Haven't We Met...

Judging from the cover of the CD, if you took the sax out of Rusty Crutcher' s grip and adorned him with a cowboy hat, he'd look like the country singer next door — but that image would only tell part of the story of his debut Haven't We Met.... On a spry alto tune like the title track, he indeed goes the country/rock route, honking joyously over a loping and folksy percussion-driven groove and giving way to a sharp pedal steel guitar solo by Chris Templeton. "Canyon Road" is a little mellower, but Crutcher again rides the range with Templeton, often doubling his alto with the guitar for extra emphasis. Just as we're seeing him as smooth jazz's answer to Garth Brooks, however, he throws a curveball into Ottmar Liebert territory; the rolling soprano tune "Sonia's Village" finds Crutcher bouncing off the spicy Spanish guitars of Pat Malone and Jono Manson and giving them each a solo spotlight. No matter the surroundings, Crutcher often drives his melodic points home with horn doubling, an effect which makes the honking chorus of the title track that much more emotional. When he's not venturing to Nashville or Spain, Crutcher finds a happy medium with more typical genre fare in various tempos that's easy to listen to but much less distinctive.