Review by arcane-beautiful — III by Aether is a very vibrant and exciting instrumental prog rock album from the Italian quartet. Mixing elements of classic 70s prog with jazz fusion and experimental rock. A very good mix of compositional arrangement with alot of room for improvisation, each member shows off great skill with their abilities, with great electric piano, guitar and fretless bass trade offs throughout. While there can be comparisons to bands like The Moondig and Echoes Of Distant Stars, the compositions overall are alot more focused than improvisational acts. The influences can be heard, but each track is unique in its own right, with a very vibrant display of melody, harmony, creative colorful chords and clever use of dissonance. In think in the future, it would be great to hear other instrumentation for this style, like saxophone or flutes.If I'm being honest, it's probably the best instrumental album I've heard all year. I'd give this a high 7 to low 8 out of 10. The track I'd recommend is Cinq Teintes, Quatre Cadres.

Review by arcane-beautiful — John Zorn's Olympiad, Vol. 4: Curling by John Zorn is an interesting noisy composition, with great use of light percussion, interplay between saxophone harmonics and an overall sparse amount of noise to create a very sonically interesting palate, but overall something not overall engaging. The players on this one should be commended for their ability to create the atmosphere requested by Zorn, but it's not his most compelling work, but it's an interesting section of this overall series. Also I really don't get why it's music inspired by the Olympics, but Zorn isn't exactly predictable. I'd give this a mid to high 5 out of 10. The track I'd recommend is Curling Part 1.

Review by js — Not much is known about The Invaders, what is known is that they were a psychedelic funk band from Bermuda who put out one record in 1970 (“Spacing Out”) and it became one of the most sought after rare records for fans of psych funk. Since the late 90s, it has been re-issued many times, but it still has a very lofty spot in the minds of rare groove collectors. The Invaders were a totally instrumental band who sounded a lot like The Meters, and sometimes the JBs or very early Funkadelic. The individual band members all had pretty decent chops, so jazz fusion solos are featured often while the rhythm section lays down the funk. The production sounds a lot like reggae records from this same era, so that means plenty of deep reverb and the occasional space echo too.

All of the tracks are good, but some standout, particularly the two different versions of the Isley Brothers’ “It’s Your Thing”. The shorter singles version opens the album, while the extended version with trumpet and flute solos closes out the album. “The House that Jack Built” features a long flute solo over wah wah guitars. “Look a Py Py” is a Meters cover that has an extended drum break that has probably been sampled many times. On side two, title track, “Spacing Out”, has an extended guitar ride with plenty more of that wah wah pedal. It no longer costs an arm and a leg to own “Spacing Out” on vinyl, so check your local record store and grab a copy. It’s an excellent album just for listening, but if you seek top notch samples, it’s a treasure trove.

Review by snobb — Pianist Simon Nabatov’s very intimate, monumental new double CD album contains two of his composed suites; he plays piano on both as well, among others. Very unusually, I started reading the liner notes before listening to the music, and... didn't click the "play" button after I finished all the text. I am not an emotional person, but what I read shocked me. Not because I found something I had never heard before, but because the story told was very close to me and familiar. I left the album alone without even starting to listen to it; after some time, I just read the text once again.

I started listening to the musical content the next day only when I was ready. The music caught me strongly as well.

Simon Nabatov, a musician of Jewish descent, was born in Moscow, the capital of the former Soviet Union - the heart of the bloody Evil Empire - in 1959. His grandfather was a high-level officer in the central KGB (then known as NKVD) structures, living in a 12-room flat in the centre of Moscow. Probably responsible for thousands of deaths of his own people. Owning a mini-Zoo in one of the rooms, with exotic birds and animals, for his daughter. And he loved race cars too.

Semyon Jakowlewitch Mindal (Simon Nabatov has been named in his memory) was arrested, tortured, and liquidated as part of Stalin’s purges when his daughter, Nabatov's mother, was 12. Simon's family in 1979 were permitted to leave the USSR for Israel, as Jewish expatriates, but instead flew to Italy and applied for visas to enter the United States. Nabatov studied at Juilliard School from 1980 to 1984 and became an American citizen in 1986. From 1989, he has lived in Europe, mostly in Cologne.

I was born in the same Soviet Empire, just five years later than Simon. Not in Moscow, though. I was born in Vilnius - one of the most culturally rich and beautiful European cities, occupied by russians and incorporated into their Empire at the end of WWII. My biological grandfather died on the military campaign at the very beginning of WWII, leaving my grandmother with an 8 year old daughter on her hands. Grandmother, who was always a boss in our family, soon married a high-ranking KGB officer, responsible for the city's railways. According to the family legend, in 1946 he died quickly and unexpectedly, because of "too humid climate". A professional KGB officer in his late thirties? Do you believe? Simply, "Stalin's cleansing" words sounded too terrible to be told, even in a family. And I never heard anything or saw his grave in my life either. Being old, my grandmother told a few times that "they had a great time during the war - with regular balls, drinking champagne and eating caviar". After her husband's death, she - wife of a high-position KGB officer - found herself staying right on the street with a teenage daughter, with no place to live, no job and no money. She survived again; her new boyfriend, who later taught me to read and to write, was a former marine, taken prisoner by Nazis in 1941, who spent the rest of the war in a military prisoner camp in Cologne. I remember, as a teenager, more than once, him shouting on public transport that “the best time of his life was when in a German prisoner camp”. He didn’t succeed in his career in the Soviet Union, that’s for sure.

Album's second suite, completing all of CD 2, is titled "What my grandfather could tell me", and dedicated to Nabatov's grandfather. Each of eight songs has the author's comments presented in liner notes, in fact, a little story.

The album's first suite, "Your ID Please", takes all of CD 1 and is dedicated to Simon's childhood and formation period, full of drama and tension. In the same way as the second suite, each composition of the first suite is supported with short comments in the liner notes. Simple stories which weren't so easily told, I expect. Nabatov tells how his father brought him to the synagogue, and about "being amazed by the „otherness“ of what was supposed to be part of me (but wasn’t really)." On the other hand, young Simon finds spiritual support (I would call it - the escape from Soviet reality) in the Russian Orthodox church. He says: "It was a beautiful world, full of grace and mystery. Even though it was supposed to be completely foreign to Jewish life, it influenced me a lot, in more ways than I am able to detect."

There were no Jews in my family, but I was born and grew up in a city, for ages known as "Northern Jerusalem". I spent the very first years of my life in a former Jewish Quarter, where we lived with my grandparents and mother. Some buildings were still abandoned; from the hundreds of thousands of former Jews, there were left fewer than five thousand there. Others disappeared during the Nazi's occupation and the Holocaust, were killed, or left and never returned. Our nearest neighbors and friends were Jewish families, those who survived. My grandmother spent evenings speaking with "aunt Rachile"; her teenage daughter Rivka taught me the very first steps in my life on the green hill nearby. The house we lived in was just a ten-minute walk from a synagogue, the only one that survived, from sixty, being in town before WWII. I have never visited it, though.

My grandmother, christened in an Orthodox church as a child, never visited it. But she often took me to Catholic churches, a beautiful Baroque world full of light, paintings, and organ music. I have never been religious, but often visit Catholic churches around the world - as monuments of art and beauty. Dark and mysterious Orthodox churches (I have visited plenty of them around the world too) always make me feel uncomfortable. I feel like they try to delete my personality, make me feel helpless and dependent, and scared. I never give up.

The reason I wrote such a long intro (”the story inside of the story”) is that I just want to illustrate how important a background of knowledge is sometimes for the appreciation of one or another musical work. I am sure that only a listener familiar with the time, place, and atmosphere of Nabatov's stories can appreciate his two new suites in full depth. That’s why I highly recommend starting with reading the liner notes, and in case of interest, continuing with deeper research on the epoch. On the other hand, the music presented here is so strong in itself that it can attract the unprepared listener too, I believe. Even if Nabatov and I will probably agree in some assessments, and disagree in others, without doubt I understand his every note and sound much deeper than the listener, less familiar with the background.

So, now about the music itself in more detail. Each suite is recorded in a single day in 2024, with two combos of highly skilled musicians. “Your ID Please” is recorded by a septet, containing, alongside Nabatov on piano, a chamber strings trio (Axel Lindner - violin, Axel Porath - viola, Nathan Bontrager - cello), renowned German reedist Frank Gratkowski, oboist Ina Stock, and Lucia Mense on recorders. “What my grandfather could tell me” is recorded by a quite different quintet with a strings duo(Axel Porath - viola, Nathan Bontrager - cello), Pascal Klewer on trumpet, Shannon Barnett on trombone, a rhythm section(Roger Kintopf on bass, Alex Parzhuber on drums) alongside Nabatov on piano himself, and another German jazz star - Polish-born sax player Angelika Niescier. No matter the instrumentation, both suites present an organic mix of(dominating) 20th-century classical music, Russian and Jewish folk, Orthodox church chants, Soviet pop tunes, and jazz improvs. The description sounds chaotic on paper, but in real life all compositions are surprisingly well organized, often quite ascetic. The elements of different genres are often presented in the same composition; they change seamlessly, without destroying the clear structural line. Many compositions, besides the author’s comments on thematic content, contain brief comments on musical instrumentation and arrangements, which help to appreciate the music better. Never overcrowded, both suites’ music builds a very special, near-sanctuary atmosphere, full of drama and relief at the same time. In fact, it is very close to Orthodox chants, in the way it works.

Very intimate and unique work; it invites you to experience an emotional catharsis together.

Review by Tony Adamo — Tony Adamo “IT’s Gotta B U!”, " is a smokin’, swingin’ 2026 jazz track Once again, Tony encourages us to keep seeking and not rest on our laurels. He is taking us on a hip trip by way of a swinging tune, which I am proud to play drums on. He tells us about Shirley Scott, Philly Joe, and what swingin’, being hip, and heading into uncharted waters is like, not being afraid to take a chance and let jazz take you there. Now, that’s living in my book!!!" - Drummer Mike Clark

Tony Adamo: Lead Vocals / Spoken Word Mike Clark: Drums Richie Goods: Bass Tim Campbell: ORGAN

Review by FunkFreak75 — Recorded in NYC, August 15-17, 1967; released by RCA Victor later in the year (probably before Duster).

A1. "June the 15, 1967" (4:50) this song opens with some monster bass playing from Steve Swallow, performed over Bob Moses' solid rock-informed drumming. Gary and Larry join in with the vibes and electric guitar, the former in the lead position performing some very comples melody lines while the latter supports with some unobtrusive rhythm guitar work. Then Larry steps back to support Larry on an extended solo for the next 90 seconds before returning to a most gentle, weirdly-melodic lead to take us to the song's finish. (8.875/10)

A2. "Feelings and Things" (4:05) soft, gentle, spacious, yet luxuriously-textured by Gary's four-note chords. There is a late night Kind of Blue feel to this palette as Larry's presence is almost invisiblefor the first 90 seconds. When he does start to make his presence known it is with a very respectful, very traditional jazz guitar approach. At 2:30 he's offered the lead and, even though he cannot resist his rock-energy, he does a nice job of "coloring within the lines" Pretty but really just standard Jazz, no fusion here. (9/10)

A3. "Fleurette Africaine" (3:36) interesting palette that presents as Jazz or even world music pastiche but totally opens the door for Larry's Rock 'n' Roll side to join in. For a bit it almost seems as if there are two totally different things going on but it works: it blends very easily, almost comfortably. What a giving nature Mr. Burton has! How can he see the amazing gift he's giving to music by allowing this synthesis to occur! (9/10)

A4. "I'm Your Pal" (3:03) really more of a duet between Steve and Gary--one that shows what an amazing "unity" the two have between them. (9/10)

A5. "Lines" (3:10) Now Gary and Larry duet: both letting loose of some wild oats but both remaining fixedly respectful of the "rules" of Jazz--acting as if they're both channelling the spirits of Django Rhinehardt and Stéphane Grappelli. Man! Are these two guys skilled! (9.25/10)

B1. "The Beach" (3:41) more Jazz, with great play from the rhythmatists, while Gary and Larry work out their differences over the top--each presenting poetic quotes from their own traditions in hopes that something might click between them--some kind of understand or unifying principle--and it feels as if they are finally successful toward the end. Steve and Bob are so impressive! (9.25/10)

B2. "Mother of the Dead Man" (4:37) a slow and very spacious Vibraphone opening is backed by some standard late-night jazz bass and brushed drums while Larry intersperses his gentle electric guitar notes to make for a gentle Bill Evans-like weave. Gary stays in the driver's seat, leading the band through an interesting exploration of unusual chord and key changes until relinquishing the lead to Larry in the third minute. Larry's bluesy lead guitar feels/sounds a bit incongruous with the gentle support of the threesome behind him; he does much better while playing second fiddle to Gary's lead. Overall, it is a very pleasant--and interesting--listening experience (reminding me of some interlude or background music to a story narration from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.) (9/10)

B3. "Good Citizen Swallow" (5:34) set up to sound like something familiar (like a theme song from a television game show) though the quartet shift away from this opening theme for a while (but come back to it from time to time if only to recenter). Gary seems to exert control throughout the first half, but then everybody backs off to allow Steve room for an a cappella solo--one that lasts for almost two minutes--then everybody comes back together for the finish. (8.75/10)

B4. "General Mojo Cuts Up" (4:36) for this song Larry's two tracks of zither-sounding guitars get full attention while Gary's Vibraphone eventually joins in and takes over. If Steve Swallow and Bob Moses are present and involved it is minimally--until, that is, the third minute when a crash from one of Bob's cymbals announces with great aplomb his arrival. From there out the chaotic free spirit continues as each of the musicians seems to fly freely in their own directions, parallel to one another but definitely mutually aware. Then the musicians each drop out, leaving only Gary to take us out in a kind of meditative mathematically contemplative outro. Brilliant! If this isn't a perfect example of the early fusion of Jazz and Rock 'n' Roll, I don't know what is. (9.25/10)

Total time: 38:12

I would call this album less an album of Jazz-Rock Fusion than the meeting of two worlds, two cultures, each trying with infinite patience and respect to figure out how their two vast worlds of customs and perspectives might work together, if not blended at least side-by-side.

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of experimental music that is, for me, one of the first true representations of the fusionary sound and spirit of Jazz-Rock Fusion.

Review by Carmel — Alex Sipiagin’s “Live at Smalls” is a five-song set that settles into a comfortable logic of a blowing session built on communication. David Kikoski’s piano movement, Boris Kozlov’s bass motion, and Nate Smith’s kinetic drum textures shape the textures around Sipiagin and saxophonist Seamus Blake. Together they push the energy forward through connection.  

Recorded at Smalls in June 2012, the album catches the quintet sounding like an ensemble understanding each other’s reflexes. The language is modern post-bop built from hard-bop architecture: two-horn writing, clear forms, moving tonal centers, straight-eighth grooves that suddenly widen into half-time space or lean back toward swing. All feel natural. The performances happen organically. 

