Tommy Guerrero

This thing of beauty is the work of Tommy Guerrero, sometime Mo' Wax recording artist and former professional boarder. As part of the Bones Brigade in the mid-eighties his street skating won both accolades (not to mention appearances in the...

This thing of beauty is the work of Tommy Guerrero, sometime Mo' Wax recording artist and former professional boarder. As part of the Bones Brigade in the mid-eighties his street skating won both accolades (not to mention appearances in the early skate movies 'Future Primitive' and 'The Search For Animal Chin') and bruises. His debut album 'Loose Grooves and Bastard Blues' was released on US indie Galaxia, while follow-up 'A Little Bit of Somethin', a beguiling set of instrumentals on the aforesaid Mo' Wax, introduced him properly to the UK audience.

Listen and you'll hear a languid pace to Tommy's music. There are no pyrotechnics involved in the construction on this mix. It's done with such grace and subtlety that each track gently washes into the next, like high tide on a summer's day. Thus we have a rich mulatto of music, with Latin influences to the fore in the form of Latin Playboys, Santana and the underrated El Chicano. Mix this in with a dab of Muddy Waters and the peerless jazz pianist Hampton Hawes, throw in some Main Ingredient and finish it off with, of all things, Can and Tommy's own reading of the Beatles 'Come Together' and you've got yourself a party in a rinky-dink jewel case.

And for those of you not up on your Navy recruitment albums, we've got a treat for you here in the form of 'Can't Get Up If You Can't Get Down'. Port Authority - for it is they - were specifically created by the US Navy to, "reflect the pace and excitement of today's Navy" and we think you'll agree that their Blood, Sweat & Tears - influenced rock-funk does just that. Village People, eat your heart out.

We're going to stick our neck out here and suggest that this may be the grooviest selection you're going to hear all year. Indeed, if it were any funkier, we might be so bold as to suggest your knees would be knotted, not to mention frayed. Latin, rock, soul, funk, blues, Tex-Mex: all the necessary food groups are present and correct. In fact, if you don't dig this, we suspect that you may actually be dead..