Lenny Pickett

Long before he became ensconced as director and featured player of the Saturday Night Live Band, Lenny Pickett was a fixture of the downtown New York City avant-garde that centered around the performing space known as the Kitchen and that featured musicians like Peter Gordon, Ned Sublette, and Rhys Chatham. Before that, he was a member of the legendary Tower of Power horn section. Those two strangely different vectors are channeled into one oddly funky album here. The Borneo Horns, Pickett's woodwind trio with Steve Elson and Stan Harrison, form the central part of the pieces here, augmented by at least the trap drums of Leroy Clouden and often more. Pickett's compositions are decidedly danceable (most were, in fact, written as dance accompaniment) with soulful beats, though the absence of electronics keeps everything sounding light and airy. As in other reed ensembles like the World Saxophone Quartet, great emphasis is placed on rich section lines and organized riffs behind the soloist of the moment. The trio is arranged to sound thick enough on its own; when joined by an expanded horn section (including the great Howard Johnson on tuba), it sounds like a veritable big band swaggering and bopping down the alley. Despite this being his first album as a leader, Pickett chose to emphasize his writing abilities, not his ferocious technique as a player. Fans of his high-pitched, screaming style with SNL may be disappointed (though he does do some potential damage to any dogs in the neighborhood on the final track), but most listeners will find an accessible and enjoyable variety of grooving cuts here. ~ Brian Olewnick, All Music Guide