“Live Score” establishes the opening feel. It carries a contemporary straight-eight pulse while the form cycles through different harmonic and rhythmic settings. Sipiagin’s trumpet tone is warm, focused, and in the pocket. He digs into the time feel, and Kikoski, Bozlov, and Smith answer with interaction that keeps the music engaging. 

When Blake enters, the rhythm section responds. Smith and Kozlov pull the band into a looser half-time feel for the first stretch of the solo, giving Blake room to let his lines develop. His tenor sound buzzes with a modern post-bop language mixed with blues fragments and intervallic turns. Kozlov moves by grounding one phrase before pushing upward with more melodic motion on the next pass. Smith is building by commenting from the cymbals and snare. 

Kikoski’s solo follows the same release-and-build pattern. The trio backs away from the intensity, then gradually leans back into it. Kozlov’s bass lines start digging harder into the groove, sometimes almost funk-like in their attack and separation, while Smith keeps feeding rhythmic ideas back into the pulse. Near the end, the band catches onto Kozlov’s phrasing and flips briefly into a medium swing feel for a chorus. Then it disappears just as quickly. By the final fade, Kozlov’s bass figure feels like the thing carrying the whole performance out of the room. 

“Videlles” features horn writing that comes in through layered contrapuntal lines. The melodies are tied to hard-bop language but stretched into something angular and fluid. The harmony keeps landing in unexpected places, that gives a modern jazz flow. The rhythm section is always communicating momentum. 

Sipiagin’s solo moves between intervallic shapes, bluesy rhythmic cells, and bursts of legato texture without losing the thread of the line. What really stands out, though, is the way the trio follows the colors underneath him. Smith’s cymbal work grows more animated, Kozlov digs deeper into the pulse, and Kikoski opens broader harmonic space around the trumpet sound. 

Kikoski’s solo reveals just how connected the trio is. Kozlov alternates between grounding notes and fluid upper-register movement with consistent tone or clarity. Smith keeps the rhythmic floor beneath the piano phrases. The trio keeps interacting with each other in new directions. 

“Calming” deepens the set by loosening without draining the energy. Kozlov opens alone in the foreground while Kikoski and Smith provide the orchestration around him. Smith shifts into lighter colors of cymbal washes, rim textures, softer stick detail. 

The horns keep rebuilding through the horn exchanges. Sipiagin and Blake pass material back and forth across multiple choruses, and each handoff releases tension before building it again from another angle. Trumpet to tenor. Tenor back to trumpet. The two horns gather momentum through clear modern jazz language. 

“Path” has a head that moves through multiple feels and written sections. There are riff passages, intervallic movement, and modal release points. The solos are built through connected motifs while the rhythm section listens and responds with energy. At one point Kozlov shifts into a more samba-inspired bass motion and the whole track lifts. 

Sipiagin enters the lower register and suddenly the band opens into a broader half-time setting. His sound gets huge there. Smith catches his phrases with cymbal accents and pockets of space, while Kikoski farms the harmony underneath the line instead of simply filling chords around it. 

Smith keeps tossing rhythmic fragments back at the soloist across the kit. When Kikoski and Kozlov settle into the shifting montuno underneath Smith’s drum feature, the performance still feels collective. Smith builds logically through textures, accents, and cross-rhythms, but the pulse underneath never disappears. 

“Returning” closes the record by pulling the album’s different languages together. The melody moves between harmony, counterpoint, and riff-based writing while the meter keeps shifting underneath the up-tempo straight-eight feel. Even with all the movement, the composition lands clearly because the ensemble never loses the grounding pulse inside it. 

That balance defines the album. “Live at Smalls” is unquestionably modern in its harmonic language and rhythmic connection. The level of playing is excellent throughout. It is the feeling of five musicians hearing and communicating possibilities and moving toward them together.

Review by js — In the world of early jazz performance, there seems to be almost two distinctly different approaches for the musicians. One approach is almost scholarly or museum like, while the other approach focuses on the robust and raucous nature of this music that was the gangsta rap/punk rock of it’s day. Fortunately pianist Terry Waldo falls mostly in that latter group, and this is borne out by the endorsement of Colin Hancock who leads the most energetic hot jazz band today, The Joymakers. In Hancock’s pamphlet notes for Waldo’s “Treasury Volume 3”, he points out, “So much of what makes the music so enjoyable for so many is lost by most modern groups. They lose the earthiness, the spirit, and the soul.” Obviously Hancock believes Waldo has the soul as he joined Waldo’s Gotham City Band on trumpet for this recording and he also wrote a very informative pamphlet that comes with the CD.

Terry Waldo is considered a foremost authority on ragtime performance and has earned the endorsement of Wynton Marsalis as the living embodiment of the ragtime spirit. On “Treasury Volume 3”, Waldo traces jazz’s development from ragtime into the early jazz of New Orleans. Technically, the music on here is New Orleans jazz, but it’s not the real early marching band variety but more in the vein of what became known as ‘Dixieland’, in which the musicians were more or less stationary which allowed for instruments like the piano and the drum set to join in. New Orleans jazz has a built in cacophony to it because to most ears, it sounds like everyone is soloing at the same time. The musicians have a way of ordering this chaos by giving the trumpets the melody, the trombone or saxophone the harmony and the clarinet provides counter melodies and fills around the horns. The rhythm section pounds out the beat.

Most of the tracks on here are up tempo instrumentals plus a couple vocal numbers and one ballad. Of the vocal numbers, “Take Me Back’, is the best. This is the only number that banjoist Jerron Paxton sings on, and he is the only singer on here with an obviously New Orleans accent and bluesy delivery that really works. On many of today’s early jazz recordings, the vocals can be too glib or silly, it’s nice to hear Paxton’s no nonsense earthy voice. The track selection features some well known numbers as well as some less recorded and often features the work of two New Orleans masters, Jelly Roll Morton and King Oliver. According to Waldo, “This music has never been static, it’s always been about what happens in the moment. That’s why it still lives.”

Review by snobb — Aki Takase, a Japanese pianist who has lived in Germany for decades (and is one of the most respected jazz pianists in the country), offers her own take on Georges Bizet's classic opera, "Carmen". In an unorthodox quartet with her regular collaborator, German sax player Daniel Erdmann, French cellist Vincent Courtois, and Japanese mezzo-soprano Mayumi Nakamura, Takase deconstructs the opera, offering her own "Carmen Rhapsody".

The album, recorded in Budapest and released by the Hungarian BMC label, contains a radical synthesis of avant-garde jazz, represented by Aki's piano and Daniel's sax, and classic opera (in Nakamura's vocals), with Vincent's cello often serving as a bridge between the two musical worlds.

The bigger part of the music on the album is taken from Bizet's opera, and the vocal part hasn't been changed much. In addition to this, Aki and her instrumental partners offer their own avant-garde compositions interlayering within the opera's musical body.

The whole album is built on contrasts. Taking the passion, Latin danceable rhythms, and tunes from Bizet's music, while Aki adds free improvisation, excellent interplay of musicians, and raw energy of free jazz to the final result, making it fresh, unpredictable, and often provocative.

Review by FunkFreak75 — 1. "Quetzal" (5:55) Congas, Bongos – Miguel Cruz Drums, Percussion – Alex Acuna* Electric Bass [Fretless] – Randy Tico Flute – Steve Tavaglione Marimba – Ron Wagner Ocarina, Whistle – Luis Conte Synthesizer – Eduardo Del Barrio

2. "Zona Liberada" (5:18) Drums – Alex Acuna* Electric Bass [Fretless] – Randy Tico Synthesizer – Eduardo Del Barrio Timbales, Percussion – Luis Conte

3. "Reng" (5:28) Bells, Percussion – Walfredo Reyes* Cabasa, Caxixi, Percussion – Luis Conte Electric Bass [Fretless] – Randy Tico Goblet Drum [Dombak, Darbukah] – Majid Ghorbani* Santoor [Santur] – Manoochehr Sadeghi

4. "Cassiopeia" (4:19) Bells, Percussion – Walfredo Reyes* Electric Bass – Randy Tico Flamenco Guitar – Omaya Alghanim* Synthesizer – Eduardo Del Barrio Wood Block, Percussion – Luis Conte

5. "Rio Nuevo" (4:40) Congas, Timbales, Percussion – Luis Conte Drums, Percussion – Alex Acuna* Electric Bass [Fretless] – Randy Tico Flute – Steve Kujala Marimba – Ron Wagner

6. "Abrazo (Embrace)" (4:50) Bongos, Percussion – Luis Conte Classical Guitar – Aris Quiroga Electric Bass [Fretless] – Randy Tico Timbales – Miguel Cruz

7. "Amritsar" (4:51) Acoustic Bass – Stanley Clarke Flamenco Guitar – Omaya Alghanim* Percussion – Luis Conte

8. "The Dervish" (6:30) Bells, Gong, Wind Chimes – Walfredo Reyes* Drums – Alex Acuna* Electric Bass [Fretless] – Randy Tico Synthesizer – Eduardo Del Barrio Timbales – Luis Conte

Guitar – Ardeshir Farah, Jorge Strunz Mastered By – George Horn Mixed By – Carl Lange Producer – Ardeshir Farah, Jorge Strunz Recorded By – Carl Lange, Danny Kopelson, Mike Herbick Written-By – Ardeshir Farah (tracks: 3), Strunz* (tracks: 1, 2, 4 to 8) Written-By [Co-writer] – Ardeshir Farah (tracks: 6), Alghanim* (tracks: 7)

Review by FunkFreak75 — Recorded and Mixed at in December, 1979, released by Columbia Records in 1980. A rag-tag ensemble of old-timers (Ranelin, Caliman, Burnett, Hubbard) and young hotshots (Klein, Childs) thrown into a room together for a few days in December of 1979 at Hollywood Sound Recorders in Hollywood, CA. The album saw its release by Columbia Records in 1980.

A1. "Happiness Is Now" (7:52) a great near-big band intro-opener seems to be sliding into a funk-lite motif as Larry Klein and the rhythm corps set up a fairly gentle and spacious groove which Freddie takes advantage of to start soloing with his smooth flugelhorn. His tone is so incredible! The keyboard work of Billy Childs is excellent as is the drumming of Carl Burnett and the horn section work of Hadley Caliman and Philip Ranelin (with Freddie, of course), but this song does not I'm happy to say, fall into the maudlin and mundane traps of so much of the Smooth Jazz--stays, in fact, closer to the work he did with Chick Corea, Chuck Delmonica, and Chester Thompson (and Stanley Clarke) on the previous album, The Love Connection. And Freddie's work up front has some great moments: both incredible smoothness and fiery passion. This is great! Hadley's solo in the fifth minute is a little underwhelming--with the support crew threatening to fall into Bob James territory (dialing it in), but then he animates himself a bit before turning things back over to Freddie. There is far more good/great stuff in this song than weak/disappointing--not to mention very engaging and satisfying melodies. (13.5/15)

A2. "Theme From Summer Of '42" (The Summer Knows) (5:35) a revisitation to a song that Freddie had been working with for most of the decade (and no wonder: it's a great song with virtually infinite potential for interpretation). Here Freddie chooses a near-bare-bones palette to work over--and to do so with a more traditional 1960s acoustic-based sound: piano, bass, simple brushed drum kit work and his flugelhorn. So much space, it allows the harmonics of each instrument to do so much more! While I'm not really a fan of the sound given to Billy Childs' piano in the final mix down (too much empty room feel)--especially when contrasted with the warm, intimate, in-your-face sound of Freddie's horn--I like this version very much. (9.125/10)

A3. "Cascais" (7:43) a surprise straight out of the box for the fact that it's not a standard, cover, or recent pop tune: it's a Larry Klein original! And it's very jazzy in an orchestra-rich way that would be familiar to and enjoyed by fans of David Axelrod, Eumir Deodato, Herb Alpert, and Burt Bacharach. Freddie's play in the third minute, followed by Larry's minute of soloing are so unusual for Freddie's albums! I love it! And Paulinho's work contrasted with Billy's unusual synth sound and Hadley's awesome flute solo in the fifth and sixth minutes make for more surprises, more interesting and unexpected fare. (13.667/15)

B1. "Skagly" (14:33) Larry Klein's rolling bass lines backed by George Duke's clavinet and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter's funky wah-wah rhythm guitar play are the reason this song stands out so well, the rest is gravy on top--including Billy Childs' excellent keyboard work, Paulinho Da Costa's percussion work, Hadely Caliman's fine tenor sax playing as well as the awesome trumpet-trombone accent work of Freddie and Philip Ranelin. The familiarity of a few of the repetitive elements (some from Herb Alpert's recent Rise release from September, some from previous Average White Band hits) is easy to look over in light of all else going on. I never knew that Larry Klein could be such an effective jazz bassist! And what a joy to hear Billy Childs and the unique Skunk Baxter again. (27.5/30) B2. "Rustic Celebration" (5:33) again we open with a sequence of complex chords and demanding instrumental performances that I still can't believe! It's a Billy Childs composition and it has half the flare of a Chick Corea song mixed with half of the slippery funk of a New Orleans French Quarter tune before the band congeals into a really funky motif of lots of demanding stop-and-go play beneath Freddie's inspired and dynamic trumpet play. Again Larry Klein's funk mastery shocks me--and a lot of it is especially on display while Billy Childs launches into a long swampy piano solo that occupies a good 90 seconds before the band returns to the bouncy, stop-and-go groove-of-unpredictability that they'd "established" in the first couple of minutes. Amazing song! Probably my favorite on the album! (9.625/10)

Total Time 41:30

My opinion is that with the release of the previous album, The Love Connection, Freddie was able to finally put to rest much of the goals he had been so focused on throughout the 1970s--which then resulted in his ability to "start fresh" with the influx and cultivation of new ideas and a new vigor--which resulted in the adventurous material and lineup of this album. I'm still trying to accommodate the fact that Freddie was able to remove himself from the trends and pressures of the Smooth Jazz movement! Mega kudos, Freddie!

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of sophisticated, well-composed and performed Third Wave Jazz-Rock Fusion; definitely one of my favorite Freddie Hubbard studio album releases.

Review by FunkFreak75 — Released in August of 1976. The album contains two Freddie Hubbard originals (the final two), two covers of recent chart-topping pop songs (the first two), and two songs penned by contemporary fellows in Jazz-Rock Fusion's early Smooth Jazz movement (the middle two).

