CD Review: Mitchell Coleman Jr. – Soul Searching

CD Review: Mitchell Coleman Jr. – Soul Searching…

Mitchell hits hard, right out of the gate, with the flying fleet thumb-style of “Flow”, the first tune of his debut, independent release Soul Searching and proceeds to cruise through the CD’s manicured smooth jazz presentation. This is a fantastic group of sons to drive to – as I popped it in on my way to a gig that was 3-hours away from my home. This is a fun release (nearly every tune is an instant party!), and the playing throughout is gunfighter serious. Mitchell can pl-lay, folks! Check out his articulation of the classic EWF, Charles Stepney / Maurice White / Verdine White penned, “That’s The Way of the World” that also features a flawless fretless (though unfortunately singular) outing! This is a wonderful debut, and Mitchell sat in nearly every available production chair to see this project into fruition – as he co-wrote, arranged, produced, and released Soul Searching on his own Soul Revelation label! Isn’t it wonderful to see the bent toward viable entrepreneurialism that seems to be alive and well in our bottom dwelling world?!

Amongst the first-rate thumb work and killer tone, keyboardists Herman “Hollywood” Dawkins and Hiroshi Upshur, vocalists Dionyza Sutton, and Pam and Joyce Vincent, and guitarists Kayta Matsuno and Sean Fabian among other great musicians contribute mightily to this groove! There are thumb-stylists who work for many years to barely achieve the ability displayed on “Liberation”, let alone maintain a pocket deep enough to plant trees in!

I truly look forward to the next outing of this artist and the brutal grooves that will obviously come next! Man, Mitch… Nice job!

Must hear tunes: Flow, Overload, That’s The Way of the World, Liberation

Visit online at mitchellcolemanjr.com