What would Tower of Power sound like if we swapped out Lenny Williams for Femi Knight and added a teaspoon of the Jazz Crusaders? Obviously, we'll never know, but the San Gabriel 7's new album, Red Dress (Jrl Sgs), with singer-songwriter Femi Knight, gives us an idea.
The SG7 is based in the Los Angeles area, and Red Dress is the group's 10th album. The band features two distinct components—a funky rhythm section and a robust squad of horns. On varying tracks, the band features Chad Edwards (keyboards, organ), Matt Weisberg (keyboards), Chris Gordon (piano, background vocals), Steve Gregory (guitar), Jonathan Pintoff (bass), Randy Drake (drums) and Scott Breadman (percussion) with Mike McGuffey (tp), Jeff Jarvis (tp, flhn), Kyle Palmer (tp), Glen Berger (ts,as) and Jim Lewis (tb).
The songs are I'm Going Home Tonight, Give a Little, West Indian Brown (Red Dress), When a Woman's Had Enough, New Tomorrow, The Next Big Thing, Stranger, Never Make Your Move Too Soon and The Next Big Thing (radio edit).
Arrangements are by Dave Cushman, and all of the songs were written by Knight, except When a Woman's Had Enough and Never Make Your Move Too Soon.
Knight's songwriting is top notch. So are her vocals, both as lead and overdubbed harmony on backup. She pulls from '70s soul but keeps her lyrics and feel here and now. Cushman's arrangements are taut and punchy, also with a '70s sensibility. Back then, horn charts added zippy hipness in the all right places rather than flooding the zone. The rhythm section is solid, especially Gregory's guitar, which often plays off the horns.
An upbeat, warm album that ushers in autumn and a reminder of good past times and good times to come once this blasted virus is history.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find San Gabriel 7's Red Dress (Jrl Sgs), with singer-songwriter Femi Knight, here.
JazzWax clips: Here's I'm Going Home Tonight, with Femi Knight on vocal...
Here's West Indian Brown (Red Dress), which has a What Is Hip flavor...
And here's Stranger...
Here's Femi and her beautiful voice a few years ago...
For more information about the San Gabriel 7, go here.
