HOWES3 - Moving Forward
Deep Matter - https://www.deepmatter.co.uk/howes3
Oli Howe - keys; Marcus Porter - bass; Luke Campbell - drums
This young Brighton trio wear their influences on their sleeves on this debut release that takes the sunny west coast groove based sound of George Duke, Don Blackman and Dexter Wansel and gives it a reboot for the current era. Like a much-loved 1970s hot rod taken out of the garage, fitted with the latest engine and transmission upgrades and given a shiny new spray job, this music cruises along a sunlit highway of heavy backbeats and lush chords: the rhythm team of Porter and Campbell make sure there’s always plenty of power under the hood when it’s time to burn along the straight stretches and are tight and flexible enough to negotiate the twisty curves with ease.
Tracks like ‘Lucid’ have a very contemporary pop-soul feel with hints of the heavy gospel techniques: Porters’ bass is used melodically, with plenty tastefully deployed pedals and Sharay Reed slides and slurs, and he avoids an excess of outdated slapping and popping that might tilt this too heavily towards retro, though ‘Avenue’ shows he can pull it out of the bag when appropriate. Campbell is an absolute powerhouse on the fusion-y ‘Too Many Kicks’ (which also sports some super hip piano stylings) specialising in thunderous tom fills and crisp kick-snare-hat gospel chops interaction, but can do laid-back as well when required. Chief composing duties are shouldered by Oli Howe and he shows his facility with the style, knack for melodic hooks and thorough command of boppish language on solos, whether on synth for the jazz-smart ‘Avenue’ or piano for the crisply funky ‘Noop’. This record is a ton of fun and should brighten up your summer: get it while the sun’s out.
Reviewed by Eddie Myer
Deep Matter - https://www.deepmatter.co.uk/howes3
Oli Howe - keys; Marcus Porter - bass; Luke Campbell - drums
This young Brighton trio wear their influences on their sleeves on this debut release that takes the sunny west coast groove based sound of George Duke, Don Blackman and Dexter Wansel and gives it a reboot for the current era. Like a much-loved 1970s hot rod taken out of the garage, fitted with the latest engine and transmission upgrades and given a shiny new spray job, this music cruises along a sunlit highway of heavy backbeats and lush chords: the rhythm team of Porter and Campbell make sure there’s always plenty of power under the hood when it’s time to burn along the straight stretches and are tight and flexible enough to negotiate the twisty curves with ease.
Tracks like ‘Lucid’ have a very contemporary pop-soul feel with hints of the heavy gospel techniques: Porters’ bass is used melodically, with plenty tastefully deployed pedals and Sharay Reed slides and slurs, and he avoids an excess of outdated slapping and popping that might tilt this too heavily towards retro, though ‘Avenue’ shows he can pull it out of the bag when appropriate. Campbell is an absolute powerhouse on the fusion-y ‘Too Many Kicks’ (which also sports some super hip piano stylings) specialising in thunderous tom fills and crisp kick-snare-hat gospel chops interaction, but can do laid-back as well when required. Chief composing duties are shouldered by Oli Howe and he shows his facility with the style, knack for melodic hooks and thorough command of boppish language on solos, whether on synth for the jazz-smart ‘Avenue’ or piano for the crisply funky ‘Noop’. This record is a ton of fun and should brighten up your summer: get it while the sun’s out.
Reviewed by Eddie Myer
