Jan. 5, 2012

From the robust opening track, a medley of Barry White gems, veteran songwriter/musician/producer Rahni Song shows right away his merits and credentials for surviving in this business of music. His new release, Breakin’ the Rules, essentially does just that. The pre-conceived notions we carry regarding what constitutes smooth or contemporary jazz get a massaging and tweaking here with these 10 tracks of innovativeness and charm.

Tracks like the sweet, seductive, and silky “Timeless,” featuring sax great Marion Meadows, “Should I Let Go,” featuring the sexy vocals of Chantel Hampton, and the very melodic and stirring “One Love,” and “Star of the Story,” both again with Hampton’s alluring vocals, display the utter romanticism and soul of Song. In fact, this very melodic, soulful, and sensuous CD is chock full of enhancing female vocals that give the project a sense of morphing into an actual living, breathing entity of sorts. It’s full of soul-gripping presence and sound. Almost hypnotic in places.

The soulfully powerful touch he adds to the classic Roberta Flack/Donnie Hathaway “The Closer I Get to You” with the help of vocalists Aregnia Ryles and Kevin Lee is truly noteworthy.

To demonstrate that he can handle the funk element as well, Song displays that very side as he enlists the aid of the Meadows’ telling sax again on the mid-tempo “91 North” and closes with a “Flashlight”-like tribute to Bootsy Collins and George Clinton on “It’s Funkalicious Baby.” In a word, nasty. The kind of nasty that would make Clinton quite proud.

Diverse project? To an extent. Charm, melody, and sweet romanticism are the watchwords here; yet, funk gets a standing ovation, as well. A well-conceived, well-produced CD, indeed. – Ronald Jackson