Reviewed by Tony Cummings

For some 'fusion jazz' is the most exciting of musical marriages, taking the solid rhythmic underpinning of rock and soul and blending it to the improvisational inventiveness of jazz to produce music which is accessible yet goes beyond the obvious. For others it's anonymous muzak turned out by eye-for-a-buck jazzos as prepared to pamper the yuppie CD market and sell their musical soul to Mammon. Certainly, this set demonstrates the weakness of the genre-anonymity. Latin and pop soul rhythms, jazz chord progression and 24 bar solos interlock in a blend which could be one of a hundred albums. But despite serious deja vu there's much to admire here . The musicianship is impeccable, the rhythms delightful and the solos strong. Tia Dia are Swedish bassist and keyboard player Lasse Danielsson and Koinonia-percussion maestro and seasoned sessioner Alex Acuna and they play delightfully together helped by a slick band of Swedish musos. Is it gospel? Well, it's on a Christian record label...

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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