TOKU DO

2.5 stars really!!!

Behind this Japanese-sounding name is one of LC's least interesting album for progheads, unless they've got a strong liking for cool jazz. This remark applies a bit to all of the albums where LC teams up with Cowell and Williams, to different degrees, but this writer is not a fan of this line-up. As often with LC's albums, a good deal of the tracks are covers, and this one is no exception and among them Coltrane, Monk, Ellington and the classic Funny Valentine. But let's face these versions are maybe well executed but the renditions lack the power and fail to seduce the listener. There is a cool jazz atmosphere on this album with Coàryell's fluid guitar and Cowell's rollicking piano, but the rhythm section is definitely a jazz one, with absolutely no rock flavour, so the virtuosity of the two frontmen tends to veer demonstrative rather enthralling and powerful. LC's guitar is often in the Django Reinhardt mode, while Cowell's piano sounds like good ol' Duke and Williams only comes through one the bonus track November Mood (a Cowell composition) where he puts the bow to his stand-up bass.

Unless a serious Coryell fan this is typically the type of album that is to be avoided by progheads, because outside a solid but boring dose of cool/lounge jazz, you're not about to get much more than a flurry of yawns from this disc.

This is a post-bop session of seasoned veterans with piano and guitar stealing most spotlight. Playing is good and expectable. Most tracks are standards that aren't executed better or worse than on most other records. My highlist is "Just friends" with very fast Coryell's guitar playing, an amazing piece of straightforward jazz where you can hear where Coryell is originally coming from - not sure such playing would be acceptable in a more ortohodox post-bop jazz band :). The second standout is the guitar-only "Sophisticated Lady" played with grace.

A good album for fans of guitar/piano driven post-bop, with good level of energy.