mike.holmes's Full Review: Sunday Morning [Digipak] by Euge Groove
Steven Eugene Grove uses the stage name Euge Groove for his brand of smooth jazz saxophone playing. Born in Oregon in 1962, Groove didn't record his first album as a leader until 2000. He has worked with Joe Cocker, Tina Turner and Tower of Power.
On his new album he plays tenor and soprano sax. He's joined by Paul Brown on solo guitar, Jubu Smith on rhythm guitar, Tracy Carter on piano and Fender Rhodes, Cornelius Mims, Alex Al and Roberto Valley on bass, Oscar Seaton on drums, Lenny Castro on percussion and Phillipe Saisse on strings.
Groove wrote most of the music on the CD.
The album starts off with "GET READY" which starts off quietly and stays that way with a nice, soulful lead tenor solo by Groove. Co-written with Joel Campbell, who plays piano on the song, the music is mellow and very appropriate for the opening number of a smooth jazz album. I have three of Groove's CD's and I believe this is his best work yet. His tone is full and he plays with a quiet passion.
Next up is "AS YOU LIKE IT" which again opens very quietly. Euge switches to soprano here and his playing is not in the irritating style of several soprano players. There is obviously some overdubbing here but the effect is nice and mellow with just a hint of funk. Paul Brown's guitar accompaniment greatly enhances the song.
"SAY MY NAME" has Euge back on tenor sax. Each of these songs opens the same with quiet keyboard and guitar before Groove moves in. Once again, I like the tone of his sax although I do wish there was a little more variety. Although quite pretty, there is a certain sameness and lack of passion in each of the songs.
"YES" does provide some variety. Euge is on soprano and the song is more of a smooth R & B song with the vocals by Dax Reynosa. Reynosa reminds me a little of Curtis Mayfield. This is the prettiest song on the CD and I can see it as a single.
The title cut, "SUNDAY MORNING" starts off with a stronger, funkier opening. Euge plays the slightly upbeat song on tenor. There is a certain, "Sunday, come to meeting" flavor to the song which is appropriate for the title. I would like for Mr. Groove to stretch out a little more outside the smooth style.
"ALL FOR YOU" again has Groove on tenor with a quiet Latin jazz groove going with the Lenny Castro percussion. Euge does pick up the pace a bit here and provides more feeling in his solo. Another problem for me with the CD is that Groove seldom allows the other musicians any time for solos on the album.
"THE GOSPEL TRUTH" opens with a beautiful, brief solo by Campbell on piano. Once again, this is a smooth jazz style with some funky, R & B gospel flavors added in. I keep wanting Euge to blast away but that's just me.
The final three songs all sound beautiful but there is little change in tempo or style.
The next three songs are:
"TENDERLY" by Grove and Campbell (Groove uses "Grove" as his composer name)
"ON YOUR KNEES"-nice funky opening by Mims on bass
"BABYLON"-keeping with the religious sub-text of the album, this may be the best song on the CD with Paul Brown's fine guitar solo and more powerful tone from Groove. Nice and funky.
The album is a pleasant enough musical experience. I can see that it will be popular in the smooth jazz sub-genre but I still would like to see Mr. Groove reach out for a more "pure jazz" vibe on a few cuts.
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