Many modern jazz discs tend to focus more on the player they're named after and less on the whole collective, which is especially noticed in jazz fusion releases like Alex Machacek's recent [SIC]. Scott Kinsey does not fall into this showy trap, and his first solo CD is that much better for it.

A keyboard player with Tribal Tech since 1994, Kinsey finally breaks out his synthesizers and hires a gaggle of jazz compadres who share Kinsey's eclectic fusion nature and his dismissal of the solo spotlight. The most noticeable thing about Kinesthetics is that you don't know what to listen to, because there is so much going on, yet the fragmented pieces cohere as a whole instead of a Kinsey synth solo, a drum solo, etc. It's jazz by association: show up and put your stamp on the song, have a beer, join our club.

Clearly, the musicians are having fun. Dissecting "Sometimes I..." is pointless because every guy is off in his own world: Kirk Covington keeps time with one foot and rides the cymbals with the other, while Kinsey plays his keyboard solos in one speaker and Abraham Laboriel winds his was through the bass fretboard. You almost don't notice Walt Fowler's trumpet panting as it keeps up with Covington, but you'll be too busy snapping your fingers along to notice.

Kinsey cites Weather Report as a major inspiration, a left-field and rather original selection, but evident in the sort of fusion the band plays (Kinsey has produced tracks for Weather Report co-founder Joe Zawinul, who praised Kinsey's music as tremendous, by the way). It's evident because Kinsey and his band are more interested in improvisation and possibility than in showing off, which defined Weather Report's better work -- though a bass player with pop sensibilities like Jaco Pastorius might have made this release a bit more accessible to the casual fusion listener. So be it.

This loose sense of improv fuels "The Combat Zone," which chugs along for eight minutes but is able to find many variations in the basic structure, though it is overshadowed by the more electronic and smoother "Quartet," Vinnie Colaiuta's drums becoming the lead instrument just as much as the horns and bass. For all the expected keyboard tricks, Kinsey is remarkably subdued, letting his band speak just as loudly as him on the track. You know he's there but you never feel like you should.

"Wishing Tree" is a tenor sax and keyboard duet, with Kinsey setting the mood while Steve Tavaglione plays the horn, and the improvised four-minute tune is both focused and haunting - not the best choice for a Halloween song, mind you, but a nice piece of music. It's a short break from the world-beat inspired fusion found on tracks like "This Is That" and "Big Rock," which sparingly uses African voices that weave between Kinsey's synth textures.

"Uncle Pat's Gypsy Van" is a nifty little work, a sort of disconcerting trip through the uncertain rain that unfortunately fails to yield a satisfying conclusion, while "Under Radar" leans a bit too much toward contemporary jazz and is rendered rather forgettable. The players are at their best when they mess around with time signatures, drum in their own worlds and improvise on the spot, all three of which happen on "Shinjuku," which features a pretty good guitar solo that leads to a kinetic closing jam.

The point of most fusion jazz is to appreciate the mood, not necessarily the solos or hooks. Which is good, because there aren't any hooks on Kinesthetics, and listened to all at once the disc tends to drag a bit. The average songs are sparse, though, and most of this disc is a fusion jazz highlight that will satisfy purists while perhaps converting a few non-jazz listeners over. Far from background music, Scott Kinsey and his first solo outing is something to pay attention to, admire and enjoy. In the running for Top Ten jazz discs of the year.

Rating: B

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