Back Roads is an album by the American saxophonist Bob Berg, released in 1991.[1][2] It peaked at No. 8 on Billboard's Jazz Albums chart.[3] The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Contemporary Jazz Performance".[4]
The album was produced by Jim Beard, who also contributed on keyboards.[5] Its title was inspired by Berg's travels around his East End home.[6] Berg was backed by Mike Stern on guitar, Dennis Chambers on drums, and Lincoln Goines on bass.[7] Berg decided to focus less on technique and fast tempos, instead concentrating on the tunefulness of his playing.[8] Some of the tracks were influenced by the music of Steely Dan.[9]
The Boston Herald called the album a "calculated crossover affair", stating that "it features the breezy blowing and bright melodies favored by fans of the Quiet Storm radio format."[11] The Philadelphia Daily News said that the musicians "function in the vein of the ECM label's most accessible, tuneful sessions fronted by Keith Jarrett and Pat Metheny."[16] The Globe and Mail stated that "most of Back Roads is lighter, softer and indeed more produced than has been Berg's fashion... Chambers firms up a couple of pieces, but the rest comes perilously close to the pop-jazz of someone like Grover Washington".[5] The Chicago Tribune noted that Berg "can sound as lite as they come one minute and like Michael Brecker the next."[17] The Toronto Star opined that most of the tracks "are classy but typical synthesizer-inspired fusion exercises, jazz-tinged energetic rock at best and modish musing at worst".[18]
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