Dave Stryker: Eight Track III
Strikezone Records

Dave Stryker's Eight Track project provides so much joyful listening, it's a shame this installment's the last in the series; one imagines it won't be long before fans are pestering the guitarist to reconsider and add a fourth. The concept's the same as before—fresh jazz arrangements of classic ‘70s hits, songs you might've heard booming out of a Camaro's eight-track in your high school parking lot if you're of a certain age—the only difference being slight changes in personnel. Issued in 2013, the first featured Stryker's working trio of organist Jared Gold and drummer McClenty Hunter, the second three years later added Steve Nelson on vibraphone. This time ‘round, the guitarist, Gold, and Hunter are joined by vibraphonist Stefon Harris and, on six of the nine cuts, percussionist Mayra Casale.

The performances are executed with authority, and the players' affection for the material is always evident; Stryker's also smart enough to avoid straying too far afield, realizing all too well how foolish it would be to not take full advantage of the melodic bounty on offer. His solos never fail to satisfy, the man's comfort level with the songs apparent in the ease and soulfulness with which he plays. While his is the dominant voice, the others are hardly in his shadow, each enjoying moments in the spotlight. The sequencing's effective, too, with a lovely ballad treatment of The Carpenters' “We've Only Just Begun” arising midway through, a nice change from the uptempo performances preceding it.

That his unit's as tight as ever is resoundingly confirmed by the opening cover of Curtis Mayfield's “Move on Up,” Stryker, Gold, and Harris voicing the melody and Hunter's crisp shuffle lending the performance the right degree of power. The guitarist delivers the first of many solid solos on the album, his concise turn fluid, confident, and comfortable and Harris's as breezy; don't be surprised if you find yourself picturing a convertible cruising down a beachside highway as the four dig into the song's groove. Cool too is the band's blues-shuffle handling of Steely Dan's “Pretzel Logic,” which one imagines Donald Fagan and the late Walter Becker would no doubt endorse wholeheartedly. The Temptations' “Papa Was a Rollin' Stone” receives a distinctive reading, Stryker and Harris articulating the verse melodies in unison before branching out into solos, and with Casale's congas added, the midtempo rendering of Roy Ayer's “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” captures the band at its smoothest and funkiest.

In contrast to the bluesy, slow-jam treatment of Stevie Wonder's “Joy Inside My Tears,” the jazzy rendering of his “Too High” is taken at a fast clip, the musicians deftly demonstrating the cohesiveness of their playing, after which the pace chills for a tender version of “We've Only Just Begun.” The thoughtfulness with which Stryker handled the album's arrangements is especially apparent here in his distribution of parts between him, Harris, and Gold (the latter, it should be noted, co-arranged three tunes); even better, the guitarist hews almost note for note to the original's vocal line, with his soulful handling of tempo, phrasing, and dynamics the distinguishing factors. Following it, Burt Bacharach's “This Guy's in Love with You” swings at a slightly faster tempo without losing the mellow warmth of The Carpenters performance.

June 2019