James Taylor Quartet - Creation (1997)

This Britster mixes up intelligent funk and thumpin' jazz for a truly classic album that should be placed in history as a revitalizing step for the jazz idiom. Taylor knocks out notes on a Hammond Organ and more sounds come from drums, bass, trumpet, guitar, sax and flute. While "acid jazz" supposedly was coined to describe James' output, it certainly does not carry the image of the jump-soul/hot jazz stew bubble in this cauldron. Taylor himself spells out the secret recipe: "Rude, hard funk - like all the Blaxploitation movies and cop shows - that's what we're aiming for." -- Tom Schulte