A1. "Dream Weaver" (5:26) a cover of the hit single by electronic pop artist Gary Wright opens with a pretty cool, funky motif that, knowing Gary Wright's original, I'd never have guessed would have anything to do with Gary's version. And this continues: the funkified music with Gospell chant vocalists, heavy use of spacious syncopation from George Cables' clavinet, Gary King's bass, and Eric Gale and Save Spinozza's guitars (as well as sophisticated horn section and Andy Newmark's drumming) makes for fecund territory for Freddie and the choir and horn section to add so much. Though I like the original song this is supposedly covering, I love the ballsy arrangement Freddie & his team have come up with more! Very rich! (9.375/10)

A2. "Feelings" (5:56) an instrumental cover of the chart-topping hit by Morris Albert. Again, as with "Dream Weaver," I really like the fact that Freddie has pretty much made it his own--eschewing the sappy syrup that made the original such a bubble-gum hit (and future Adult Contemporary standard). The funky rhythm track created by Gary King, Andy Newmark, Bob James, George Cables, Ralph MacDonald, Dave Spinozza and Eric Gale is so wonderfully nuanced that neither Freddie's rather smooth and ethereal lead up top or the orchestration beneath can spoil the funky groove. My wife thinks that this version of the song sounds like a soundtrack of a bird mating ritual. (9/10) A3. "Rock Me Arms" (5:51) disco, a little on the cheesy side, with two tempos and, at times, multiple lead lines flowing over one another (partly due to the contributions of the vocal choir, the horn section, and the orchestra strings. There is definitely a Bob James feel to this, but I can't help but admit how impressed I am with the sophisticated arrangement and production that Bob gives this tune! Impressive! While I'd never call this a "great" song, it is a very impressive creation! (9/10)

B1. "Touch Me Baby" (7:05) a Bob James composition that yet again exhibits an extraordinary level of sophistication throughout its many layers. The inputs of the horn section, the choir, bass lines, synthesizer riffs, and Ralph MacDonald's percussion are so perfect! And Mike Brecker's tenor sax playing is actually stunningly good while Freddie could schmooze a bottle of wine from a street person--even playing in a Herb Alpert fashion (and sound effect) as he does here. (13.5/15)

B2. "Neo Terra (New Land)" (5:01) Gary King is a very good bass player but not a great slap-bass player, which is sad cuz it immediately detracts from the potential that this Freddie Hubbard original might have had. The orchestration and horn arrangements fit pretty well into the very sophisticated, slightly-Latinized funk rhythm track (aided also by some rather stunning drumming from Chris Parker--someone who was heretofore unknown to me--probably due to the fact that most of his credits pigeon-hole him as a session player for many top-tier pop artists--like Bonnie Raitt, Don McLean, Barry Manilow, Maria Muldaur as well as bluesman Paul Butterfield). (8.875/10)

B3. "Windjammer" (4:59) this Freddie original seems to be borrowing its inspiration from Curtis Mayfield's "Freddie's Dead" as well as much of the new sounds being discovered on the latest synthesizer technologies. I like Mike Brecker's treated-sax very much: at first I thought it must've been Tom Scott but it's not; it's a great improvement on the one that David Sanborn became known to use around this time. Another great groovin' J-R F tune that seems to work well with the influences of Disco, "Fly, Robin. Fly"-like Pop-Funk, and the pressures to produce commercially-viable "Smooth Jazz." (9.125/10)

Total Time: 34:28

One of my heroes is losing his way! The lure of commercial success and popular recognition is winning him over! However, all is not lost as the arrangements and renderings here are all so surprisingly daring! The level of layered sophistication nurtured (and allowed) by producer, arranger, conductor Bob James is so impressive that I wonder why he was not able to muster up these kind of cajones for his other projects. While the influence/influx of Disco era sounds and stylings is not my favorite era of Jazz-Rock Fusion, the music here has been rendered thus while still retaining a remarkable degree of jazzy sophistication.

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of highly-sophisticated, if time-locked music that represents the very best of of what Jazz artists could offer to this increasingly-pressured-to-be-commercially-relevant era of music production. Mega kudos to Bob James for allowing the Jazz to have such stellar representation in this era of watered down music.

Review by snobb — French pianist of Slavic-Provençal origin, Christine Wodrascka, is surprisingly less known outside of her home country. Trained as a classical pianist from a very young age, at twenty she found out the world of free improvisation, which she has practiced for more than half a century now. She played with some renowned artists, such as Fred Frith, Ivo Perelman, and Joëlle Léandre, among others, and released a dozen albums as a leader. Still, she remains a well-kept secret of the French free improv scene, partially because of extremely rare gigs outside of France and very few recordings released.

For me, in some way, Wodrascka's music reminds me of other French avant-garde jazz female piano players, such as Sophie Domancich. Sophie's roots are in classical training as well, yet she is better known, in part because of her long-lasting collaborations with some key figures of the once-popular English Canterbury rock movement. Both Christine and Sophie are brave experimentalists with an always-felt classical background, filling a musical niche of their own. Still, Christine is always freer and rarely lyrical, never sentimental, more often dry and a bit distanced.

On "Oblic" Christine plays in duo with French double bassist Bernard Santacruz, who is probably better known from two albums with renowned American tenor Frank Lowe, which they recorded in France in the late 90s. Bernard's duo with Christine works pretty well; in general, duos are probably the most successful format for Christine.

The album's music consists of nine free compositions, each of which has a complex structure with ever-changing rhythms, flow, and a lot of tune snippets. Christine's piano is very percussive, as always. In moments, her music recalls Cecil Taylor's piano attacks. More often, it sounds as elegant as if a bit dry, improvised dialogues between ever-changing acoustic bass and piano. Being extremely free, in some way, the album never sounds chaotic - the music is unseemingly framed and controlled in a way that the listener may not notice. Slower moments have an obvious modern classical music feel, there are plenty of them, but not one lasts long.

On some pieces, the music starts unexpectedly from the silence, and after a series of turns, it disappears in silence as well. It adds some mystical atmosphere to an already unorthodox recording. Unlike some other Wodrascka's music, "Oblic" is much better structured and organized, which makes it a bit more accessible to listen to. There are plenty of layers that require considerate, repetitive listening. Patience will not remain unappreciated.

Review by arcane-beautiful — Alea Ieacta Est by John Zorn is a great mix of styles and jazz composition from the legendary virtuoso John Zorn. Made with a quartet consisting of piano, double bass, drums & vibraphone, it shows off great talent from the instrumentalists, especially the dualing abilities of Brian Marsella & Ches Smith. Again, not hearing Zorn's squeaking sax playing is a downer, but his compositional skill is fantastic. While it may overall not be as impactful as Sing Me Now Asleep, it still has all the hallmarks of exciting complicated jazz. I'd give this a high 6 to low 7 out of 10. The track I'd recommend is Part IV.

Review by FunkFreak75 — I'm finally figuring out Freddie's predilection for working and re-working his favorite melody lines and constructs over and over, through many different songs, as he hones it into the "final" form that his spirit is driving him (relentlessly) toward. I liken it to American poet Walt Witman's near obsession with working and reworking his masterwork, Leaves of Grass over the course of his lifetime, culminating in six editions released between 1855 and 1992. The material for Super Blue was recorded in New York at the CBS Recording Studios over four sessions in March and April of 1978 and then released to the public by Columbia Records on June 16, 1978.

Line-up / Musicians: - Freddie Hubbard / trumpet, flugelhorn - Kenny Barron / acoustic piano, keyboards - Ron Carter / bass - Jack DeJohnette / drums With: - Joe Henderson / tenor saxophone (A1, A2, A3, B3) - Hubert Laws / flutes (A1, A2, B1, B2, B3) - George Benson / guitar (A2) - Dale Oehler / additional keyboards (A1)

A1. "Super Blue" (7:50) a pseudo-funky tune with some pretty nice drumming (if a bit too flamboyant) and weird bass sounds over which trumpet, tenor sax and flutes share time as lead melody makers. It's hard for me to imagine the anti-electric bass Ron Carter playing this funked up, heavily-treated bass line--which leads me to surmise that it's being generated by Dale Oehler's "other keyboards" or something Kenny Barron is playing. (According to Google's AI I am exactly correct: it's producer Dale Oehler's "additional keyboards" mirroring Ron's double bass play, note for note, on an over dubbed track.) Isn't Jack great (despite sounding as if he's bored out of his mind.) (13.25/15)

A2. "To Her Ladyship" (6:01) flutes, cymbal play, and George Benson guitar open this one before Fender Rhodes and trumpet enter. The first of Freddie's four original compositions finds the trumpeter taking the first lead, though he is backed harmonically by Joe Henderson's tenor sax, and then Joe and then (a surprisingly bare-toned) George in the fourth and fifth minutes. Nice tune with more of Freddie's familiar melody lines being worked through over the course of the song. (8.75/10)

A3. "Take It To The Ozone" (7:01) The instrumental palette here sounds pretty standard hard bop Jazz with piano, double bass, drums, tenor sax, and trumpet (no flute, guitar, or additional keyboards). It's a nice 1970s Hard Bop tune with some very demanding whole-band riffing and fast-paced legato lines. The soloists start out with Kenny Barron's piano, moving to Freddie's flugelhorn, then Joe Henderson's tenor sax while Ron and Jack hold down the rhythm track with admirable composure--Jack even given a solo in the sixth and seventh minutes. A truly impressive display of precision Jazz and camaraderie. (14/15)

B1. "The Gospel Truth" (4:59) somehow Kenny Barron is playing both barrel-hall piano and church organ from the opening moments of this while Freddie plays flugelhorn, Ron and Jack hold down the beat, and Hubert Laws and possibly Dale Oehler or Jack De Johnette add the flute and tambourine, respectively. Not my favorite--either in terms of performance, design, or feel. (8.667/10)

B2. "The Surest Things Can Change" (6:20) an incredibly comforting and beautiful song that was originally composed by Jazz-Pop artist Gino Vannelli. Kenny Barron's dreamy Fender Rhodes and Hubert Laws' equally fluttery flute help provide the fluffy bed for Ron and Jack to drive while Freddie does his own Johnathan Livingston Seagull soaring above and within the clouds. Hubert gets a turn to add his own to the fourth minute before Freddie jumps back in with a more sharp and dynamic horn (probably his flugelhorn). (There is no Joe Henderson present on this one.) Definitely a song worth revisiting many times. So pacifying. (9.3333/10)

B3. "Theme For Kareem" (6:07) another hard core 1970s-slanted Hard Bop tune to celebrate the geniius of NBA basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Solos move from Joe Henderson's tenor sax to Freddie's crisp trumpet to Kenny's dynamic piano to Ron's funky double bass back to the whole-band recitation of the main theme. (9/10)

Total time 38:18

A-/4.5 stars; as a representative of the new-found Renaissance of Classic Acoustic Jazz this is as dynamic of a masterpiece as Herbie Hancock's V.S.O.P. stuff; as a representative of peak era Jazz-Rock Fusion it has some excellent elements and passages but overall it's not a great go-to album.

Review by FunkFreak75 — What a lineup! Talk about a who's who of Jazz-Rock Fusion! No wonder this album is such a landmark for so many people. The material that made it to the published album was recorded on December 12 and 13, 1972, at Van Gelder Studios and then released by CTI Records in January of 1973.

Line-up / Musicians: - Milt Jackson / vibraphone - Ron Carter / bass - Billy Cobham / drums - Freddie Hubbard / trumpet, flugelhorn - Jay Berliner / guitars - Ralph MacDonald / percussion - Herbie Hancock / piano With: - Don Sebesky / conductor - Phil Bodner / flute, piccolo, English horn - Romeo Penque / flute, oboe, English horn - George Marge / alto flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, English horn Violin – Charles Libove, David Nadien, Elliot Rosoff, Emanuel Green, Gene Orloff, Irving Spice, Joe Malin, Max Ellen, Paul Gershman Cello – Alan Shulman, Charles McCracken, George Ricci - Margaret Ross / harp

A1. "For Someone I Love" (10:08) the only composition on the album by Milt Jackson, it is set amongst a rich wind of orchestration and lead by trumpeter Freddie Hubbard as the band leader confidently fills space beneath him before launching into his own solo in the third minute (which is then usurped by Herbie Hancock's piano). I feel compelled to insert a special remark on Ron Carter's bass playing--which has become quite because it's been placed so unusually far forward (and given the loudest volume in the mix): he's amazing; it's as if he's soloing, really doing the most important leading on the song. In contrast, Billy Cobham's drums (which are also a marvel to behold) have been recorded quite unceremoniously as if Billy was relegated to the garage outside the studio while the microphones recording him are in the doorway! Weird! A good vehicle for Milt, Ron, Herbie, Freddie, and conductor Don Sebesky's orchestra; not so much for Billy Cobham. (Perhaps they didn't know how to handle the hot shot drummer's volume!) (17.75/20)

A2. "What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?" (6:55) opening with a lush waves of orchestral swells, this makes me think that I'm being prepared for some great cinematic film event (the Alan & Marilyn Bergman/Michel Legrand song was, in fact, penned for the 1969 American film, The Happy Ending where it was sung by Michael Dees). There is an unmistakable similarity throughout this song to the music and melody lines of both the classic song, "Pure Imagination," from the 1971 film, Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory, as well as to those of Freddie's own masterpiece, "The Love Connection"--a song that the trumpeter would be working to polish and finalize over the course of the next seven years before it would take the perfected form of the title song on his 1979 album of the same name. What I love most about this song is how it is constructed with such care that none of the instruments are walking over the others: Milt and Freddie, Ron and Billy, Herbie and the orchestra, are all perfectly balanced, spaced, and blended to make for a beautiful, even emotional rendering of this under-appreciated song. (13.875/15)

B1. "People Make The World Go Round" (8:23) oddly enough, this is another one of those songs that trumpeter Freddie Hubbard latched onto/adopted and made his own--releasing his own version of it on his own 1975 studio album, Polar AC. He had been performing it live during 1972 with his own ensemble (which probably prompted him to bring it to this recording session). I can't say that I blame him: I had become a devoté of The Stylistics when they appeared on the music scene in 1971 with the a string of hit singles, starting with the March 1971 release of "Stop, Look, Listen (to Your Heart)" and then, in May, their first Top 10 hit, "You Are Everything," which became the band's first gold single. Both of these songs became features of the band's self-titled debut album when it was released in November, but it was "Betcha, Bye Golly, Wow" and "People" that really sealed my allegiance to the Philadelphia Soul act. Interestingly, I do feel that Freddie's version on Polar AC is considerably better than this one: this one is just too cluttered with Milt's Vibes and a bunch of other rag-tag instruments all vying for attention as if they can't decide who are the leads and what job the support musicians should be playing. Freddie, Milt, and Herbie trading leads at the beginning starts out okay but then everybody seems to take off each in their own direction as if the master of the Easter egg hunt has just said, "Go!" Then with Herbie in the lead and Milt answering the Fender Rhodes' call with his own responses it starts to unravel and loose direction and/or traction. Billy Cobham just doesn't sound into it, I don't even hear Jay Berliner or Ralph MacDonald, so they must've been napping. Only Ron Carter is truly in the pocket--and Freddie, when he's on point--which is only about 40 percent of the time. Perhaps they hadn't had enough rehearsal/practice time, but it's just not as good as it could've been (with this lineup!) The alternating punctuation marks of Freddie with Milt are kind of cool, but then Herbie (or somebody) takes a seat at a piano and tries playing the song as if he's the only one in the spotlight. Weird. (17.5/20)

B2. "Sunflower" (8:50) Freddie Hubbard must have either really loved this song or been very frustrated by it because I've found it on three studio albums on which he participated as well as countless live and "anthology/greatest hits" albums. The version here is nice, fairly true to Freddie's original vision, but the tandem recitation of the main melody by both Milt and Freddie, at the same time, are too much--each walking over one another: the harmonic effects of the trumpet feeling trampled upon by the broad spectrum chords of Milt's Vibraphone. The cool back-and-forth transitions into (and out of) the percussion jamming, slow ballad and up-tempo Latin, between Billy and Ralph that occurs here was not present on the 1966 Backlash original but is ramped up to perfection for the 1979 Love Connection version and done really well here, making this version a perfect medium between the two, representing, obviously, the work that Freddie's mind had put into the song's evolution. Here we have flutist Phil Bodner playing the flute but in a far reduced capacity than the essential role that James Spaulding had fulfilled on Backlash--Milt's Vibes taking the place of Spaulding's flute, whereas on the 1979 version there are no vibes with the flute being returned to the palette courtesy of Joe Farrell. I also love the work of both Herbie's understated Fender Rhodes electric piano and Margaret Ross' harp, both playing important roles in the background--until Herbie hops onto the piano bench for another solo in the fourth minute. Don Sebesky's orchestra strings begin to play a key role in the final two minutes, which actually works because the strings are used in spaces between lead instruments' phrases. All in all, this is a very good version with all parties and all elements of the sound palette performing on levels deserving of superlatives. (19/20)

Total time 41:59

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of lushly-orchestrated Jazz-Rock Fusion that previews the Smooth Jazz that would ascend to the top of the commercially-viable Jazz music by the end of the decade.

