Hammond B-3 boss
Dr. Lonnie Smith ends up on yet another new label with
Too Damn Hot!, the follow-up to his thoroughly enjoyable -- if curious -- Boogaloo to Beck outing from 2003. This studio set places the organist in the company of two fine guitarists --
Peter Bernstein (lead) and
Rodney Jones (rhythm), and alternating drummers Greg Hutchinson and Fukushi Tainaka. The two-guitar format is lovely in that it presents a wide array of colors and harmonic textures to the proceedings. The material is a compendium of new soul-jazz originals like the title track, which is a sultry slow burner with killer chorded solos by
Smith, and "The Whip," a slippery funky hard bopper that recalls
Johnny Patton's sessions with
Grant Green. There are two covers present here as well, a fine version of
Horace Silver's ballad "Silver Serenade" and a whimsical read of "Someday My Prince Will Come." The album's final cut, "Evil Turn," cooks like mad in stunning bop fashion. This is a keeper and
Smith's best record of the decade so far. ~ Thom Jurek