PAPATAMUS REDUX

STRIKEZONE (RELEASED AUGUST 21, 2026)

Back when I owned a record store (1969–1975), we always kept a stack of “sellers” near the stereo—records that would result in an immediate sale whenever we played them. If I were in business today, Rob Dixon’s Naptown Soul would certainly be in that stack. Regardless of their musical taste, customers would like the infectious soul jazz of saxophonist Dixon and his band. A fixture of the Indianapolis jazz scene, Dixon’s sound is steeped in that city’s blues, gospel, funk and soul traditions. With Dave Stryker on guitar, Sam Fribush on organ and Richard “Sleepy” Floyd on drums, Naptown Soul  delivers all the grooves associated with those traditions. For funky grooves, it is hard to top Dixon’s “Sly Vibe” and “The Earth, The Sky.”  R&B grooves shine on “Walking in Rhythm, a tune popularized by the Blackbyrds in the mid 1970s. There are the straight up jazz grooves of two Wes Montgomery tunes — “Naptown Blues” and “Bumpin’ on Sunset.” Marvin Gaye’s “I Want More” embraces the listener in a seductive groove while Dixon originals — “Fields and Valleys” and “Four One’ — are played with a more assertive and rhythmic groove. Stryker, who produced the session for his Strikezone label, is no stranger to this territory. His experience with the organ-guitar tradition, including his work with musicians such as Jack McDuff and Stanley Turrentine, is evident in the album’s sound. His guitar provides both rhythmic propulsion and melodic color, while Fribush and Floyd contribute the kind of tight, responsive interaction that makes the music, for lack of a better word, groove.  Naptown Soul feels like a contemporary continuation of the music that could once be heard on Indiana Avenue, where musicians such as the Montgomery Brothers and Melvin Rhyne helped establish Indianapolis as an important center of jazz. For listeners who appreciate the classic soul-jazz tradition, Naptown Soul offers plenty to enjoy. More importantly, it demonstrates that the musical character of Indianapolis remains an important part of the city’s jazz identity. It all adds up to a “seller!”

BOTTOM LINE: Since 2014, guitarist Dave Stryker has been issuing recordings reminiscent of the soul jazz era on his Strikezone label. Saxophonist Rob Dixon’s Naptown Soul is the latest example of that. The infectious sounds of tenor, organ, guitar and drums will keep you, as they say in the vernacular of classic soul jazz records, groovin’ and movin’.