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Between their individual and collective schedules, The Motor City Horns have traveled all across the country playing just about every genre imaginable. Detroit-based musicians John Rutherford, Mark Byerly, Keith Kaminski and Bob Jensen each bring their unique strengths as sidemen and their remarkable knack for arranging horn parts at the drop of a dime. Those are good reasons why artists such as Bob Segar and Bruce Springstein's saxophone sidekick Clarence Clemons have utilized MCH for their tours. That is why it also made sense for this versatile group to take charge of its own recording session.
MCH's debut effort, Local Boys, features a cast of over forty musicians and vocalists out of Detroit representing blues, rock, pop, hip-hop and hip-hop bop. With all the diverse talent involved, MCH is never lost in the shuffle as they adapt their sharp brass arrangements to the aforementioned genres. The sheer ambitiousness of the project (and a couple of lackluster vocal performances) at times makes the compilation lose some continuity. But MCH's broad vision works overall, -- and their playing is terrific. Local Boys demonstrates why MCH is not just any ordinary brass band.
Notable Tracks: "Smoke & Mirrors," "Kissing My Love," "Superman Lover," "Cross Section," and Appollonia.
Vocals: 2.5 stars
Horns: 4.0 stars
Music: 3.0 stars
Lyrics: 2.5 stars
Production: 3.0 stars
SoulTracks Call: Recommended
By Peggy Oliver