Soulful Strut – THE YOUNG-HOLT UNLIMITED***

Who’s Making Love/Please Sunrise Please/Be By My Side/What Now My Love/Baby Your Light Is Out/Soulful Strut/Just Ain’t No Love/Little Green Apples/Funky Is As Funky Does/Love Makes A Woman/Ain’t There Something Money Can’t Buy

Young & Holt were former members of The Ramsey Lewis Trio before founding instrumental jazz-rock group Young-Holt Unlimited. They enjoyed a US No. 3 hit single with Soulful Strut, which helped the accompanying LP to a high album chart placing. (US:9)

"An awesomely funky and soulful disc full of twelve instrumentals from the duo that had been Ramsey Lewis' rhythm section on some of his biggest chart hits. Having split from Lewis in 1966, Eldee Young and Isaac 'Red' Holt went off to form their own trio. Over the course of a few albums, the trio swelled to a somewhat amorphous group of musicians, with Young and Holt as the rock-solid rhythm section. Their greatest popular success was Soulful Strut. Originally the backing track for Barbara Acklin's Am I The Same Girl, the instrumental literally replaced Acklin's vocal with a drifting, languorous piano. One of the great soul-jazz instrumentals."

"Soulful Strut is one of those borderless, feel good anthems. There are ten beautiful instrumentals nestling alongside the title track. These are mostly vocal-less versions of other Brunswick hits (Please Sunrise Please, Who's Making Love) but there's also a nice Don Walker composition Funky Is As Funky Does and a little call and response jam session that clearly shows the group's roots as Ramsey Lewis' rhythm section."

"Unclear how much actual playing The Young-Holt Unlimited do on their LP Soulful Strut. The title track happens to be the instrumental track of Am I The Same Girl, with Acklin's vocal removed and the piano raised in the mix. Likewise for Please Sunrise, Love Makes A Woman, and Just Ain't No Love, all songs that Acklin recorded. The trio consisted of Ken Chaney (piano), Eldee Young (bass, cello, vocals), and Isaac Holt (drums), formerly of The Ramsey Lewis Trio. Whether a fast one got pulled or not, the ten tracks make for enjoyable and delightful listening. Excellent old-school smooth jazz."

"The soft yet upbeat melodies of the piano and soothing wails of the saxophone are suitable for play in an office environment, as hold music, or even as a backer for talk radio."