R For Romeo
Moondo, 2023
8/10
A collaboration from the esteemed musicians Stuart Ziff and Daniel Stein, as Plan R the duo welcome several players to these diverse tunes that touch on jazz in atypical ways.
The glowing keys from Stein and breezy guitar from Ziff open up the listen with the nearly reggae spirit of “Checkmate” that’s quite soothing, and “Go Play In The Street” follows with buzzing and grooves that benefits from a strategic drum loop.
Halfway through, “Midtown” showcases meticulous guitar in the dreamy blues climate, while “Blue” finds itself in emotive ballad territory that welcomes a Rhodes solo from Stein.
“You Can’t Be Serious” and “Barney’s Groove” exit the listen, where the former is quite playful, even prog-friendly, and uses frisky drums precisely, and the latter puts an adventurous spin on the theme song to Barney Miller with a throbbing bass line, animated keys, gritty guitar and agile drumming.
Surprisingly, Ziff and Stein have remained behind the scenes as sidemen for most of their careers, but this project puts their talents front and center and it’s a fantastic mashing of jazz, blues, funk and soul that gets better and better with each subsequent listen.
Travels well with: Juan Carlos Quintero- Table For Five; Rique Pantoja- Live In Los Angeles