For his sophomore solo album, In The Garden Of Mindfulness, Paul “Mudd” Murphy enlists the help of some of this talented pals. Michele Chiavarini, Patrick Dawes, Kashif, and Dave Noble. All put in stellar turns.

Kosmische synths combine with rich rhythm sections on sophisticated – generally – slo-mo struts. Getting down somewhere between soft rock and jazz funk. Eighty-Three, for example, doffs its cappello toward the jazzier end of `80s Italian pop. Stuff like, say, Tullio De Piscopo’s Stop Bajon. While Unka Paw is more a nod in the direction of Crosby, Stills, & Nash’s Dark Star.

There are copious different keys, and a couple of the tracks are piano-powered. Hangsang rolls along nicely and has a vibe like a Gilbert O’Sullivan or Phil Collins obscurity, dug-out, dusted off, edited, spun and made cool by Paul’s other mates, The Idjut Boys. With a shuffle similar to Bill Withers’ You Got The Stuff, and jaunty harmonica-like tones that join in for a finale. Late In March is a brilliantly accomplished boogie. Everything has a full, warm, analogue sound.

Paul, of course, is a soul boy at heart. You may, or may not know, that in his early teens he was a “popper” in a prize-winning breakdance crew, so it’s safe to assume that hip hop / electro was a formative spark. However, listening to this LP, I suspect that there’s also a lot of rare groove in his roots.

The album, as a whole, while instrumental, sort of recreates those parties where sexy sides by Boz Scaggs, Babs Streisand, Toto’s Georgy Porgy, span side-by-side with those by Sylvia Striplin, Steve Parks, and Minnie Ripperton. Bonne Anse is a sumptuous Leon Ware-like samba. The title track is an outstanding, downtempo, homage to Roy Ayres.

Mudd’s In The Garden Of Mindfulness can be pre-ordered directly from Claremont 56.