Renowned San Diego DJ and producer Greyboy kept his short-lived Greyboy Records imprint around long enough to put out several albums from his All-stars, who are some of the baddest soul-jazz musicians on the current scene. Evidently, after sampling numerous soul and jazz albums, Greyboy wanted to give back to the scene by overseeing the production of quality live music inspired by his favorite records. On this, the GBA's debut full-length, the whole crew does that in spades, fusing the new-school acid jazz sound with a soundly old-school soul jazz/boogaloo sensibility. A lot of these cats have gone solo, but here we had in one studio absolutely brilliant cats like keyboardist Robert Walters, reedist Harold Todd (arguably the most talented flutist of the acid jazz generation), the incredibly versatile guitarist Elgin Park (nee Mike Andrews) and the indefatigable sax man Karl Denson, one of the most underrated funk/jazz players alive right now.

They floss their old-school knowledge with dope versions of Rusty Bryant's classic "Fire Eater," Leon Spencer's "Miss Riverside," and Kool & The Gang's "Let The Music Take Your Mind," inspired by Grant Green's cover of the same cut. They are no slouches with the pen, as the orginals are as dope, if not doper, than the covers. Standouts are the soulful acid-jazzy "Soul Dream," the brisk, Tower of Power-esque "Fried Grease," and the angular groover "Gravee" all featuring guest shots from the legendary Fred Wesley. Their three-hour show in Chicago in 1997 was easily the greatest live show I've ever witnessed. We'll probably never see them on one stage again, but at least we still have this album in the vaults. Plus, in 15 years, fools will be pulling this out to the sample the drum breaks.

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