Although Chuck Rainey was among New York’s most ubiquitous and in-demand R&B and pop session players of the 1960s and ’70s, he didn’t record very many albums on his own. The Chuck Rainey Coalition gives us a glimpse of the electric bassist in the driver’s seat. Rainey doesn’t do that much stretching, and most of the time, this collection of instrumental jazz/R&B simmers without really igniting. Nonetheless, there are a few cuts that stand out. Rainey really digs into a funky interpretation of the “Theme from Peter Gunn,” and his soul-minded arrangement of “Harlem Nocturne” is fairly imaginative. Meanwhile, uptempo tunes like “Get It Together,” “It’s Gonna Rain” and “The Lone Stranger” are kind of catchy, though hardly mind-blowing. Overall, this isn’t a bad album, but it could have been much better. – Alex Henderson
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