Erik Deutsch

Sat., July 24, 7 p.m., $10-$12, World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St., 215-222-1400, worldcafelive.com.

by Shaun Brady

jazz/pop/soul

Once upon a time, there was such a thing as an instrumental pop hit. If the charts still had room for the likes of the Allman Brothers' "Jessica" and Herbie Hancock's "Rockit," not to mention the JB's and MG's, then Erik Deutsch would be assured a place atop them. Instead, his latest CD, Hush Money, gets labeled strictly as jazz, and while that's not wrong, exactly — Deutsch served as keyboardist with guitarist Charlie Hunter's trio for three years — it's an imperfect fit for the disc's mélange of funk, '60s soul, New Orleans groove, R&B ballads and pop hooks.