April 2009

Richie Goods & Nuclear Fusion
Live at the Zinc Bar
Rich Man

By Bill Milkowski

The reliably swinging straight-ahead bassist Richie Goods dives headfirst into the fusion flames on this excellent outing with Headhunters drummer Mike Clark, keyboardist Helen Sung and guitarist Jeff Lockhart. Clark is in peak form here, showcasing his hybrid jazz-funk style on hard-hitting renditions of Wayne Shorter’s “Elegant People,” Lenny White’s “Sorceress” and two Herbie Hancock Headhunters tunes, “Sly” and the supremely syncopated “Palm Grease.” Sung steps out of her piano comfort zone and gets adventurous on clavinet, Fender Rhodes and synths while Lockhart provides plenty of fretboard flash, particularly on the Tony Williams Lifetime staple “Snake Oil.” Goods distinguishes himself as a formidable soloist and groovemeister, in the tradition of electric bass pioneers Stanley Clarke and Paul Jackson Jr.