After years of subsisting on commercial releases of live shows, The Steve Kimock Band has finally recorded a studio album. "Eudemonic," produced by the eclectic guitarist himself and his 13-Grammy-winning drummer Rodney Holmes, loses none of the band's live power and suppleness. The tracks have a wealth of musical ideas, from the Hawaiian steel guitar vibe of "Eudemon" and the reggae rhythm and cool guitar chords of "Ice Cream" to the languid R&B-meets-arena-rock crescendo of "Tongue 'n' Groove."
Kimock's touring schedule and the logistics of getting favorite players to help out (the album features Alphonso Johnson on bass, guitarist Mitch Stein and Jim Kost on keyboards) had prevented him from making a studio album before. But as he told The Japan Times, "the motivation for doing it at all is to have something out there that's produced in such a way that you're making no apologies on the production to the person that's buying it." That's like an iron-clad guarantee from a man whose raison d'e^ tre is sonic excellence.