Review by FunkFreak75 — This is the Jimmy-Smith-trained Ronnie Foster's debut solo album. It contains five original compositions and two covers of massively popular pop/Soul/R&B songs that were recorded at the Van Gelder Recording Studio on January 20 & 21, 1972, and then selected by Blue Note Records for November release.

A1. "Chunky" (4:50) quite the high speed cruisin' song! (Reminds me of Boney James & Rick Braun's great tune "Chain Reaction" from their 2000 album Shake It Up but not quite as good.) Great groove and great organ play--and really impressive drumming and bass play from Jimmy Johnson and George Duvivier, respectively. Yes, without knowing when or who was making this music I'd almost be willing to guess it was coming from Italy's Nicolosi Family in the 2000s! Great start! (9.125/10)

A2. "Drowning In The Sea Of Love" (4:00) Ronnie is here covering the great Joe Simon hit from the year before. I love the contributions of George Devens Vibraphone and Gene Bertocini's guitar--working in weave-like melody-making with Ronnie's organ in the opening intro period they're almost as important as Ronnie! But then Ronnie steps into the spotlight and the other two recede to side support duties as the organ takes over wailing and swirling (though Gene's rhythm work is still awesome). (9/10)

A3. "The Two-Headed Freap" (4:19) sounding very much like Keith Emerson out of the gate, the organ-dominated song speeds along for 40-seconds before crescendoing and then suddenly slowing down to a Pink Panther sleuthing crawl in which each musician seems to stay a disciplined within a very simple but tight and syncopated five-chord weave. Around the two-minute mark Ronnie (almost reluctantly) steps into the spotlight to perform a Brian Auger-like solo over the sleuthing groove. It's quite entertaining and actually kind of fun! Big respect to Ronnie & the gang for designing much less pulling off this little cutie! (9/10)

A4. "Summer Song" (5:20) a steady, pedestrian two-chord vamp over which Ronnie shows off his two-handed organ skills. It's a rather awesome, funky stroll through the 'hood--like Cool Jazz in the 1970s, with great, locked-in, in-the-pocket, supportive performances from all of the band members. And Ronnie's organ work in the lead is really fun and likeable. (9.375/10)

B1. "Let's Stay Together" (4:50) now I see why the organ was such a popular instrument in 1950s and 1960s Smooth Jazz: it's just so melodic and its harmonic potentialities are so off-the-charts! Before hearing this song, I could never imagine an instrumental of Al Green's masterpiece coming even close to capturing the energy and vibe of the original but this nearly does! Ronnie really knows how to bring it! Again, big thanks to the wonderful work of the core rhythm section of Gene Bertocini, Jimmy Johnson and the two bassists! (9.375/10)

B2. "Don't Knock My Love" (4:30) the album's third and final cover song comes from Wilson Pickett but this one comes up a little short in terms of both band cohesion and capture and morph of the original material. (8.75/10)

B3. "Mystic Brew" (4:13) a nice, soft early-morning slow-wakeup song. I can see taking my time, walking around the beach house in my robe or jammies while slowly going through my morning routines--especially the kitchen routines and lounging on the ocean-side porch with my AM brew of choice. So the mood is set--undeniably so--so what's the music like--the musicianship and meat of the song? It's actually a little underwhelming and will have trouble arousing any attention to distract me from my blissful morning haze. (8.75/10)

B4. "Kentucky Fried Chicken" (5:00) what starts out a little monotonously ends up getting synched with itself and it's funky title due to Ronnie's fiery organ lead in the second half. (9/10)

Total Time: 37:19

B+/4.5 stars; even though the songs on this album are all rather simplistic arrangements of pop-jazz, it is still a near-masterpiece of totally-enjoyable, perfectly-performed organ-centric instrumental music.

Review by FunkFreak75 — The Crusaders' valued guitarist and vaunted L.A. studio musician makes his third attempt (one every five years) at a solo album--and he's still singing! (Maybe the influence of fellow L.A. superstar guitarist Glen Campbell has been rubbing off on him.) The album of all-original tunes was released by Warner Brothers Records on July 18, 1978.

A1. "Room 335" (5:36) as if the producer said, "Let's take advantage of your playing on Steely Dan's "Peg": almost a carbon copy of both the rhythm track and lead guitar sound as well as the melody-supporting chord progression--especially for the first minute, then things kind of go off in their own direction for a bit before coming back to center on that keyboard chord progression. Larry is quite talented if a bit too smooth and his guitar a bit under-processed for my tastes. Nice of Larry to offer solo time to Greg Mathieson. (8.875/10) A2. "Where Did You Come From" (3:29) Larry sings! Here on an original song coming from his background singer William Smith and Eric Mercury he makes a legitimate contribution to the Yacht Rock movement. A very likable song in an AMERICA/PABLO CRUISE/MICHAEL FRANKS kind of way while the music is a bit more like PLAYER. (9.125/10)

A3. "Nite Crawler" (5:20) a solid, likable, and suitably-nuanced this one opens as if it could be something from PLAYER, The Doobie Brothers, or even The Allman Brothers. Abraham Laboriel's funky bass is pretty great as is Jeff Porcaro's solid drumming. Greg Mathieson's keyboard work, though technically great, is a bit too much saccharine for me (more like Bob James' work). (8.75/10)

A4. "Point It Up" (4:56) an up-beat, up-tempo anthemic-like tune that flies through several catchy melodic hooks and riffs while also showcasing Larry's fiery guitar skills for quite a considerable amount of time. Nice if a little formulaic and Disco-ish! (9.333/10)

B1. "Rio Samba" (6:57) another song that uses a keyboard-arpeggiated two-chord progression and fast-paced Latin-Disco rhythm track to support the soloists (Larry and a much more contrasting and subdued Greg Matheison). Nice lead guitar work from Larry and nice percussion work from Paulinho Da Costa.(13.5/15)

B2. "I Apologize" (4:18) the second song composition contributed by Larry's friends William Smith and Eric Mercury, this one has a much more Southern Rock twang to it as if it were something from The Atlanta Rhythm Section, Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Dave Mason, or Marshall Tucker Band. It's nice--like a lot of the fare from those bands mentioned. (8.875/10)

B3. "Don't Give It Up" (6:03) opens with a driving bass and drum line quite similar to Boz Scagg's "Lido Shuffle" which Greg and Larry proceed to light up with their electric piano and electric guitar, respectively. The melodies are a little too Southern Rock-ish for my taste, but fans of The Eagles, ZZ Top, or The Allman Brothers would probably love this. Greg does provide some nice organ work during his solo in the middle of the song. (8.75/10)

B4. "(It Was) Only Yesterday" (4:33) delicate Bob James (or Whitney Houston)-like electric piano- and Arp Synth strings-enriched ballad music over which Larry gives a solo that feels too much as if he's trying to emulate Jeff Beck's work on his classic "Diamond Dust" song from his popular 1975 album release, Blow by Blow. It's a fine performance and a fine song but, I can't help but wince at the near-plagiarism. (9/10)

Total Time: 41:33

B+/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of high-quality Smooth Jazz.

Review by FunkFreak75 — Released on the Blue Thumb label in April of 1973. Larry had been gigging since 1962 (when he was 14-years old), honing his skills and preferred guitar voicings throughout the 1960s, and had been playing steadily with The Crusaders and Tom Scott (as part of the L.A. Express) while branching out from studio session work for pop and Soul artists in L.A. studios. The boys at Blue Thumb (a label started in 1968 by Don Van Vliet ("Captain Beefheart") and Bob Krasnow to try to emulate Frank Zappa's "out-of-left-field" album production) had been housing the newly-reformed and renamed Crusaders (formerly "The Jazz Crusaders") and decided to offer their new and unique guitarist wunderkind (he was 25) the chance to make an album of his own music, his own compositions.

Line-up / Musicians: - Larry Carlton / guitars, bass (A1), vocals (A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B4), vibraphone (B4), percussion (B4), bass (A1) With: - Michael Omartian / piano (A2, A3, B1, B2, B3), electric piano (A1), organ (A2), synthesizer (B3), - Michael Mills / percussion (A1) - Joe Osborn / bass (A2, A3, B2) - Jim Gordon / drums (A2, B1, B3) - Ron Tutt / drums (A3, B2) - Alan Estes / percussion (A3, A4, B2), - Julia Tillman / background vocals (A3) - Maxine Willard / background vocals (A3) - Oma Drake / background vocals (A3) - Wilton Felder / bass (A4, B4) - "Stix" Hooper / drums A4, B4) - Joe Sample / electric piano (A4, B4) - Max Bennett / bass (B1) - John Guerin / drums (B1) - Reinie Press / bass (B3) - Chris Neilson / background vocals (B3)

A1. "Easy Evil" (4:57) a sexier, more intentionally-seductive, slowed down version of the Classics IV (and, soon, Atlanta Rhythm Section)'s massive hit, "Spooky." Every element of this song is so well conceived, so well planned, and, as is the lesson he passed on to so many collaborators in the privacy of studio sessions (like Walter Becker and Donald Fagen), so independent of anything and everything else. I really like Larry's voice, his attention to detail in his craft, I just don't really like the Southern/Americana palette and style he tends toward. (Larry is a life-long Southern California boy.) Impressive production skills are wasted on me due to my aversion to that good ole white boy sound and feel. (8.875/10)

A2. "I Cry Mercy" (3:15) the music of The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and Harry Nilsson come shouting through from this song, top to bottom--and I really like Harry Nilsson! (Not so much the others.) (8.75/10)

A3. "One More Chance" (3:13) Southern white boy blues. Makes me wonder if Larry had any racist or redneck tendencies. (I doubt it.) He does a pretty good job of showing his Soul/R&B background and training even if it does sound more like an Englishman's attempt at doing Deep Southern Fried Gospel-informed Blues. There is no argument that he is an incredibly nuanced, skilled guitarist and that he very much liked being in control of his sound and product. (8.875/10)

A4. "With Respect to Coltrane" (5:53) Larry's favorite Coltrane album as a kid (and to this day) was Ballads. It shows in this song with his simple and respectful adherence to melody lines here but his use of multiple sounds, tones, effects, and stylings also seems to be showing John how much he knew he could do with his guitar and the eclectic skill- and sound-sets he'd accumulated. Quite a cool song that Larry uses to give voice to some uniquely original deliveries of melody. Genius! (9.333/10)

B1. "American Family" (4:03) I hear a bit of Stephen Bishop, Michael Franks, England Dan & John Ford Coley, and even early Billy Joel in this pretty song. Could've been a theme song for some family-oriented television show--perhaps even a minor radio hit song. (8.875/10)

B2. "Wavin' and Smilin'" (3:01) a gospel-informed white man's Soul song like something from the band America, early Hall & Oates, Bread/David Gates, or Seals & Crofts. A great song with some great melodies and hooks, just not the best lyrics for the teeny-boppers--more befitting a corny television show. (9.333/10)

B3. "Captain, Captain" (3:28) a piano-based tune that sounds a lot like Eric Carmen, Elton John, or Barry Manilow. Larry really does have a nice voice--as well as a talent for song-writing. Just not for hit lyrics. (8.75/10)

B4. "Free Way" (6:15) a simple blues-jazzy exploration of delivering melody through guitar chords (a thing that Larry not only excels at but prides himself on). The total motif and dynamics switch at 2:30 caught me completely by surprise as Larry had totally tricked (lulled) me into listener complacency, but then he goes Neil Young/Stephen Stills with some (for the time) heavy Hendrix/Alvin Lee-like shit! And then he has the audacity to go back to the docile Michael Franks fare that he started us off on! What balls! Mega kudos, Larry! (9/10)

Total time: 34:06

I love that Larry saw himself as something much bigger than a studio hired gun, an in-demand sessions guitarist. He actually does have a very nice voice. His compositions are quite good, if sometimes a bit derivative or laterally-comparable to his contemporaries.

89.74 on the Fishscales = B+/4.5 stars; a really interesting and very unexpected challenge to a listener's orientations, sensibilities, and comfort zones--one that I can only stand back in awe of as a near-masterpiece of very finely-crafted . . . unique and unusual music. Highly recommended--if only for the "Wow!" factor.

Review by FunkFreak75 — Three Freddie Hubbard originals ("Bundle of Joy," "Tucson Stomp," and "Rahsann") and five covers of other pop songs that were released as the Bundle of Joy album released by Columbia Records in July of 1977.

