Come In Funky – Tobin Mueller (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

Tobin Mueller is a bit like a musical version of that titular striped jumpered chap from Where’s Waldo. We know what he looks like, but given the busy musical landscape that he hides in and particularly his ability to not be found where we last spotted him, not to mention his ever-restless creative spirit, means that predicting where he will be found next is no easy task. Although finding him making music as part of a funky three-piece is not the most “out there” place we have encountered him.

As the album title suggests, funk is the name of the game, funk, and all its many subgenres – from familiar big band vibes to cross-genre fusions, from reworked covers to the most original compositions, old-school familiarity to forward-thinking freshness. If funk is your thing, then this is for you.

We kick off with the title track, which not only sees Mueller’s mellifluous and meritorious keyboards joined by his regular sax collaborator, Woody Mankowski, but which is the first of five tracks to feature the stellar work of bass player Ron Carter. And the result is one that proves that it is possible to be simultaneously spacious and groovesome, to allow room so that each instrument can fully explore the space rather than just play along or follow the existing script.

By contrast, “Deconstruction of a Glance” is a busy and eclectic piece, a dancefloor invitation if ever there was one, a jazz-fuelled engine driving a funky machine, drums anchor everything tightly together, the bass is both melodic and propulsive, the organ flits and flys through the sonic landscape whilst the sax steals the show…well, steals it only slightly more than everyone else does, such is the caliber of playing found here.

“Blue Tats” takes its point of sonic demarcation and inspiration from Joni Mitchell’s “Blue,” a title taken from her opening observation that “Songs are like tattoos.” Here, the space and gentle voice of the original is replaced by a duet between Mueller’s more understated keyboard and Mankowski’s vocal and vivacious saxophone.

And if the band did indeed come in funky, they go out in a more understated way. “What I Was Thinking While You Were Talking” is a gathering of instrumentation that seems to ebb and flow around each other, sometimes interlocking and complementary, other times creatively colliding to create additional tones and textures in the wake of these wonderful chance encounters, the song owing something almost to the more progressive albums that Mueller has made in the past.

As always, Mueller has made an album for all musical levels. Those in the industry or familiar with the genre will appreciate how cleverly the music is put together, how brilliantly the musicians play off each other, and how they can push even established sounds like jazz and funk into new realms. Those who care less about the artistry and are just interested in some groovy music will find what they need here, too.

Come for the clever arrangements, stay for the funky dance vibes!

Play Come in Funky

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