Deep Into It raises again the question that has pursued Larry Carlton for several years. Will we hear again the guitar player who dug deep into Steely Dan's "Kid Charlemagne" and "Green Earrings", and The Crusaders' "And Then There Was The Blues"? No Substitutions, his 2001 collaboration with Steve Lukather, was a declaration that he could still kick over the traces, but that project also set up considerable expectations for his next solo album, and now that it's here, such expectations are intensified by the title. There are occasions in Deep Into It when Carlton shifts up a gear, as on "It's A Groove Thang", a complex chart featuring no less a weight than tenor saxophonist Chris Potter. The guitar still sings too, albeit in a linear bluesy fashion rather than in the rich chord-on-chord style that made Carlton's playing so unusual in the 1970s. In general though, this is an easygoing date patterned on previous Carlton smooth jazz excursions. Carlton has acknowledged that smooth jazz is the route to better airplay, and the result is jazz-lite coloured with the sweetest of guitar licks. --Mark Gilbert