The consequence - Soul/Jazz from the Jazz-perspective, but with outreaching parts of Soul,  around the friends of the smooth sounds of Will Downing, Kem and consorts, to make the next step towards the true worth of this musical fusion easier. Jeff Robinson, whose 1998 debut "Any Shade Of Blue", already set the standard in this category (and who returned to the spotlight through his participation in Ian Martin's "The Way" album), possesses the sultry sound of Bill Withers, but can give every mood the right intonation, without resorting to Pseudo Romanticism. Musical Director Rodney Lee supplies the fitting sonic ambiance - pure and clearly structured harmonies, whose jazz roots are always noticeable, though always accessible through a soulful swinging rhythm section and hooks with barbs all over the place.  Decent helpings of Blues ("Times Like This") and Funk ("Moments") impress, with fine soloes of various saxes, trumpets, flutes and guitar (Chris Standring) carrying impressive elements of jazz - add the always recurring Rodney Lee on the E-Piano and Hammond, and you have the basis for the broad spectrum from the hard swinging opener "NY Minute", past atmospherically dense Soul-Midtempos like "Hallucination Reign", through exceptional classics like Al Green's "Look What You've Done To Me"  and Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come". Jeff Robinson's has no allowance for moments of weakness - every take has a special sound and an undeniable contribution to the eternal theme of  "Claim and Entertainment".

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