all of its moving parts. A twitchy electric guitar line provided by Charlie O’Neal is alone worth the price of admission to this E-ticket ride.
“Soul Albo” slaps its way into our consciousness with a riffy groove. An electric guitarist dashes off light chords, keeping pace with Douglas’s jumpy saxophone ride. When this piece speeds up, your feet might want to go with it. It’s like Soul Train married to some of the great jazz arrangements, boogie groove underpinning a freewheeling sax and a bright electric guitar line that cuts through the sounds cape, making it seem as easy as a big flashlight cutting through darkness.
“Hanging Dirty” is a snappy guitar driven ride. A riffy six string gets behind the steering wheel with a dashing saxophone next to him in the passenger side. Together, they are a dynamic duo of sound, taking turns making this a brisk paced piece of excitement. Peter Fedele’s lead guitar solo feels like a live wire that whips his speedy notes on time, creating an edge of your seat intensity.
A thick bari sax line pushes “After The Funeral” along a fat track of cool sounds. It has an old time Louisiana marching band feel, complete with second line drumming. Flinty electric guitar melodies bring their own celebratory spark to this piece and one cannot help but to picture the party surrounding the tradition of sending off a loved one to a place of glory.
“Let Me Think About It” is a tightly rolled tube of groove. Every note of saxophone, everything coming from the rhythm section seems to be inside of the same snug container. The tight ensemble work impresses with its pleasant fullness. Eventually, the container dissolves to let loose a snaky sax line and then a complex lead guitar workout from Charlie O‘Neal, a melodic phrase that zigs and zags, going where it wants while remaining, impressively, tethered to the essential groove.
“Gruvenando can best be described as a blowing wind of fun saxophone. Douglas’s horn often gets as emphatic as an elephant roar. His other lines are twisty, curls of melodic flow that intrigue with their adventurous turns and hip sounds. Guitarists Brandon Tarricone, Charlie O’Neal, and Peter Fedele add plenty of interest with their well delivered melodic phrases at top speed in a musical language all their own.
“When The Dust Settles” feels more influenced by rock and roll than the other funky, jazzy numbers. The horns honk a catchy riff, stop and start style, that makes one think of all of those call and response numbers in the classic rock genre. Horns briefly play in unison before each fishtails onto its path in the soundscape. Clever.
“Ssllooo” is mellow lounge music, the kind that plays at classy establishments, slow, cool, a sax line that finger waves you into another room for a drink, company, a dance. Romance flows from this horn centric number with rivulets of notes that caresses the ear with its enticing sound.
The most endearing song on this album of fine material has to be “Roy Lavendar’s Blues.” Its rich, warm, and wide horn melody carries through with force, determination, leading the other melodic instruments while pressing the groove into its own image. Listening to the fullness of that particular horn move with agility is like watching a very large person dance with professional moves. It has a touch of old fashioned marching parade horn section in its color and in its peppy attitude. The usual suspects, Peter Fedele and Brandon Tarricone, inject some brisk and wildly free lead guitar lines, lines that can jump up and down, swing side to side and just keep on playing like there is no tomorrow.
“Volcano” grooves with funky motion into a great unknown. Meanwhile, a saxophone smolders in the backdrop. Other horns chime in, and it’s a small, quiet party. The most endearing thing here is that it feels like a polite conversation, improving, based on each other’s emotional input. Garrett Savluk’s mellifluous trumpet line spiral into a pleasant direction for the others to follow, offering more of his thick, rich sound that informs and contributes to the high quality of this two disc set.
“Mr. Clean” has a brassy swagger that is matched by its own intricacy, horn unisons that feel swell together but eventually break apart to strut in their own special colors, tones, and timbres. There is a point when all the horns and guitar are pressing out bright lines with subtle stop start motions, impressing with their agility, consoling with their soothing soulfulness.
Close out track “Amore’s Prayer Reprise” brings this double disc set back to where it began, an easeful, soulful dedication to one of Douglas’s most important inspiration. Yahuba’s percussion work can be heard pepping things up in each measure as the guitar and horns play in a tight ensemble, wide sounding but disciplined, showing each player’s love for his instrument and for this project.
This is one exciting package of funk-jazz music. Henley Douglas Jr. and his fellows bring a lot of different approaches and textures here. Co-produced by Douglas and Joy Jolliffe, engineered and mix by David Minehan at Woolly Mammoth Sound, and mastered by David Locke at JP Mastering, this disc is so clean one can hear every percussion piece and subtle lead guitar with a shiny clarity. Anyone who likes very good music should just go out and buy this.
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