ON KA'A DAVIS with FAMOUS ORIGINAL DJUKE MUSIC PLAYERS

Seeds of Djuke 

 (LiveWired 1004; USA) Featuring On Ka'a Davis on guitars, voice, 
compositions & production, Luther Thomas, Andrew Lamb, Saco Yasuma & Tom Chess on horns plus various singers, bassists and percussionists.

On Ka Davis is an underground local legend who was inspired by and 
worked with Sun Ra for a couple of years. On has played at the old 
store and left us with a cool, spaced out self-produced CD some years back. Since hearing his new one over the past few weeks, I was amazed at how far he has evolved and put out one of the freshest, most vibrant and enchanting space/rock/funk/jazz/exotic gems of the year!

All of the 17 pieces here are relatively short (under nine 
minutes), yet flow together seamlessly through different dimensions. 
The hypnotic groove on "Yea! Yea!" blends dub & funk with spacy jazz. Saxists Andrew Lamb and Luther Thomas wail softly in the distance while layers of somber guitars create a groovy dreamworld. I dig the way On directs different lines of voices and guitars over that quietly mesmerizing groove. Andrew Lamb plays a warm, lovely slow-burning sax solo on "No! No Go for It!" while On plays dreamy space/jazz guitar with voices and percussion all swirling sublimely together. 

 I dig the chorus of voices on "Ain't Nobody Teach Nobody Nothin'!", singing in righteous harmonies with layers of infectious guitars, percussion and that cosmic groove. For "Voodoo Ultralux", On casts a spell by using a some eerie echoplexed horns with dreamy voices and percussion.Sometimes it sounds as if there are two or more songs going on at the same time yet, there is also a consistent pulse or groove underneath that ties it all together when things start to go "out".

 For those guitar fan-addicts, On does take a number of impressive solos but never steps on anyone since the overall vibe is more important than anything else.

 It is rare when an album makes you want to dance as much as 
listen closely to all that is going on, but this disc is the perfect 
remedy for jaded souls and (wannabe) hipsters.

 Every time I play this gem in the store, someone invariably asked what it is and ends up taking one home. It is your turn to reap the rewards of On Ka'a Davis and the Famous Original Djuke Music Players.