A1. "Bundle Of Joy" (5:36) Freddie and his team must have thought a lot of this song to open the album with it. It opens cinematically before settling into a Love Unlimited "Love's Theme" kind of groove--with much more active Barry White strings and horn section and more of Freddie's "practice"/build up to his "Love Connection" masterpiece. It's just a little too old-style big band/orchestra dominated for me--and too much like "Love's Theme" underneath. Freddie's flugelhorn sounds a bit different--like it's bigger: more like a trombone. David T. Walker's credited guitar solo is quite disappointing: both surprisingly short and totally underwhelming. (8.75/10)

A2. "Rainy Day Song" (3:58) a broad spectrum lineup of orchestra- and choir-dominated vocals over a pedestrian pop-rock near-Disco 4/4 tempo renders this one just too schlocky for my favor. Freddie often allows his horn to be immersed within the fabric of the overall weave, which is really a no-no for frontmen like him. (8.6667/10)

A3. "Portrait Of Jenny" (6:20) lush harp play opens this, over which Freddie enters, establishing a very delicate and subtly-nuanced horn melody to cover this old-time (1948) classic from J.R. Robinson. A beautiful performance made even better by the bare-bones arrangement (harp and vibraphone). One of my top three songs for the album. (9.125/10)

A4. "From Now On" (4:38) opening like a Gloria Gaynor/Donna Summer Disco Queen song before Freddie steps into the spotlight. I'm not fond of the reverb being used on Freddie's horn while no one else is receiving the same treatment. The music really allows the listener to hear several of the multiple instrument groups: the multiple guitarists, the multiple bass players, the multiple horns in the horn section, as well as the multiple drum and percussion players. The melodies and strings and vocal arrangements on this Bunny Sigler-by-way-of-Lou Rawls song, however, render it just too familiar--too much like a familiar Disco tune. (8.75/10)

B1. "Tucson Stomp" (4:42) the second of Freddie's original compositions is funky, it's grounded more in Jazz traditions than those of the current or recent pop scene. The basses, rhythm guitars, and horn section play a much more focused roll on the Funk instead of the Adult Contemporary sound, which I much prefer and appreciate. Azar Lawrence's credited sax solo in the fourth minute is not only brief but ends up being drowned/usurped by Freddie's joinder halfway in. It's a fun song to listen to for the fact that there is so much going on--so many musicians making interesting contributions. (8.875/10)

B2. "Rahsann" (6:37) the third and final original contribution of Freddie's to the album starts out kind of dreamy--like steam rising out of the subway staircase. But then the smooth jazziness emerges and we have a slowed down, smooth version/variation of that which will become his greatest song of all-time, 1979's "The Love Connection." (It is rather amazing how many times Freddie has reworked this song, these melodies, the complementary instrumental arrangements and tempo/groove.) Ernie Watts' sax solo in the fourth minute is the first (and only--other than Dorothy Ashby's harp on "Portrait of Jenny") to be given enough length to have some substance and make its mark. Great piano presence and great Burt Bacharach/Bob James-like chord progressions in the verse sections. The best, most well-contrived and rendered song on the album. A top three. (9/10)

B3. "I Don't Want To Lose You" (4:02) opens with oboe over a pasty palette and motif that sounds like something that was lifted from a Hallmark Children's Hour afternoon special (or Anne Murray/Maureen McGovern song). (8.75/10)

B4. "From Behind" (4:56) opens with a fully-potentialized EWF.Bobby Caldwell-like smooth funk palette and sound, which is amplified satisfyingly by Freddie's opening notes. But then it goes all Bob James schmaltzy for the second part--but then it quickly turns into a little more fun with some Latin percussion and gorgeous French Riviera feeling arrangements. In the third minute David Garfield is given a nice chunk of time in which to deliver a beautiful little Fender Rhodes solo. Nice! Then we're back to the late-night funk of the opening before shifting into second (and, soon, the third, Latinized) gear per the song's prescribed construct. Nice finish (even though it's a fadeout). A top three song for me. (9/10)

Total Time: 41:18

With this album I feel that Freddie has gone too far over to the orchestra-supported Adult Contemporary/ Smooth Jazz world--sounding more like big stage production Burt Bacharach music than either Jazz or Jazz-Rock

B/four stars; a nice contribution of Adult Contemporary music.

Review by Carmel — Julian Lage has long been associated with a transparent guitar language of clean articulation, controlled pick attack, and a harmonic chord vocabulary that stays fluid even when moving in fluid successions.

On “Scenes from Above,” that language feels distilled even further. The album’s deepest identity is not simply in Lage’s tone or compositional writing, but in the way his voicings shape nearly everything around them: melody, pulse, phrasing, ensemble blend, and improvisational direction. Harmony is rarely treated as accompaniment. The chords keep redirecting the music from inside the texture itself.

That framework appears immediately on “Opal.” A soft electronic ambiance and dry hi-hat pulse open the record before Lage and John Medeski enter close in register. The guitar carries the melodic contour while the organ widens the voicing underneath it, adding warmth to the texture. The dynamics stay low enough that tiny adjustments become a part of the story, with ascending figures returning with slight interval changes. The sustained organ tones cushion the edge of Lage’s pick attack, and the guitar chords subtly reposition themselves so the two instruments lock together instead of blurring into each other. Even before improvisation appears, the track establishes the album’s focus of melody unfolding from the movement and spacing of the chords themselves.

“Red Elm” shifts into a medium-up swing feel. Lane’s playing remains rooted in voicing movement as he builds the solo from angular rhythmic cells that repeatedly fold back into compact chord figures. Single-note lines rarely stand alone for long; he answers them with clipped harmonic responses that feel like real-time self-accompaniment. The tension comes from velocity and placement of dissonant intervals that briefly against the organ’s sustained tones before easing into clearer shapes. As the solo develops, the voicings spread upward in stages until the upper register moves with harmonic decorative passages by climax chords. Medeski tracks those shifts carefully, holding the center of the harmony steady while Lage keeps moving the intervallic edges.

On “Talking Drum,” groove becomes the carrier for the album’s chord language. The organ lays down a thick funk pulse while Kenny Wollesen distributes the beat across cymbal patterns, snare commentary, and deep-pocket backbeat figures. Lage responds with clipped chord fragments, repeated rhythmic hits, and descending voicing patterns that keep re-coloring the groove underneath the pulse. His right hand constantly changes the texture of the attacks near the bridge and rounder articulation near the neck for sharper accents pushed through rhythmic figures. This gives the recurring harmonic shapes different weight each time they return. Even the transitions’ voiced descending chord clusters repeatedly pull the ensemble out of one section and push it into the next.

The acoustic material deepens the album’s emphasis on physical chord movement. “Havens” revolves around percussive steel-string articulation where slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and accented repeated rhythmic figures blur the line between accompaniment and lead phrasing. The harmony cycles underneath the active 16th-note drum pattern with a forward steadiness, but Lage keeps interrupting that motion with chord accents and two-octave arpeggios that snap back into compact voicings.

“Night Shade” slows the pacing but sharpens the internal motion of the harmony. Brushes and half-time bass open large pockets of air while Medeski sustains chords whose inner voices keep quietly shifting underneath the surface. Lage leans bends into those held tones rather than cutting across them, allowing tension to accumulate inside the sustained harmony. When the groove section opens, and the organ brightens into a more gospel-shaped sound, the quartet expands naturally through stronger backbeat emphasis, widening chord pressure, and repeated motive figures instead of dramatic dynamic jumps. Even the climax feels controlled from within the voicings.

“Solid Air” briefly loosens the album’s relationship with pulse altogether. Rubato chorale textures drift into time and then recede again, with cymbal rolls and arpeggiated guitar-organ figures creating the sense that the harmony is breathing. Jorge Roeder and Wollesen shape the pulse the same way, adjusting the rhythmic floor underneath repeated figures, opening space during transitions, then tightening the groove when the voicings begin to accumulate weight.

“Scenes from Above” reveals how Lage makes harmony feel physical. Chords tighten, spread, bend, repeat, and dissolve with the same expressive force assigned to melody alone. His solos develop through spacing, contour, rhythmic recurrence, and tonal variation as much as through line.

By the end of the record, the harmony no longer feels like support material sitting behind the music. The chords keep reshaping the pulse, the texture, and the direction of the ensemble, let’s harmony also behave like motion.

Review by Carmel — The defining pulse of “Wake Up Call: The Music of Gregg Hill” is rhythmic stylistic. Across the album, recurring rhythmic motives, ensemble punches, and creative shifts in feel operate as coloration for the project’s primary path. The quartet settles into recognizable post-bop and hard-bop vocabulary, but the music keeps shifting its internal weight through ensemble rhythmic figures and phrases that move together at sectional turns. What emerges is a session built around interaction-driven exploration of compositional material that circulates through a shared grounding in jazz and beyond.

Built around Gregg Hill’s compositions and Rick Roe’s arrangements, the album brings together an integrated Detroit-based quartet featuring Roe on piano, Marcus Elliot on tenor and soprano saxophone, Robert Hurst on bass, and Nate Winn on drums. Hill’s writing supplies concise forms, asymmetrical turns, and compact rhythmic motives, while Roe redirects the material through changes in ensemble punches and transitions that move from swing to straight-eight feels. 

The quartet, however, functions as more than an interpretive vehicle for the composer and arranger. Elliot alternates between warm lower-register tenor lines and sharper angular phrases while stretching rhythmic fragments across bar lines, Hurst locks the center of the pulse with a woody, percussive attack, and Winn answers phrases with snare commentary and cymbal color that shape the direction of each performance. 

That chemistry appears in the title track, where the quartet puts groove into form. “Wake Up Call” begins with ensemble rhythmic figures and coordinated ensemble punctuation that continue to shape the improvisational space long after the written melody concludes. This also connects the theme and solo development within the form. The opening pocket figure keeps resurfacing in Roe’s comping, in ensemble accents, and in the way the trio compresses phrase endings. Roe’s piano approach reinforces that continuity. His improvisation stays planted in the middle of the beat, with crisp piano attacks and blues-inflected phrases that lock into Winn’s cymbal pulse before opening into longer post-bop lines across the bar.

The album repeatedly returns to this idea of rhythmic material functioning as compositional glue. “Hyperbarity” is a strong example. Its movement between swing passages and darker modal straight-eight sections creates formal tension not through harmonic contrast alone, but through the reactivation of the feel around the pulse. The modal interludes color the quarter-note pulse into straight eights before the rhythm section widens back into swing, with the same rhythmic cell reappearing in Elliot’s soprano lines, Roe’s comping figures, and the ensemble hits that reconnect the sections.

“Double Play” extends the interaction through repeated riff structures and collective rhythmic cadences. The tune keeps circling back to the same compact rhythmic figure, but each return lands in a different register or harmonic pocket, so the momentum feels cumulative instead of segmented into separate solo spots. Roe’s improvisation stays closely tied to the written material, using chromatic variation and blues-inflected fragments that evolve from the composition. Hurst’s arco feature changes the album’s textural sounds. The compositional integrity remains integrated into the larger rhythmic design through the responsive ensemble phrasing and coordinated exchanges.

Throughout the session, band hits function as accent devices. On “The Ringer,” they accent the forward motion of swing through sectional pivots that evoke Monk-influenced angularity without turning the performance into stylistic imitation. The tune’s six-four undercurrent and shifting phrase lengths create a flexible rhythmic environment in which the ensemble repeatedly reshapes momentum together. Cadences arrive as group events, with Winn tightening the snare commentary, Hurst digging harder into the quarter-note pulse, and Roe dropping chord voicings that pull the ensemble into the same landing point.

“La Canción” demonstrates ensemble unity inside a different rhythmic vocabulary. The straight-eight Latin framework gradually evolves through melodic and harmonic expansion, but the deeper continuity comes from the way rhythmic cells organize the tune’s movement from section to section. During the tune’s fluid passages the quartet keeps the pulse audible through repeated rhythmic tags, aligned phrase endings, and small ensemble catches that highlight the transitions. Both Elliot’s and Hurst’s solos combine technical fluency with structural awareness. Roe’s solo preserves the composition’s rhythmic identity, treating the Latin feel stylistic charm.

The album continually reinforces its preference for collective interaction. “Inside Straight” uses repeated ensemble hits and bop-derived melodic fragments to establish a flexible medium-swing environment shaped by anticipation and flowing phrasing. “Modal Yodel No. 2” balances modal harmony with recurring cadential figures that keep the form audible. “Sunspiration” shifts between rhythmically driven sections and more lyrical material without abandoning its underlying pulse. The ensemble listens closely to each other. “The Return of Mr. Pea” inserts playful interruptions and pauses directly into its swing structure, creating rhythmic landing spot through ensemble punctuation. The ensemble leans into Hill’s harmonic surprises.

“Wake Up Call” thrives because of the consistency with which written material survives contact with improvisation. Hill’s compositions provide concise frameworks filled with asymmetrical turns, recurring motives, and formal contrast, but Roe’s arrangements continually reactivate those elements through changes in feel, ensemble punctuation, and rhythmic redistribution. Just as importantly, the quartet’s collective execution brings the writing to life from the static page. Rhythmic figures continue into solos, feel changes reshape formal direction, and ensemble coordination continues the compositional moods.

That interaction-driven approach also explains the album’s balance and clarity. The music constantly shifts between ensemble punches, widening swing sections, straight-eight interludes, and layered rhythmic motion. Roe’s rhythmic pianism, Hurst’s grounded pulse, Winn’s responsive cymbal and snare coloration, and Marcus Elliot’s ability to carry rhythmic motives through melodic improvisation all contribute to an ensemble language built on collective precision and listening.

By the end of the session, the album’s strongest identity is neither its post-bop lineage nor its composer-arranger premise alone. What lingers is the sound of the quartet that share the same rhythmic language. Hill’s writing gives the group a framework full of fresh turns and balanced transitions, but Roe, Elliot, Hurst, and Winn make those ideas feel alive with constant listening and response.

Review by FunkFreak75 — My all-time favorite Jazz/Jazz-Rock Fusion trumpeter seems to have this special ability to always stay in the pocket, to slide around among his collaborators in a way that issues forth a kind of glue that makes everything around him work as well perform with an ease that seems to project an amazing sense of centeredness in knowing who he is and what he's capable of. I don't always love the arrangements or instrumental sound palettes of the songs he oversees but I always love the trumpet/flugelhorn performances that he gives. Always. And this is especially true when he plays with the members of Miles Davis' "Second Great Quintet": I much prefer his playing over that of Miles, Art Farmer, Randy Brecker, Donald Byrd, Dizzy Gillespie, Chet Baker, or even Don Ellis or Lee Morgan. Liquid Love was released by Columbia Records in July of 1975.

