The Breaks
S/T
***and1/2 out of *****
Three great modern day funk-soul-jazz artists come together to form The Breaks, a new organ/guitar/drum trio that instantly hits the ground running on their infectiously joyful debut full length.
The group is Eddie Roberts (The New Mastersounds) guitar, Stanton Moore (Galactic) drums, and Robert Walter (The Greyboy Allstars) organ. Fashioned around the late 60's organ trio style, the three members have been friends for a long time and collaborated before, but now make a serious run of things as a new project.
The Breaks self-titled debut opens with barn burner "Hasheesh" that allows for each member to interweave as well as take individual solos. The opener also expands on the trios sound, inviting more friends to party as Pedro Segundo: Percussion (congas), Brad Walker: Saxophone, John Michael Bradford: Trumpet, Big Sam Williams: Trombone, all help out adding extra flavor to the funky get down sound.
The guests stick around for "Snowballers" which uses horn hits and chicken scratch guitar around Walters organ lead. The tight "Scapegoats" cuts it down to just the trio and this throwback instrumental is a gas as it hits hard and gets the ass shaking. "Offsides" plays in this same vein but injects a bit more bright funk into things as Moore's snare work is excellent.
The trio can lock in and groove all night and on "Goldilocks" they do just that, as they shift into a soul sound and just ease into things, and while some editing might make for a more impactful effort the groups jam roots run deep. The band dip into some reggae influenced sounds on "Blood Cover" but seem to work best when things are more upbeat in funky party mode as the propulsive "Party Like A Rich Kid" brings back the guests and delivers the goods with sharp horns.
The most jammed out number closes the album as "Inheritance Powder" gets the head bobbing and the tails wagging, as the group gets down and funky via echoing wah-wah, slapping skins and wailing organ. An easy flow and interchange of ideas makes The Breaks debut record a smooth ride and dynamite instrumental party album.
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