Mike Phillips Uncommon Denominator CD

Mike Phillips' second album is a bit more relaxed than his first, but it doesn't differ in any major way from that contemporary jazz release. Once again, Phillips works with a series of writer/producer types (Travon Potts, "JR" Hutson, Gary Haase, Jerry Barnes, Janek Gwizdala, Ivan Dupée, Rex Rideout) who specialize in creating rhythmic, percussive instrumental tracks on their synthesizers and computers, adding in an electric guitar part here, an organ fill there, and who could just as easily be working for Beyoncé. Phillips then solos on his saxophone over the track. That soloing is often quite inventive; he is not content simply to create and follow a simple, soothing melodic line like some of his competitors, preferring to dig in and wail or burble expressively, though, as ever, he is doing so essentially in a vacuum, since the prerecorded background just goes on endlessly regardless of his playing. Hidden Beach label head Steve McKeever, who produced and arranged a cover of Frankie Beverly's 1983 Maze hit "We Are One" for the disc, likes to write liner notes to each of his releases to muse about some aspect of the music business that interests him. This time, he talks about the ways that performances can be "fixed" in the digital environment after being recorded, and insists that Phillips resists the temptation to make such corrections. So, this is what authenticity has come to mean in jazz in the early 21st century, a saxophonist who refuses to smooth out the wave forms of his solos! ~ William Ruhlmann

Liner Note Author: Steve McKeever.

Recording information: Avatar Studios, New York, NY; Canoga Studios, Chatsworth, CA; Dp Studios, Chicago, IL; Dupee Studios, Chicago, IL; Headman SOund, New York, NY; JHL SOund, Pacific Palisades, CA; Kar Studios, Sherman Oaks, CA; Mi Casa Multimedia, Hollywood, CA; Paramount Studios, Hollywood, CA; Parker Music, Newark, NJ; Providence Studio, Alpharetta, GA; White Lightning Studios, Sylmar, CA.

Photographer: John Sann.

Arranger: Steve McKeever.

Personnel: Jonathan Pierre (vocals, percussion); Keenan Pryor, Gus Rickette, Trina Powell, Kareem Wells, Tandria Potts (vocals); Gary Haase (various instruments, guitar, drums); Travon Potts (various instruments); J.R. Hutson (guitar, keyboards, drums, programming); Joel Whitely (guitar, bass instrument); Dwight Sills, Sherrod Barnes (guitar); Carl Burnett (acoustic guitar); Al Willis (electric guitar); George Whitty (strings, keyboards); Mike Phillips (saxophone); Brandon Coleman (Fender Rhodes piano, organ, synthesizer); Bennett Paysinger, Bennet Paysinger (Fender Rhodes piano); Ivan Dupée (organ, programming); Janek Gwizdala (keyboards, drums, programming); Rex Rideout (keyboards, programming); Selan Lerner (keyboards); Shawn Hibbler (synthesizer, programming); Richard Patterson (bass guitar); Michael White , Khari Parker (drums); Jerry Barnes (percussion, background vocals); Jeff Byrd, Paul Wertico (percussion); Jeff Lorber (guitar, keyboards, drums, programming); Marlon McClain (guitar); Ron King (trumpet, flugelhorn).

Audio Mixers: Travon Potts; Gary Haase; Jeff Lorber; Donald Parker; George Whitty; Larry Sturm; Brant Biles.