Keller Williams: Bass

photo: C. Taylor Crothers
"What's my problem, what's my deal? I Just want to play the bass and let you what I feel" sings Keller Willams in Hey Ho Jorge. On his 17th studio album he doesn't play guitar, not a single note. He gritted his teeth and stuck to playing the bass, with his trusty cohorts of Kdubalicious, the live project he started in 2010. No loops either too, by the way.

With Jay Starling on keys and Mark D on drums, Williams goes deep into the funk and left-field dub, dance hall and reggae. A song like Hollywood Freeks sounds like the so theme song for a lost Seventies TV series. He sounds like a lounge lizard in Thinking Out Loud and Buena is a cow funk ditty with Starling's keyboard tapping you on the shoulder to keep it real. Even if you hate reggae, you can't hlp but smiling after hearing the album's closer Positive.

The "less is more" approach of Bass has paid of handsomely. It's good to have him back after his ill-advised Kids album.