Line-up / Musicians: - Freddie Hubbard / trumpet - Henry Franklin / bass - Carl Burnett / drums - Johnny "Guitar" Watson / guitar - Ray Parker / guitar - George Gables / keyboards - Myuto Correa / percussion - Buck Clark / congas - Carl Randall Jr. / saxophone - Ian Underwood / synthesizer - Al Hall / trombone With: - Chuck Rainey / bass (A2) - Spider Webb Drums / (A2)

A1. "Midnight At The Oasis" (5:30) opening with a well-known, well-loved recent romantic classic results in something that is a bit flat, a bit disappointing. I think it's the strings, Freddie's dampened/muted trumpet, the volume of the bass and the distraction of the multiple electric guitars. When the funky turn happens around the two-minute mark thing spick up as the source material gets overshadowed by the excellent whole-band jam they get into--especially the role of the horn section--but even Freddie's sound and enthusiasm ramps up a notch or two with this switch--and, great decision: this new motif plays out almost to the end despite Freddie's return to recapitulation of the main melody line. (8.875/10)

A2. "Put It In The Pocket" (4:20) great mid-70s R&B with some awesome rhythm guitar interplay between Wah Wah Watson and Ray Parker. My only complaint with this one mirrors the previous song: the synthesizer strings are a weak and, in my opinion, completely unnecessary addition. Even the group chant vocals of the title line are completely fitting, just not those strings. (9/10)

A3. "Lost Dreams" (12:30) I love the crisp drumming of Carl Burnett and the enriching percussion play of Myuto Correa and Buck Clark. Carl Randall's sax play is just fair, doesn't match up to Freddie's horn play, and the clavinet and rhythm guitar play are tucked sadly underneath where they could be. (I didn't even know George Cables played anything other than piano and/or electric piano!) The bass line gets a little old despite the drummer's excellent job of trying to keep it interesting. There are some familiar tricks and melody lines here from Freddie's future composition, "The Love Connection" (my favorite Freddie song of all-time). Those first two minutes are so good, though, so tight: it's almost Third Wave Power Fusion these guys are producing. George's clavinet solo in the third minute is excellent, buoyed by the amazing groove of the rhythm section beneath him and then contrasted briefly by Ian Underwood's imitative synth play in the next minute. Enter Carl Randall, Jr. with his tenor sax--which is nothing very special but does nothing to spoil the great groove going on beneath him (though, as mentioned, the bass line starts feeling a little over-used). Thank god for those percussionists! At 7:04 there is a key change to signal a shift in motif and tempo: faster with a bouncier clavinet and more active metal percussion with diminished presence of the rhythm guitars for a bit while Freddie solos with some kind of treatment distorting his screaling trumpet. Here is where the monotonous bass line becomes problematic--but enter new/different percussion and keyboard/clavinet approaches and we take a little pressure off of the bass player (and, again, thank goodness for this amazing drummer!) The biggest mystery for me is what happened to the guitarists? Were they doing something so hideous that they were faded out of the mix? Despite all my complaints this is actually quite an interesting and satisfying listening experience. (22.5/25)

B1. "Liquid Love" (5:47) What?!? This isn't the Isley Brother's song?! It's a Freddie Hubbard original?! I do love it despite the two-chord vamp of the main body of the verses and the familiar "Love Connection"-like structure and performance. (I understand how and why artists are continually reworking or borrowing from their own material. To Freddie's benefit: his more mature versions of songs he wrote when he was younger--like "Sky Dive," "Sunflower," or "Brigitte," one can capture the essence and expand upon it with more bang for your buck as one matures and learns that which is important and what is not.) My favorite song on the album. (9.333/10)

B2. "Yesterday's Thoughts" (3:41) the album's late-night ballad is anchored by lounge piano, synth strings, and jazz lounge drums and bass for the first two minutes as Freddie solos plaintively, but then there is a tempo change as Carl and Henry ramp it up for a bit (less than a minute!) but then everybody falls back into the late-night for the finish. Nice if a little rough with the brief uptempo fit. (9/10)

B3. "Kuntu" (13:21) African hand percussion opens this as Ian Underwood's synthetic winds blow into the sonosphere. Then the jazz band jumps into the fold, settling into an awesome groove from the very first bar--and the African percussion and synth add-ons stay! Horns and electric piano accent the passages between soloists--the first of which is Freddie--but then a prolonged crescendo of frantic drumming bridges us into what feels like a more serious groove: same instrumental palette, they're just playing with much more focus, more insistence--over which Freddie blows while Ian and George echo accents off of his echoed trumpetings. At 5:20 things seem to get reigned in for a bit, but then Carl Burnett and the percussion crew go off again, searching for the perfect tribal dance expression, vacillating back and forth a few times before Freddie and the band crescendo before leaving things open for Carl Randall to solo on his tenor sax. Still the percussion, drums, and now electric piano, continue their polyrhythmic, polyphonic search for their perfect groove, the perfect entrainment vehicle. The wavers between styles and rhythmic structures continues to waver all over the place while the relative pace stays pretty constant. This is really complex music! More than the lead melody makers, I can't stop being entranced by the rhythm corps! Then, in the middle of the 11th minute, the band suddenly stops, leaving Buck Clark and Myuto Correa as the lone musicians playing--still expressing those African tribal roots--which lasts for a full minute before Carl Burnett and the rest of the band rejoin. This is not a great vehicle for Freddie or any of the lead instrumentalists but it is a monster rendering of exceedingly complex percussion/rhythm! My other favorite song. (27.75/30)

Total Time: 45:15

A-/five stars; an excellent collection of well-crafted if slightly-flawed (wrong synth sound) songs that culminate in a minor masterpiece of Third Wave Jazz-Rock Fusion.

Review by FunkFreak75 — A collection of funked-up Jazz-Rock renditions of mainstream hit records that Mainstream Records released in 1972 on behalf of Jay on July 2, 1972.

A1. "Getting The Message" (3:59) some wild and crazy clavinet play almost buries the guitar work of the band leader. The main clavinet melody sounds like Stevie Wonder with "Superstition" while Jay's guitar is also befitting that song and its sound palette. In the third minute Jay turns on the fire-breathing dragon effect on his guitar for a bit while Paul Griffin re-cranks up his clavinet for another round of the main motif. Some searing dragon guitar in that final minute! (9/10)

A2. "I Just Want To Be There" (3:50) a cover of a recent (1972) single release by the "Smooth and Easy Soul" group, The Independents, features some really awesome organ, wah-wah rhythm guitar, up-front down-and-dirty electric bass, and, of course, melodic lead guitar. (8.875/10)

A3. "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" (5:28) while the clavinet, lead guitar riff, and way-wah volume-controlled rhythm guitar play are all awesome, they do not quite align with the bass and cymbal play to replicate the music of The Temptations' iconic song (another early 1972 release). Obviously, Jay, Wade, and Paul really loved the (fairly new) clavinet sounds being explored by Stevie Wonder, War, Billy Preston, and Bill Withers. The use of zither and Jay's sitar-sounding lead guitar make for a novel and interesting approach/sound palette--verily making the song all their own. I happen to like all of this! (9/10)

A4. "Hey Western Union Man" (3:05) a cover of the Leon Huff and Kenny Gamble song that Jerry Butler made a hit back in 1968 is here given a make-over with clavinet, electric piano, chunky bass, and well-placed congas from Ray Barretto. Jimmy Johnson's drums are so perfectly in the pocket here that I can really pick up on each and every nuance he adds to his play. I can't say that I knew this song before hearing this version--which probably explains why it feels like a bit of an odd choice. Obviously it meant something to somebody in the studios. (8.875/10)

A5. "Stormy" (4:14) a sexy, funky version of the popular hit song with Gordon Edwards really reaching for the stars with his full-fretboard play over the simple drums, quiet organ, strummed rhythm acoustic guitar, and tinkerbell vibes. Paul's electric piano and Cornell Dupree's amazing support rhythm electric guitar are what bring out the best of Jay's lead guitar--in both performance and tone (which resembles that of George Benson in the upcoming years). There's even time for Jay to really push his steel-string acoustic guitar into the spotlight at the end--which is always awesome. (9.25/10)

B1. "Use Me" (3:04) Paul Griffin's clavinet is off-the-charts funky as is the work of bassist Gordon Edwards and the two guitarists (each on multiple tracks, electric and acoustic). Jay plays his lead like George Benson or Wes Montgomery with chords doing all the melody work--until, that is, the chorus bridge. Then it's Cornell's turn to really let it loose on his own un-effected electric jazz guitar--which Jay almost shades with his fire-ball dragon's breath guitar flares at the end of the verse and chorus. Excellent version. (9.125/10)

B2. "We've Come Too Far To End It Now" (4:35) another emotional Jazz-Rock version of this emotional early-1972 hit song from The Miracles. Electric piano and Motown-like rhythm guitar and simple bass lines keep a spacious soundscape for Jay to lay down his soulful electric guitar lead. A very nice, even impressive, display of guitar skills and techniques--especially from Jay but also from Cornell. (8.875/10)

B3. "Stickball" (4:30) the other Wade Marcus original has clavinet and some pretty awesome wah-wah rhythm guitar and congas to support the core rhythmatists and melodists (Jay's fiery lead guitar sound that also sounds almost clavinet-ish--and is familiar from his upcoming work with Eumir Deodato). I love how Jimmy Johnson and Ray Barretto keep the spaces filled while the bass and clavinet leave a lot of gaps that the guitars don't really fill. Though not particularly catchy from a melody perspective, this is a nicely-crafted, coolly-performed weave that feels cerebral but comes across with just the right amount of spirit (which we call "The Funk"). Jay's heavily-effected machine gun sitar sound in the final minute is pretty awesome. (9/10)

B4. "I'm Still In Love With You" (4:14) a schlocky version of the great Al Green hit. Gordon Edwards is awesome on electric bass, and Paul Griffin's support organ play is actually really cool despite it feeling like the work of a funeral home chapel player. It's nice to here Jay playing acoustic guitar because he is so gifted at it (even better than Earl Klugh, in my opinion). Once Jay takes the lead one forgets that this is a cover and is forced to sit back in astonishment at the guitarist's incredible skills. They're on a par with Paco De Lucia and John Williams! (9.25/10)

Total time: 37:00

I find it unfortunate that Jay was apparently not much of a composer as I always enjoy and find myself supporting an artist's own compositions, but not one song on this album can be traced back to him or his collaborators (except A1. "Getting the Message" and B3. "Stickball" which came from arranger/conductor Wade Marcus). Also, the album is rife with awesome keyboard performances--on a wide variety of instruments (including organ, clavinet, and electric piano) but nobody is given any credit for these performances: Paul Griffin is credited as the pianist (only); Joe Venuto is the tuned percussion player, and; Cornell Dupree and Jay are supposedly only guitarists. So who played all of the keys? And why were they not credited?

A-/4.5stars; a very soulful album of Soul-Jazz-Rock led by a true virtuoso of the modern Jazz guitar. Plus, if you like clavinet and big chunky, funky bass, you'll probably love this.

Review by FunkFreak75 — This Jazz-fusion album was recorded at Van Gelder Studios between November 23–30, 1971 and then released in April 1972 by CTI Records. The album contains four covers of a variety of famous songs and one original composition by the artist/bandleader at the end of the album.

A1. "White Rabbit" (6:55) I love the Latinized and orchestra-filled support for this cover of the Jefferson Airplane classic. The switch from his earlier 1971 CTI release (with organist Clarence Palmer, drummer Jack DeJohnette, and percussionists Albert Nicholson and Michael Cameron) to Herbie Hancock, Billy Cobham, Airto Moreira, for his rhythm section (with Ron Carter on both LPs, of course) is the difference between night and day. Great rendition; perhaps the best instrumental cover of this song that I've ever heard. Herbie, Airto, and the orchestra are amazing. (14/15)

A2. "Theme From Summer Of '42" (5:00) harp, vibes, and full banks of orchestra wind instruments open this as Jay Berliner's active and virtuosic acoustic guitar play sets up George for the exposition of the main melodies of the famous film theme song. Surprisingly, it's Jay who gets the majority of the time in the sun on this one as George pretty much exits after the first 1:40 and then again after 4:10. Jay's performance is truly one for the ages: a display of truly virtuosic classical guitar play--even when he's not in the lead. (9.5/10)

A3. "Little Train (from Bachianas Brasileiras #2" (5:40) here we get George and Don Sebesky's interpretation of a famous classical piece from Brasilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. The music is a bit simplistic and early Smooth Jazzy (not unlike the fare presented to the world by L.A. artist David Axelrod)--Billy Cobham's drumming is particularly incongruous with the rest of the smooth, orchestral vibe. Even Ron Carter feels somewhat out of place--though Herbie does an adequate job with his solo and support play. The song really comes alive when Airto Moreira begins to add his Pat Metheny Group-like wordless vocalese in the fifth minute. (8.875/10)

B1. "California Dreaming" (7:15) more wonderful acoustic guitar work from Jay Berliner opens this as Herbie's rich Fender Rhodes, harp, orchestra, and bass contribute their own enrichment techniques. That's just the intro. Once the song has moved into the body of the song Jay becomes a Jose Feliciano-like acoustic guitar accompanist as the flutes/winds, Vibraphone, bass, and Latin percussion add their own accents and textures while Jay and George present and carry the song forward. Once again, Billy Cobham's drums just feel out of style with this format, with this instrumental palette. Herbie is unusually quiet but definitely in the mix throughout; it's really George, Jay, and Don's show--though I'm not nearly the fan of this Jay Berliner performance as I was on the "Theme from Summer of '42." (13.375/15)

B2. "El Mar" (11:00) a gorgeous, richly rendered song that is a George Benson original composition and resonates as my favorite song on the album. There is one great melody line that is repeated intermittently over the course of the song's 11 minutes but it is populated with layers of brilliant if subtle contributions from the session's full complement of guest artists. We even get some vocal contributions from Airto Moreira in his native Portuguese as well as some soul-invigorating key changes in surprising places. And I love the crescendo in the very middle that brings up blast of Spanish horns before we settle into Herbie's wonderful Fender Rhodes solo (dig that "smear" effect at the end of it--around the 7:00 mark). Though Airto's vocals are only in the background during the final two minutes, they are still so charming! I really like this team of Herbie Hancock and George Benson. (19.125/20)

Total Time: 36:16

A very interesting and, ultimately, very satisfying listening experience; an album that I will enjoy coming back to again over the coming years.

A/five stars; an excellent if somewhat-flawed masterpiece of early Jazz-Rock Fusion. The artists haven't got the medium perfected but their imaginative interpretations are greatly appreciated and duly rewarded.

Review by FunkFreak75 — Recorded in 1970 at A & R Studios and Mayfair Studios (tracks: A4, B3) and release by Polydor at the end of 1970 or the beginning of 1971.

