Calvin Keys - Proceed with Caution! (Remastered) (1974/2020) [Hi-Res]

Proceed With Caution! is the second album by American jazz-funk guitarist Calvin Keys, released in 1974 on Black Jazz.

"Calvin Keys is one of the most exciting and talented young guitarists to hit the jazz scene in recent year. As evidenced by his mastery of the instrument in his first album, he is to be reckoned with in years to come. The key to all of this is Calvin's ability to take a direction and to exploit it to the fullest in his own inimitable manner. On this, his second album on the Black Jazz Label, he leaps forward in time ans sets a pace that others will now have to follow. it would be unfair to single out any tune and call it "BEST" for each ear is served and satiated. Exceptional work by each of his sidemen makes manifest Calvin's, as well as their own, musical gifts. Calvin Keys is an innovator destined for greatness!" (Chuck Siler)

"This date followed Calvin Keys' first, Shawn Neeq, by about two years. Hazy, psychedelic, post-bop is the order of the day here as well, but as most soul-jazz collectors will tell you, there's always a chance for some monster funk on a Black Jazz record so, as predictable as these releases may be on the surface, you never really know until you hear them. In this case, the bomb drops at the beginning of Side Two with "Aunt Lovely." While probably a little too 'out there' for most dance floors, "Aunt Lovely" begins like some of the best funky Grant Green of the era. As the track progresses, though, it gets more than a little hectic -- especially during Charles Owens' Pharoah Sanders-esque soprano solo. Kirk Lightsey's overdriven and distorted electric piano only serves to add to this tension later. Otherwise, Proceed With Caution moves along rather like most good Black Jazz and Strata-East dates: a touch of straight bop here, some sustained and swirling Rhodes organ there. Keys may not blow you away with his licks, but he certainly never disappoints. This is a fine record very much in tune with the idiom of the day. Fans of early-'70s dates by Grant Green, Lou Donaldson, and Cannonball Adderley will likely find this session enjoyable as well." (Brandon Burke, AMG)

Ajafika Calvin Keys, guitar
Charles Owens, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, flute
Cha Che Oscar Brashear, trumpet, flugelhorn
Thalmus Kirk Lightsey, electric piano
Nyimbo Henry Franklin, double bass
Ndugu Leon Chancelor, drums
Owen Marshall, percussion, papali], bongos

Digitally remastered