Phyrework: "Phyrework"

Maybe my favorite boogie funk record of all time.  A side-project/spinoff group produced by Con Funk Shun guitarist Michael Cooper, this album reigns supreme with its virtuoso musicianship, its impeccable songwriting, and its clean yet warm production.  It’s no coincidence that it has a lot of the same jazzy complexity that always made Con Funk Shun’s work distinguishable, although it ratchets up the jazz-funk-fusion factor quite a bit more than Cooper’s band, while still sounding smooth.  There are lots of modern soul-inflected, melodic grooves, like “Do You Feel The Same,” “Comin’ For Your Love,” and “More Than A Dream,” as well as some thumping hard funk tracks, like “Put Your Hands Up” and “My Funk.”  The group also ventures even further into straight-ahead fusion territory with the instrumental “Mystic Mariner,” which showcases each of the individual members’ chops, noteworthy enough to give more well-known fusion superstars like Stanley Clarke and Billy Cobham a run for their money.  In terms of overall quality, this LP easily matches up to any more prominent soul effort you’d care to mention, and should be recognized as the kind of strong effort that very few bands could create.