A1. "Pretty Brown Skin" (5:42) vocal chant-enhanced Jazz-Rock Fusion that sounds like Donald Byrd's and War's versions of J-R F while somebody plays an extraordinarily-distorted "dirty" keyboard over the top pretty much from start to finish, which, unfortunately, takes away from all of the sounds coming from beneath him (though not so much the bass and percussion instruments: more Roy's Vibraphone). (8.75/10)

A2. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" (4:49) No way! I never expected this kind of elevator music to come from an ensemble like this! Despite the spicey congas, drums, and electric piano, Roy's single-note style on the vibes yields an introductory 90-seconds of note-for-note instrumental recounting of the pop song's main lyrical melody. Yuch! However, after that everybody expands their presence a little more as Roy goes to town on the Vibraphone. Yes! This is what I came for! But then after about a minute or two of this excellent Jazz-Fusion he reverts to the exact coverage of Burt Bacharach's melody. Too bad! (8.875/10)

A3. "I Can't Help Myself" (3:05) this is, surprisingly, not a cover of the famous Four Tops Motown hit--it's a Roy Ayers original. The organ is the main instrument supporting Roy's echo-effected vocal while John Williams' electric bass and the tambourine percussion support beneath. It's okay. Dated. (8.75/10)

A4. "Love" (4:25) a soulful R&B song that that was co-written by Roy and Edwin Birdsong makes a transition into more bluesy base for the second half as Roy spreads his Vibraphone melodies over the top of the rhythmic bass, drums, and electric piano accompaniment. One can sense the talented well that is Alphonzo Johnson the further we get into the song. (8.875/10)

B1. "The Fuzz" (4:10) fuzz is right: that organ is totally fuzzed up--BUT the timing between Roy and Edwin is rather remarkable--as if it were MIDI-ed (but, of course, it was not: MIDI technologies didn't appear in the music world until 1983)! Once Edwin is taken out of the mix it's a fairly straightforward, simple Jazz tune. (8.667/10)

B2. "Hummin' (in the Sun)" (3:45) a cover of the Gene McDaniels and Nat Adderley song is opened with a male & female choir singing the title phrase over a slow, spacious motif. The repeated appearances of the choir recur between solo voce verses sung by Edwin Birdsong. I like his soulful unassuming raspy voice. Nice, pretty tune! (8.875/10)

B3. "Can You Dig It?" (5:54) opening up with Alphonzo's quick tempoed driving drum line, it is soon joined by bass, wooden percussion, and a bouncy two-or three-chord electric piano sequence bouncing in the back left. Roy is the first soloist and main melody deliverer, inspiring John Williams to really pick up the pace to represent after the first minute. Scratchy-heavily-distorted electric guitar joins in during the second minute and proceeds to play in the right channel as if he's barely cognizant of the same universe occupied by his band mates. Interesting! At the 4:00 mark the lead is handed over to Bill Henderson's left-background electric piano for about a minute before John and Roy step up to take back the spotlight. Overall, I rather like this one. (9/10) B4. "Painted Desert" (4:44) covering a Joe Zawinul composition is made quite easy sounding with the laid-back "Bumpin' on Sunset"-like pace and palette that the song opens with, but things get considerably more complicated despite the continued maintenance of the relatively slow pace as Roy, two electric pianos, drums, forward active bass, and hand percussion (congas) join in and seem to be negotiating the small, narrow, and endlessly-changing directions of the mediæval walled city in which they are driving. (Yes: another automobile driving metaphor! Can you tell I come from the former automobile capitol of the world?) The song actually feels the most comfortable, the most sophisticated, as well as the most interesting song on the album. (I don't miss those fuzzed-up instrument sounds!) (9/10)

Total Time: 36:34

B/four stars; a nice addition to any Jazz-Rock lover's music collection--especially if you like the experimental exploits of the early pioneers. This is not the sophisticated, virtuoso-extolling music of some of the other early and peak-era J-R Fusionists, but it is interesting for its display of the different interpretations older Jazz artists had of the Jazz-Rock Fusion movement.

Review by FunkFreak75 — Recorded At Capitol Studios and released by Caribou Records sometime in 1976.

A1. "The Garden" (0:53) a true orchestral intro that bleeds right into . . . A2. "Mankind" (4:20) opens with the energy of a funky 1970s Motown hit song as James' guitar fronts and leads everything but the vocal, there is a great thickness to this while the engineer has everybody's tracks lined up without anyone stepping on the toes of others. There's some Isley Brothers, some Earth, Wind & Fire, even some Jacksons feel to this. Too bad it's not more lyrically or melodically engaging.(8.75/10) A3. "Drifting Into Love" (4:45) amazing song with awesome vocals from Verdine White, amazing keyboard work (clavinet and more) from Ronald Stockert, and such solid rhythm work from the rest of the band. (9.25/10)

A4. "Alone" (2:39) solo classical guitar. Quite proficient and professional (and original). (9.667/10)

A5. "Space Traveller" (3:21) opening with some full-finger picks of a couple classical guitar chords before the band kicks in with a beautiful strings-supported space funk romance ballad. Syrupy but eminently enjoyable. (9.125/10)

A6. "Firefly" (5:39) a bit corny but the funk is great! Like a white rock guitarist's Earth, Wind & Fire. (9/10)

B1. "Song For Jayme" (5:34) keyboard bass with drums and rhythm guitars opens this before it slides into a gentle strings-supported Smooth Jazz instrumental piece supporting a George Benson/Earl Klugh-like guitar lead. One mustn't forget how skilled/talented this guy is as a guitarist, but also as a composer of these rich songs! Very impressive guitar playing. (9.125/10)

B2. "How I'm Gonna Miss You" (5:15) back to the lush strings-supported mid-1970s Motown sound as James' deeply soulful vocals could be mistaken for bassist Verdine White's Earth, Wind & Fire vocals--only James might be better! Great support from the background vocalists, as well. Very powerful! (9.25/10)

B3. "Stepping Up" (1:13) the intro for the next song. Powerful! (4.5/5)

B4. "Walking On Higher Ground" (4:01) I love the combination of clavinet, fuzz guitar, and piano moving forward the middle ground of this song while bass and drums provide minimum dynamics as James' Temptations-like vocal and dynamic guitar play occupy the top end almost exclusively. Great background vocal support as well. (9.25/10)

B5. "Moonday" (6:57) a fusion of African rhythms, Jazz-Rock guitar, Yacht Rock keyboards, and Steely Dan-like total sound palette that comes out as a great Latin percussion vehicle for Fusion. I love the inclusion of berimbau and other African hand drum instruments as well as James' courageous and unique blending of traditions and sounds. (13.875/15)

Total time: 44:38

For an artist I'd never even heard of before this year I have to say that I feel rather sad that history has never recognized this incredibly talented guitarist and songwriter: he really deserves his props. Though I don't really consider this prime Jazz-Rock Fusion (it's more akin to jazzy Soul/R&B), it is definitely amazingly-well conceived, crafted, and performed music.

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of eclectic rock- and jazz-infused Soul/R&B from an underappreciated (unknown!) talent that the world should know. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Review by FunkFreak75 — The debut release from this Dutch ensemble was recorded in September 1976 in Hilversum and then released by Negrum Records before the end of the year.

A1. "I'll Smile, Part 1" (4:16) with Henny Vonk's elephantine bass sound, Rob van den Broeck's ivory-tinkling Fender Rhodes play and jungle-like synthesizer sounds mixed with Rob van den Broeck's near-Disco beat and Neppie Noya's jungle percussion work and Dick Vennik's great Jay Beckenstein soprano sax play, we have a song that feels as if it should be the crowd (and band) warmup for a Michael Jackson concert! I like the performances and compositional structure better than the melodies and overall motif. (9/10)

A2. "I'll Smile, Part 2" (6:11) "Part 2" starts out as if a completely different song with slow, spacious sonosphere that is slowly presented with Rhodes flourishes and independent contributions thrown in from all of the other instruments. In the second minute Dick Vennik's tenor sax steps up to take the front. This sounds very much like the structure and approach of several of NOVA's songs on their 1976 masterpiece, Vimana--especially the title song. (Coincidentally, Vimana was released on September 7--just before the studio sessions that led to the recording of Napalis' material.) Sadly, there are some engineering flaws in my copy of this album--overdrive scratches whenever Dick's sax, flute, or Michael's guitar spurts out something loud. Interesting and creative if, quite possibly, a bit imitative. Also, the sound palette of drummer Leo de Ruiter's toms sound a bit out-of-tune with the rest of the instrumental palette. Also, it just feels as if the song never really went anywhere--never took us anywhere much less provided resolution to the questions left behind from Part 1. (8.75/10)

A3. "Napalis" (9:47) some Jazz-Rock Fusion that, while feeling as if informed and founded in the Third Wave of J-R F's evolution, shows plenty of signs of the emerging (and enticing) Smooth Jazz medium: there are just a lot more concessions to melodic accessibility as well as commercially proven tricks, gimmicks, and hooks. Don't get me wrong: this is still highly-skilled and highly-sophisticated Jazz-Rock Fusion song (based on an Indian melody riff that Mahavishnu John McLaughlin was promoting with his new SHAKTI venture), it's just showing signs of currying favor with the masses. All in all, this is a very impressive rendering of a very complex composition. Mega kudos to all band members--especially guitarist Michael Samson, keyboard genius Rob van den Broeck (the two composers of the song), as well as drummer Leo de Ruiter. (18.25/20)

B1. "Instant Thing" (4:00) a hard-driving burst into fast-moving RTF-like Power Fusion: the kind that has strong presence of Fender Rhodes, saxophone, effected rock guitar, and Moog-like synths. The four rhythmatists (Henny, Leo, Neppie, and Rob's left hand) seem totally synched though the pace must have been really challenging to maintain and sustain. Lots of sophisticated bridges and chord progressions fill the spaces between the solos, offering a further view of just how tight the whole band was. (9.25/10)

B2. "Roslyn And Mea" (3:20) gently picked chord arpeggi from a treated 12-string guitar are soon joined by wordless female voice (obviously uncredited contributions of the great Henny Vonk), flute, synthesizer flutes, electric bass, and wood and metal percussion: providing a very Folk/Canterbury sound to ease the listener into a state of pastoral bliss. (9.125/10)

B3. "Venetian Splash" (13:05) a two-part epic that offers a nicely hypnotic rhythm track to groove to while observing the creatively-effected and -teamed solos of the saxes, keys, and guitars. (22.46/25) a. "Harmon" (1:09) hard-drivin' proggy rock intro which bleeds over continuously into the second movement. (4.333/5) b. "Bitumen En Paragnosten" (5:26) though the rhythm track remains fairly locked in, the electric guitar and saxophone solos that occur over the top are top notch. The RETURN TO FOREVER-like bridges between the chorus and verse sections are quite impressive. Henny Vonk (Chris Hinze Combination) is very impressive on the electric bass--it's just so nice to see the presence of a woman--an extremely talented woman--in the J-R F and Prog ranks. Keyboardist Rob van den Broeck does some cool stuff with electric piano and synths (in tandem with Michael Samson's electric guitar and Dick Vennick's tenor sax) while Henny, Neppie, Rob, and Leo de Ruiter continue to hold down the low end. (9/10) c. "Insert" (6:30) the more spacious (drum-less) motif continues with Henny and Neppie seeming to have control of the rhythm track while Rob, Dick, and Michael take turns with further soloing. Nice to see Neppie and Leo given some solo time toward the end. (9.125/10)

Total time: 40:39

Some excellent Power Fusion that feels as if a bunch of talented musicians finally got their act together to go into a studio to record the musics they loved from the recent stuff being released in the ever- and quickly-evolving world of Jazz-Rock Fusion: Mahavishnu Orchestra, Passport, Return To Forever, Nova, Chris Hinze, John Lee & Gerry Brown, Charlie Mariano, Missus Beastly, and many more.

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of very well constructed and wonderfully-performed Third Wave Power Fusion.

Review by FunkFreak75 — Tom's debut album as a band leader features five original compositions and one cover of one of film composer Bronisław Kaper's song ("Invitation"). The material for Aurora was recorded at Audio One in New York City on June 24, 1976 and then released by Adamo Records and Tapes late in 1976 (and released by Pinnacle Records as Total! in 1987).

A1. "On The Roof" (6:21) a Latin-Jazz opening that sounds like the red carpet music to an Afro-Cubano gala, the motif smooths out a bit as the tightly-knit ensemble deliver some great whole-band music for the first minute and a half before sitting back to support the soloists--the first of which is tenor saxophonist Bob Berg (Horace Silver, Cedar Walton, Miles Davis), then bandleader Tom Harrell in the fourth minute, percussionist Muhammad Abdullah in the sixth. The band reconvenes for a repeat of the opening whole-band motif for the song's final 45 seconds. Wonderful song! Such joyful music! (9.333/10) A2. "The Water's Edge" (9:53) this one sounds and feels more like traditional Jazz--like the Cool Jazz of the 1960s that came from artists like Dave Brubeck, Dexter Gordon, Freddie Hubbard, and Chet Baker. Wonderful melodies are delivered over some excellent laid back chord progressions while drummer Lenny White, bassist Mike Richmond, and pianist Mike Wolff really spice things up from underneath. Awesome Jazz: totally accessible (and danceable). (18/20)

A3. "While There's Time" (5:20) electric piano, electric bass, and very active Latin rhythm section work from Lenny, Muhammad, and Mike while Bob and Tom work at first as a team before trading fiery solos. Great, energetic Jazz. I really love the work of every single musician here but Bob's first sax solo really packed a punch! (9.125/10)

B1. "Aurora" (4:02) an electrified song that brings the funk with it despite the more-jazzy play of the horns. Mike Richmond really grabs your attention and Barry Finnerty is excellent as both a funk rhythm guitarist and a wah-wah-lead performer (reminding me of Jay Berliner and John Tropea). Muhammad Abdullah's percussion genius is to be able to fill those gaps with just the perfect percussion accents. While not the glam-on engaging song of some of the previous ones, it is so well performed that I find it hard to criticize it. (9/10)

B2. "Outdoor Cafe" (8:17) slow and methodical like a ballad, this one has tons of subtly nuanced elements that definitely signal "1970s Smooth Jazz." (It feel like a Freddie Hubbard song.) The dichotomous use of both major and minor chords--at the same time--give the music a discordant feeling beneath Mike Richmond's amazing fretless electric bass play, which is genius for the way it provides some serious tension that the lead (and melody-providing) instruments have to "overcome." Everybody is in on the act--even Mike Wolff and Barry Finnerty: both trying to find the chords that will keep the band glued together while also, hopefully, pleasing the listener into staying interested and/or engaged. I know this is probably not experimental but it feels so unusual and intriguing to me. It feels like a journey through a complex math equation! Fascinating! (18.25/20)

B3. "Invitation" (5:45) opens like a song from peak era Miles Davis "Second Great Quintet"--only with Freddie Hubbard and George Coleman performing the high-octane trumpet and sax roles in place of Miles and Wayne. Great acoustic Hard Bop with a swing that makes you envision the band leader as a guy with a suit and sunglasses standing mid-stage clicking his fingers as he dances a twist and passively directs the band. Thanks to Bronisław Kaper for this excellent song! I'm so glad someone (else: besides Herbie Hancock) in the Jazz-Rock Fusion movement had the presence of mind to honor and keep alive the wonderful Jazz traditions of the 1960s. (9.5/10)

Total time: 39:48

What a band! Playing excellent, highly-skilled Jazz-Rock Fusion--with amazing cohesion and what feels like quite genuine enthusiasm--while sticking fairly close to many standard Jazz traditions (as much through the horns as the compositional structures).

