R&B Backline | Remix

If you're looking for a steadfast groove and beautifully articulated bass playing, RB Backline is your ticket. The performance and sound quality of every groove are perfectly executed, but perhaps the CD's greatest feature is the way it captures the intangible and ever-elusive feel that causes a good R&B track to hit you in the gut and rock your soul. The collection offers 62 tracks categorized by key and tempo, sporting both ensemble and individual electric-bass and drum-kit loops so that you can use only the bass, just the drums or both together. Even though certain grooves tend to line-up more easily, the mix-and-match possibilities are endless.

For added convenience, the package includes an audio CD and a WAV/Acid CD containing identical material ready for use in Acid. Both of the musicians featured on R&B Backline are veteran studio players. Khari Parker, currently with Destiny's Child, lays down a rock-solid performance while providing a retro feel reminiscent to that of Bernard Purdie or even Clyde Stubblefield. On bass, Chuck Webb-who has played with Ramsey Lewis, Grover Washington Jr., Joe Sample and more-is both smooth and tasty. This is a genre-specific CD that focuses on only bass and drums and maintains a similar tonality throughout. My only criticism is that the material is so on-target that it's hard to conceive of using these loops outside of an R&B context, although creative producers will find a way to make them work in a hip-hop or funky house track.