Robby Krieger And The Soul Savages review: Former Doors guitarist shows his love for jazz, funk and soul

Guitarist and founding member of The Doors, Robby Krieger has released his new project and self titled album. 

The album is very much a collaborative effort (musicians) and soul music was a big inspiration for the record: hardly surprising considering several of the band have worked with Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Chaka Kahn, Lenny Kravitz: so they know how to cut a groove. 

krieger slots right in with his jazzy fret work that often borders on progressive. To be honest many of the tracks wouldn’t be out of place on a Jeff Beck or Larry Carlton album. 

The kaleidoscopic record encompasses Indian sitar music on ‘Samosas & Kingfishers’, (played on guitar in a similar way to the aforementioned Mr Beck)   ‘Blue Brandino’ slips into a jazz funk, bluesy drawl of a track, that even branches into prog and space rock. And  ‘A Day In L.A.’ Is one cool cat of a track that’s part 70s cop show and part film noir with its stylish late night jazz bar descant. ‘Maths Problem’ plays with syncopation and alternative time signatures, but never in a brain blending.

It’s all very accessible verging on mainstream (I don’t mean that to be a pejorative- it’s not), it’s got more in common with Steely Dan’s fusion grooves rather than Pat Metheny- and after all - this is the guy who penned some of The Doors' most famous tracks, so it’s an album that knows how to rock a groove, without making it over complex for the sake of it. The band are clearly having a great jam and enjoying the interplay and as a result the album is an exciting and engaging listen for jazz fusion newbies or genre aficionados.