CHAS JANKEL

Chas Jankel

[A&M SP4862]

Chas Jankel is probably more responsible for Ian Dury's success than Ian Dury himself. Aided by ex-Blockhead Chris Warwick, Group 87 trumpeter Mark Isham and drummer Pete Van-Hooke, Jankel has concocted an infectious blend of Latino, disco and dance wave that is as mindless as it is wonderful.

Although disposable by nature, disco has produced some great moments when done just right. On his debut solo album Jankel does some things right, some wrong; he is simultaneously fascinating and ignorable. It is a true love/hate disk.

Clocking in at just under fifteen minutes "Am I Honest with Myself Really?" is the centerpiece of the album. Combining a straightforward bass drum with swirling rhythms and funky horns, it is a joy and not as tiresome as one would expect a quarter-hour song to be. In the same vein are two shorter pieces, "Ai No Corrida" (covered by Quincy Jones) and "Just a Thought'' which provide smaller doses of the same basic medicine.

Three introspective keyboard pieces "Peace, At Last'', "Lenta Latina", and "Reverie" give the stronger songs a much needed counterpoint. Jankel boogies, but he is also thinking, and he loves his piano.

Even if the disco wave has washed over, this is an album to spin. If it doesn't move your toes to tapping, I'd have them checked by a doctor.

- J. E. Sumrell