Toph-E & The Pussycats: Live in Detroit – M’Bubba Music, 67:00, *****:
Recorded live September 5, 2004 at the Detroit International Jazz Festival, Toph-E & the Pussycats’ Live in Detroit set had to be the highlight of the event. One of my all-time favorite jazz tunes, Compared to What? was executed with perfection! Lead singer Will Lee takes the crowd back to Montreaux where Les McCann and Eddie Harris performed the classic, and the proof is on the disc that the crowd LOVED it!
Pop hit, Just the Two of Us, also got the folks groovin’ in the sunshine. Jamming with Lee on the stage is: Clifford Carter, Ralph MacDonald, David Mann, and Chris Parker. These guys have also performed with supernatural acts like; Bob Dylan, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, James Brown and Quincy Jones to name a few.
It’s nice to see these great performers come together and let the masses see what they can do as one. Each of the artists has their own respectable groups/bands/solo efforts going on, so please, check them all out. [It’s a somewhat experimental blues/fusion/ funk/rhythm n’ blues sound…Ed.]
Tracklist: Rockin’ & Rhymin’; Minky; Don’t You Wink; Tee; Just the Two of Us; Human Blues; All Blues; Compared to What; Mister Magic.
— Paul Pelon IV
