I can’t say that many instrumental records have found their way over to Bluesbunny Towers in recent times and that’s no real surprise as all that modern day digital tinkering has just about rendered musical ability obsolete. However, the M-Tet manage to make their album “Long Play” sound like it was the work of men with their mind firmly set on the good times of the past.
The songs merge, as they were surely designed to, to form a cohesive entity with the musicians tipping their collective hat respectfully to the cocktail lounge groove throughout. That is no bad thing if you enjoy the sound of the Hammond organ - here played with due reverence to the past by Gary Pitman – and, surprisingly, even the normally energetic fret fingering of Joe Baer Magnant is reined in to let others steer the course of these songs.
However, you can’t really call this album, despite its restraint, easy listening and, all things considered, “Long Play” sounds like one of those albums that you might buy in a second hand shop sometime in the future simply to find out what it might be about.