Basil Fearrington – Kameerijano: Looking Straight Ahead Review

If the name Basil Fearrington isn’t familiar to you, you may want to take a hard look into your files at the music of Roberta Flack, Stevie Wonder, George Benson, Mary J. Blige, and Grover Washington, to name a few artists, and listen to his impeccable groove, and scintillating (see: scathing) soloing insights! The bass guitar tone is “deep and rich” throughout the 20 tunes and musical interludes that comprise his latest release Kameerijano: Looking Straight Ahead.

The opening title track is a blazing straight ahead romp that sees guitarist Gerald “Twig” Smith and Basil trading one cool idea after another as they unpack every aspect of the tune in-depth! Also hear “Twig” on “Twigonometry”, another cool favorite from this astute outing! The technology of each song’s body harmonizes wonderfully with the top-shelf human players, and this aspect creates a comfortable space to listen from!

The sumptuously sequenced tune, “Venus Rising” features Basil playing so in the pocket that it’s difficult to tell the difference between his lines and the sequences! Very, very tight playing here! But, the same can be said for his playing as a whole!

Another one of my favorite tunes on the CD is “Rattlesnake” which features, again, very tight interplay between the sequenced song body and the  utterly bad-boy bass line and impeccable solo. That may be one to head into the shed with, Folks! That said, Kameerijano is one of those discs bassists should dig into! There is a wealth of information, and a lifetime of real-world knowledge to glean from this collection of music! In all, the tunes are very well written and performed throughout.. and Basil is completely blazing! Incredible playing!

Not to be outdone by his own production and performance, the artist brings along great guest stars to the project, including a few of my favorite guitarists, Scott Jones (“Lady Salsa”) and Frank Gambale (“On Fire”) and a funky rendition of “Giant Steps”) and William “Spaceman” Patterson (“Bounce”) as well as the masterful drum kit performances from Omar Hakim (“Jimmy, Terry & Thom”), Terry Silverlight (“On Fire”) and Gerry Brown (“Quite Frankly”). The stellar cast is rounded out by the late, great George Duke (“Basil’s Theme”) and Barry Miles (“On Fire” and “Giant Steps”) in the keyboardist’s chair. The only tune to feature a thick hip-hop vibe is the cool “Gettin’ Dough” featuring rapper/vocalist/Lyricist Jerome Sye.

This is a cool disc to ride with – for those of us who still listen to music when we drive! There is a LOT of music on this release, and it plays well into “listening on the move”, as my family and I went about our day. Great disc, Basil!

Must Hear Tunes: “On Fire”, “100 Miles to Silverlight”, “Basil’s Theme”, “AJ & Jamerson”

Kameerijano: Looking Straight Ahead available ai iTines and CD Baby