Super review by Cal Gibson, of The Secret Soul Society and Scruffy Soul Recordings.

Here are nine tracks penned by drummer and composer Daniel Bechet for his famous saxophonist father, Sidney, and originally released in 1979: a touchingly sweet way to thank the person who made you and a perfectly-pitched mellow soul-jazz outing at the same time: what’s not to like?

Daniel’s rather wonderful, and only, album is full of deep dreamy rollers, slick but packed with soul and carefully thought-out arrangements: think slinky Steely Dan instrumentals meeting Lee Ritenour uptown and you’re getting close. Opener Sweet Stuff is a gentle banger: summer’s come and gone and you’re none the wiser, time rolls on and no one has any answers, but really what does it matter when the bass is this phat and the drums are this crispy? Sidney would surely have loved it.

Night Clouds is all hushed symphonic textures, cinematic feels slowly coalescing into something heftier, and more considered: the night sky as lonesome and unapproachable as a deity, nature’s ultimate kiss-off. Mankind is small and puny and insignificant but, hey, we sure can make some great tunes, right?

Saturday Night Flavour rocks the library vibe – you can imagine Sydney smiling and nodding along happily. What comes across beautifully in all these tracks is Daniel’s love and respect for his father: “Here you are Dad”, he’s saying: look how much you mean to me. It’s a privilege and an honour to be a father, and Daniel righteously acknowledges just how deep the role goes.

Don’t Be Shy rolls out yet more Rhodes for another dive into the depths: yearning, nostalgic dreams of childhood and happiness and innocence wrapped up in a super sweet whole. A lifetime of love and affection captured on tape brilliantly.

As ever with Mad About Records this is another long lost gem that’s been dug up by the crew, another missing epistle that time has simply forgot. It’s great to see it rescued, re-polished and set out in the world again. No doubt Daniel himself is much further along his own pathway than he was in 1979: he can be justly proud of this little beauty of an album. Let it warm your heart and let it play for fathers and sons – and mothers and daughters of course – all over: it’s a slow-burning delight.

Daniel Bechet’s Songs To My Father is out now on Mad About Records.