The Walkup

Too edgy and artsy for smooth jazz, too rockin' and bluesy for bebop, young Harlem-based electric guitarist Jeff Ray finds a niche playing likeable, melodic, sometimes brooding, often grooving post-millennium fusion. The album title refers in part to the ten-block distance from Ray's apartment to St. Nick's Pub, one of Harlem's best-known jazz nightspots from where the Ohio native may just conquer the jazz world. He's not afraid to stretch out and jam (most tunes run over seven minutes) and he modulates between subdued tones and distorted rock energy frequently. His best attribute, however, is the way he interacts with his band, which includes frenetic drummer Victor Wise and retro keyboard master Aaron Swinn, whose Rhodes solos on tunes like "Streams" are all at once feisty and dream-inducing. Ray mood-swings quickly, from the languid cool of "D.R.A." to the thumpin' hypnosis of "Hot Music," from his laid-back rendition of Roy Ayers' "Everybody Loves the Sunshine" to the wild, bluesy funk of "The Walkup." Influence-wise, one can hear a little Larry Carlton, Kenny Burrell, and John Scofield, but Ray makes a good case for eventually rising above those inspirations and creating a sound all his own.