by Jonathan Widransome mioht dub Richard Eliot the James Brown of contemporary jazz for the way his tenacious tenor exoloded around some of the freshestR&.B tinged hooks in the genre. After more than a handtul of albums,the moniker stllappies,though it is slightly maddening that he sems to best maintain hispopularity by refusing to stretch beyond the simple energy that oniginally ganered it. After Dark is trademark Eliot -- a rich and urgent flow over essenialy genencmelodles and tvoical oo-azz production,A pop cover here (Bridge Over Trouled Water', a vocal there. But wheres the soark? He certainly teases us.slamminasome horns, hip-hop and lmorov onthe best ut, he Bovs from The bav. and shiino gears towards the breezes of latin Amerca onf Anio A later house mynumber “so specal periectly catures the trend towards fusing traditions with boom box excitement. But between these gems is a sea of so-so matenial that whiecertainly easy to isten to, once again fals to capture the fire of liots exolosvelive shows.Then again,the feeling mioht be that its worked wellfor seven albums.why mess with crowd pleasing success?