What The World Needs Now

About

The crack instrumental combo Sugarman 3 are unusually attentive students of the hard-swinging, organ-driven brand of late-‘60s soul-jazz boogaloo perfected by the likes of Johnny “Hammond” Smith, Brother Jack Macduff, and Jimmy Smith. Sugarman 3's early albums for the Desco label resurrected that bygone sound with such precision that some listeners mistook them for reissues of vintage material. Subsequent Sugarman 3 albums for the Daptone label saw the trio diversify its sound and expand its lineup, recording with vocalists like New Jersey funk great Lee Fields and gospel queen Naomi Shelton. Though 2012’s <i>What the World Needs Now</i> contains a few nods to the more funk-inflected styles of previous Daptone releases (including a punchy cover of J.J. Jackson’s 1966 soul groover “It’s Alright”), for the most part it finds Sugarman 3 returning to their roots, playing impeccably arranged soul-jazz instrumentals, including a magisterial, horn-driven take on the Bacharach standard “What the World Needs Now” and the sweetly grooving original “Got to Get Back to My Baby.”

via Apple Music

The Clerk says

Start your shelf to read the full take →