As Freddie Roach's Blue Note career progressed, his work increasingly celebrated contemporary black culture, and accordingly developed a greater interest in funky, jukebox-ready grooves, a stylistic departure from his initial melodic finesse. Roach took both interests with him to Prestige, as demonstrated on The Soul Book/Mocha Motion, a U.K.-only two-fer compiling his first two albums for the label. Roach definitely brings the hard funk on parts of The Soul Book, but there's a laid-back, even meditative quality to others, which is surprising since his liner notes seem to suggest a concept album about the urban grit of Harlem.
As Freddie Roach's Blue Note career progressed, his work increasingly celebrated contemporary black culture, and accordingly developed a greater interest in funky, jukebox-ready grooves, a stylistic departure from his initial melodic finesse. Roach took both interests with him to Prestige, as demonstrated on The Soul Book/Mocha Motion, a U.K.-only two-fer compiling his first two albums for the label. Roach definitely brings the hard funk on parts of The Soul Book, but there's a laid-back, even meditative quality to others, which is surprising since his liner notes seem to suggest a concept album about the urban grit of Harlem.