LA guitarist Matthew Yeakley unveiled two albums in 2014, one called Clean Numbers and the other titled Dirty Words. But the only dirty word found on the latter LP is in the name of the seventh track: “Happy Fuckin’ New Year.”
Both of Yeakley’s albums collectively serve as his debut album, since they were released simultaneously. The primary difference between Clean and Dirty lies in the choice of front line horn: Zane Musa’s sax on the former and Mike Cottone’s trumpet on the latter. Regardless, the charm of both is Yeakley’s pleasing melodies, his polished guitar and a muscular rhythm section (Matt Politano, keys; Cooper Appelt, bass; Aaron McClendon, drums). The long tradition of sharp, funky modern jazz from crack musicians out of Los Angeles is kept going strong by Matthew Yeakley’s group.
“New Year” epitomizes the spirit of the pair of discs, the catchy theme introduced as a guitar/trumpet unison powered by the chunk of funk laid down by Applet and McClendon and followed by the tasty leads of Yeakley, Politano (on Rhodes) and Cottone.
We initially shared out delight with Matthew Yeakley’s double debut on the list of best 2014 unreviewed releases, and there’s hardly a better way to get 2015 started with a cut from it. Especially a cut that comes with robust best wishes for a cheerful new twelve months built right in.
Happy Fu.. … er… Freakin’ New Year, y’all.
Visit Matthew Yeakley’s website for more info.