Kam Falk, Native Tongue

Alas, Native Tongue is the worst type of jazz that there is. Proficient musicianship and infrequent moments of excitement provided by accelerations into funk and screaming Santana-wannabe solos cannot save the overall impression of "Quiet Storm" bought on by tinkling metallic keyboards, synth power chords and heavy-handed arrangements of vacuous compositions.

The multimedia enhanced CD with video footage goes some way to improving the listening experience, but the fanciful story of a rescue mission to save a stranded extraterrestrial snake does not sit well within the concept of the rest of the album as explained in the liner notes, and home animation is ill advised as it detracts from the product's quality rather than supplying depth.

Kam Falk's bass is actually rather good, as is the playing of most of the other musicians, e.g., Delmar Brown (Sting, Miles Davis, Jaco Pastorius, Pat Martino), Gerry Brown (Stanley Clarke, Stevie Wonder), Jonathan Joseph (David Sanborn, Pat Metheny) and Elliott Randall (Steely Dan), but communication in the rhythm section is saboutaged by a whole bag of straight ahead drumming, and erratic time keeping on more than one track.

A comparative highlight is Bopstop on which some band interaction actually shows through, but the Hammond is too shrill making a cabaret out of its solo, and the quite pretty piano and guitar duet One Summer which actually picks it's head out the mire with a couple of fast flurries from guitarist Daryll Dobson.

Sorry Kam, I hate it, therefore, I'm sure it will do well in the charts. Chaque'un a son gout. Nuff sed.