Ashley Slater released an album called “This Is F–king Nice” with his band Heptet and I decided to write a track by track breakdown.
Turn On Tune In Cop Out
To open the album this is a track that takes me back to the summer of 1995, and it’s had a completely different workout – Heptet have put a swing on it but have given it a reggae groove to it. If they’d have put a one drop on it wouldn’t have surprised me. This is how Ashley Slater, the singer and writer of this came on my radar on a very hot summer’s day in 1995. The whole thing grooves in such a way, that almost controversially I prefer this version! Don’t tell Norman hahaha!
Killer Joe Loves Me Like A Rock
I first came across this song in 1995 when I heard “Q’s Book Joint” – this was on it and it got me grooving. When Ashley sent me this album I did mention to him that 1995 was a good summer and the memory of this track took me back there.
Killer Joe is a jazz standard originally composed by Benny Golson and there are multiple versions floating around, but Heptet have resurrected a classic.
Right Here Right Now
The fact that this starts off with an organ solo made my heart smile. This has a distinct 60s feel to the sound, with the horns going, so it gives it a bit of a Southern flavour! I love the sax solo because it takes the key up lifting the whole song before coming down again for the outro – top arranging skills here!
Can I Sing A Song For You
This track opens with Ashley Slater’s fabulous voice lying on a warm spread of hammond organ, there’s no vibrato on there and it sounds clean. It’s very jazzy – this is the opening track for the album and is already my favourite before the party’s already got started… The instruments come in at 0:58 giving a latin feel with the percussion not to mention a rimshot keeping time. The horn section gives this track even more class like it needed it anyway.
There’s also a little switch up where the background vocals are singing te a mo.
This is beautiful!
The basis of this song is a declaration of love, it’s that simple, Ashley leads the band through convincing the object of his affection that he can organise things like this.
Husband
One thing I like about Ashley’s voice is that even after all this time he still carries that sizzle that he had on Turn On Tune In Cop Out, this is what drew my ears to this track. This song has a slightly laidback groove but even then the horns get given space to play, the baritone sax is prominent. All in all very slick!
Still Crazy After All These Years
A Paul Simon cover, and again Ashley puts a twist on it, under his voice there’s a horn section for the first verse they then drop out to give way to a hammond organ, drums and bass. A trombone comes in for a solo too, as well as the hammond organ. I love the intro to this that intro is stunning!
Government Drugs
I have to say, Heptet are really killing it with that horn section, it’s a clean arrangement on a staccato rhythm to begin with and then the bass and drums come in to round it off. This song lyrically lists the things that affect us – a blues song with modern twist, and it could be said the references to cigarettes and alcohol the legal drugs are what he’s referencing to get your life back on track. This Is one of the standout tracks for me among 12 already awesome tunes.
Cellophane
The intro is straight up latin, and heads at a fair pace. By the way we are on the third track and this band are killing it. I love the horns especially on this they really round out the track, I love the chorus especially. Catchy as hell!
You Don’t Love Me
Now this is a fun one! It’s a ska version of the Dawnn Penn song You Don’t Love Me and it’s a ska version with a bit of swing to it! Ashley brings a lot of pain to this, it’s like you’re hearing many years of pain there’s blues in the vocal that somehow make it dark. The ska beat gives it a really cool bounce too. I love the muted solo on this, and the falls it just adds to the drama of the song!
Honza’s Groove
This starts off with a drum solo to knock your socks off! I really do have a thing about jazz flavoured drums and the dusty feel to this intrigued before the track kicked in proper and when it does you have the hammond organ holding things down under the horns as well as the bassline.
Lyrically this stood out to me:
Music’s only vibrations
Atoms digging sensations
We get down sub-atomic
And you know that we be doing it right.
Essentially the majority of this track is an instrumental and everyone gets to shine. The organ solo is tasty!
One Breath Away
This song is so tender, with the horns holding down the chords while the drums, bass and piano player holding the rhythm, this track shows the class of the entire album hasn’t even ended even though we are at the penultimate track. The vocals are credited to LEAF on this and boy do they bring an aching longing to the song. just being one breath away. You can imagine that this is being performed at the jazz cafe, it’s the last song of the night and the stragglers are dancing till the early hours of the morning…
Private Sunshine
If One Breath Away is the one for the stragglers then Private Sunshine is the track you put on reminiscing about the night before over a cup of coffee. To have this as the closer is inspired.
Like the person remeniscing of a good night out with One Breath Away as a memory, this is the last track and I don’t want it to end! We switch gears now and go for a waltz – the ever present horns lay down a beautiful harmony and I can imagine this being a first dance song or the song that a bride can walk down the aisle to if you don’t want to be traditional! It’s a good note to end on in my opinion it’s stunning, I love the chord progression on this.
This is pure poetry:
Here comes the sunshine
And burns away clouds
Like they never were
My own private sunshine
She walks on the earth
But I love her
And now I’m feeling in a better way
The darkest night won’t steal my light away
A perfumed melody
The scent of the minds sweetest flower.