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of music and musicianship that triumphantly bridges the Jazz-Rock Fusion movement with a foundation in high-quality Jazz traditions and skills.

Review by FunkFreak75 — The debut full-length LP of studio recordings from one of Smooth Jazz' stalwart masters. It was released by Som Livre in May of 1975.

Line-up / Musicians: - José Alexandre Malheiros / bass [Rickenbacker, Vox & Eco], guitars [acoustic & electric], shaker, vocals - José Roberto Bertrami / bells, clavinet, electric piano [Fender Rhodes], organ [Hammond M.102], piano, synthesizer [Arp 2600, Moog Satellite, Arp Strings], vocals - Ivan C. Miguel Conti (Mamão) / drums [Rogers & Ludwig], shaker, timbales, timpani - Ariovaldo Contesini / bongos, congas, cuica, shaker, surdo, tamborim, vocals - João Américo (Paraná) / percussion, vocals, acoustic guitar (A1) With: - Marcio Lott / vocals (A1, B2, B4)

A1. "Linha Do Horizonte" (4:25) Written-By – Paraná*, Paulo Sérgio Valle this feels like a smoother, watered down version of PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI's "Il Banchetto" from their 1972 masterpiece, Per un amico. Points deducted for being such a blatant steal. (8.667/10)

A2. "Melô Dos Dois Bicudos" (3:07) opens sounding like an early Kool & The Gang, Earth, Wind & Fire, or Ohio Players song that is stuck on repeat. Weird--almost landing in the territory of a novelty song. (8.75/10)

A3. "Brazil" (4:03) a group composition that must been somewhat meaningful to the band since they chose to name it after their home country (though the question of their perspective and/or meaning comes into discussion when one notices that they used the English/European spelling of the country name instead of their own native Portuguese spelling). Nice laid back sitting on the beach music. (8.875/10)

A4. "Faça De Conta" (4:32) Written by José Roberto Bertrami, this excellent Smooth Jazz-Funk could quite easily have been found on one of Bob James' earliest four albums in the mid-Seventies. Great bass, clavinet, Fender Rhodes, percussion, and use of vocals. And it makes you wanna dance! Definitely a top three song for me. (9.25/10)

A5. "Caça A Raposa" (4:32) a group composition that plays out like something from one of Bob James late 70s Smooth Funk-Lite Jazz albums. Nice keyboard work and bass play with some cool gimicks and grooves. (8.875/10)

B1. "Estrada Dos Deuses" (3:40) is this an effort to emulate Kool & The Gang's "Summer Madness" or perhaps at least to take advantage of the now-famous synth portamento sound. (8.875/10)

B2. "Esperando Minha Vez" (3:03) a composition offered by José Alexandre Malheiros and his wife Thereza that sounds like something by Michael Franks in the vocal sections, something by Carlos Antônio Jobim in the acoustic guitar-dominated sections, and then like Ramsey in the jazzy-electric keyboard parts. Cute. (8.875/10)

B3. "Montreal City" (3:22) nice Smooth Jazz from José Roberto Bertrami that reminds me of MICHAEL FRANKS. (9/10)

B4. "Manhã" (3:46) a beautiful little innocuous Smooth Jazz charmer with great hypnotic earworm melodies and rhythms from the percussionists, keys, and b vox melodies. Written by José Bertrami and Américo-Paraná, I have to say that Smooth Jazz does not get much better than this (unless your name is David Axelrod, Alain Mion, Lonnie Liston Smith, or Earl Klugh). (9.5/10)

B5. "Periscópio" (7:35) funk for the sake of funk--reminds me of Donald Byrd's earliest forays into the realm (1972's "Little Rasti") as well as, of course, some of the work of Jimmy "Hammond" Smith. Nice organ, bass, drums, rhythm guitar work as well as percussion. (13.75/15)

Total time: 42:05

The most consistently impressive aspects of the musicianship on this album are the percussionists, keyboards of José Roberto Bertrami and funky bass play of José Alexandre Malheiros. Definitely an impressive display of lightly-funky high-quality Smooth Jazz.

B+/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of refreshing new Smooth Jazz with some excellent musicianship delivering an easy Funk-Lite disposition.

Review by Carmel — “Vital Spark (Music of Kenny Wheeler)” brings together Dave Holland on bass, Norma Winstone on voice, the London Vocal Project under the direction of Pete Churchill, Nikki Iles on piano, James Maddren on drums, Mark Lockheart on tenor and soprano saxophones, and John Parricelli on guitar for selected pieces. The album centers on Kenny Wheeler’s writing for jazz ensemble and choir, a setting that naturally foregrounds space, development, motion, and release. 

That matters because “Vital Spark” is rich in sectional contrast. Its character emerges through the controlled movement of energy. Each track unfolds through a recurring cycle: space, accumulation, activation, peak density, and release. The music organizes itself through changes in texture and momentum. 

“Inner Traces” lays out the theme with clarity. Nikki Iles opens alone at the piano, establishing a sparse, suspended field. Norma Winstone’s vocal texture expands with her warm timbre, marking the first clear increase in evolving color palette. The London Vocal Project follows. The choir initially provides sustained wordless harmonic support but then widens into a more active choral presence. The pacing grows with each layer, allowing the texture to grow without congestion. 

Holland’s and James Maddren’s entrance shifts the music from suspension into motion. From there, the track builds through accumulation as Iles increases her rhythmic activity. The choir expands into counterpoint, and Mark Lockheart’s saxophone enters the texture. At the composition’s peak, the choir, soloist, and rhythm section operate simultaneously. The release is just as controlled as activity recedes, the texture thins, and the music resolves into a sustained harmonic field. 

A similar cycle appears in “Will You Walk a Little Faster?” as Maddren introduces momentum from the outset, with Holland’s syncopated bassline establishing a forward-moving pulse. The straight-eighth feel creates immediate motion, but the build still depends on layering. The vocal melody builds to Winstone’s scat lines, the choir’s arranged parts, and Lockheart’s improvisation. All occupy different roles, increasing texture through simultaneity. Holland’s role is especially clear as a grounding force anchoring the expanding texture. 

The contrast and layered parts function as accelerants of evolution and storytelling. Shifts between improvised vocal scatting by Winstone and structured choral writing gain momentum in the form. Feel shifts from straight-eighth and swing-based phrasing, develops the form as it intensifies the ongoing build, adding energy with continuity. 

“Fuite D’Enfance” shows a different surface as John Parricelli’s guitar brings a Latin influence, giving the track a new profile. The underlying layering process, as parts intertwine and enter. The choir begins as a harmonic pad and then expands into counterpoint. Lockheart’s tenor saxophone enters over a gradually intensifying rhythm section, followed by Parricelli’s solo and then Iles at the piano. Each addition increases energy and development, while Maddren and Holland scale their activity in response. By the time the ensemble aligns rhythmically, the track reaches its densest point, then resolves into a final chord. 

“Heavenly City,” let’s momentum build naturally. Holland begins in a two-feel, grounding the music without fully activating swing. The shift into walking bass becomes a motivating event and one that the ensemble responds to collectively. The choir splits into male and female counterpoint, Lockheart extends his phrasing, and Parricelli’s lines begin to interlock with the vocal and instrumental layers. Development rises through the accumulation of independent lines. 

Across the album, music resolves by reducing activity. Lines drop away, motion slows, and what remains is sustained harmony. These releases feel like conclusions of developments, summing of the preceding accumulations. 

What gives the song set its consistency is the nature of the material itself. The writing is built on extended harmonic fields, non-standard progression movement, and long-line melodic structures that resist immediate resolution. These elements build resources for gradual accumulation, allowing layers to enter, expand, and interact with sectional changes, thereby maintaining a sense of development. 

You hear this in the way momentum is handled. Harmonic patterns and melodic phrasing allow movement between suspended and kinetic states without breaking the connecting flow. The rhythm section doesn’t impose direction but acts as a layer that activates it at key points, while the choir, Winstone’s voice, and instrumental layers develop in response. 

Within this progressing framework of vocals and instruments, the performance is defined by developmental control. Each player, vocalist, and section shapes the flow of energy. The result is an album of layered structures and contrasts that create a lovely motion in time.

Review by js — Well as they used to say long ago, “and now for something completely different”. UDEiGWE (stage name, real name Lawrence Udeigwe) is a vocalist, keyboard player, math professor and philosopher, and he combines all of these endeavors on his new album, “Four Lemmas”. In mathematics, a lemma is a statement that supports larger concepts. On this album, Udeigwe presents four lemmas, orthogonality, sparsity, local maxima and stable equilibrium, three of these lemmas are also joined by a corollary. The album is not meant to be mathematics translated into sound, but it is a musical meditation on what it feels like to ‘think mathematically toward a proof of identity‘. The lemmas lead us to four reflections: independence without isolation, reduction without loss of meaning, mistaking a peak for completion and balanced sustained through motion.

All this may sound very foreboding and overly intellectual, but fortunately the music is not. Despite all the philosophizing and mathematics, the music is upbeat, melodic and rhythm oriented. Udeigwe draws on the pop and dance music of his homeland, Nigeria, plus adds bits of hip-hop, funk and nu jazz to make irresistible grooves over which he sings and presents his philosophical insights through spoken word. Joining him are two trumpet players, plus drums and bass for a solid groove outfit. The trumpets take solos occasionally and Rade Bema lays down some funky lines on the bass. Udeigwe sings and talks over the grooves with a warm appealing voice in everyday language that makes it easy to understand the philosophical outlook that he is trying to pass onto us, the listener.

Review by FunkFreak75 — Recorded in Japan from October 25-27, 1977, while Paul was on tour with Herbie Hancock, Black Octopus was released on January 20, 1978, on the Japanese label Eastworld (Toshiba EMI).

Line-up / Musicians: - Paul Jackson / electric bass, acoustic bass (A1), vocals (A1, B1, B2) - Alphonse Mouzon / drums - Bennie Maupin / tenor sax, bass clarinet (A1) - Herbie Hancock / piano, clavinet, synthesizer [Arp Odyssey] (A1) - Webster Lewis / electric piano (B1, B2) - Ray Obiedo / electric guitar - Webster Lewis / Hammond organ (A1, A2), synthesizer [Arp String] (B2), synthesizer [Yamaha Cs-80] (B2) - Mari Kaneko, Yuka Kamebuchi / backing vocals (A1, B1)

A1. "Black Octopus Part 1 - Many Directions" (2:46) interesting avant garde music with Paul's musique concrète vocal performance over the top. (8.75/10)

A2. "Black Octopus Part 2 - Eight Ways Of Love" (4:22) organ-led blues rock funk. (8.75/10)

A3. "Funk Times Three" (6:25) a walking-paced funk tune with organ, horns, and, of course funky bass and drums. The blues-soaked vocals make this sound more bluesy. (9/10)

B1. "Burning In The Heat (Of Your Love)" (7:59) more like a soul/R&B tune from the late 1960s (despite its near-Disco drum and bass lines). It starts out feeling/sounding quite like Thelma Houston's "Don't Leave Me This Way" and Luther Ingram's hit "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right" but then moves into something that feels like quite amateurish Disco-funk palette--and a bit of a rip off of early CHIC, ODYSSEY, and McFADDEN & WHITEHEAD. (13/15)

B2. "Tiptoe Thru The Ghetto" (5:36) more funk that sounds under-processed and amateurish--as if Paul was just learning bass techniques and how to manage and manipulate them with studio amplifiers, effects, and engineering techniques. The music and song is surprisingly good despite the poor sound quality--and Paul's amazing bass skills come through quite well (as well as those of Alphonse Mouzon, Herbie Hancock, and Bennie Maupin). (9.125/10)

Total time: 27:08

Back in the day we would have called this "an EP." The Y2K CD release contains an additional four songs that bring the album's length up over 40 minutes. I think the two most surprising things about this album (besides its length) are the amateurish sound quality given to the instruments (especially Paul's bass) and Paul's voice: it sounds like it belongs to an old Black man singing in the 1940s or 1950s.

B-/3.5 stars; a brief album of very interesting compositions with exceedingly good performances from Herbie's touring line-up at the time that were somehow rendered quite poorly by the studio equipment and engineering. Perhaps it should have been more well-attended to by the producer and engineers before being mixed, mastered, and released.

Review by js — There are many who think that no one had ever thought to mix jazz with rock until the mid to late 60s, but nothing could be further from the truth. Jazz musicians have been putting rock-n-roll and rhythm-n-blues influences in their music since the days when rock and RnB were given birth via the jump blues jazz genre. These early blends of RnR and jazz do not sound like ‘jazz-rock’ as we know it today because rock-n-roll in the 1950s sounded nothing like rock in the late 60s. Although Duke Ellington’s “The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse” was composed in 1970, recorded in 1971 and released in 1975, it features the sound of what ‘jazz-rock’ sounded like in the late 50s, for instance, like when Ellington rocked the house at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival when his saxophonist Paul Gonsalves took off on an unscripted rockin sax solo backed by a slammin RnB backbeat. “Afro-Eurasian Eclipse” is the Duke’s jazz rock album, while also bringing in influences from Asia and the Orient (Middle East) too.

The album is loosely based on Marshall McLuhan’s theory on the future of worldwide race and culture mixing, but the Duke is not being overly serious here as witness his tongue in cheek spoken word intro to the album. Still, there is an attempt to bring together several cultural influences to make an exotic musical blend. The two opening tracks are some of the best the album has to offer with the high energy “Chinoiserie” featuring a blistering tenor solo from Harold Ashby. “Didjeridoo” gets into the Duke’s mysterious noire sounds, Duke’s magic with orchestral tone colors places him in an elite group that includes Igor Stravinsky and Maurice Ravel. The two opening tracks on side two are also more in this exotic side of the Duke’s musical vision with the flute duo on “Gong” sounding like an inspiration for Sun Ra. The two closing tracks are more in a straight ahead swing style, unlike the rock and RnB hybrids of the rest of the album. Throughout the performance, the Duke plinks and plunks on the piano in his characteristically odd manner while showing his unique approach to tonal arrangements works on the piano as well as with his entire band.

Review by snobb — JoSilEmi (Joe - Silke - Emil) is a new trio that will release their debut album, "Hear This," in May. Bassist Joe Fonda, stated first on the album's cover, needs no introduction. He has played free jazz for more than half a century and is well known in the US and Europe. Just a few months ago, Fonda's other trio, Remedy (with two Germans - drummer Joe Hertenstein and trumpeter Thomas Heberer), released an interesting collaborative album with Japanese pianist Aki Takase.

Without a doubt, the true star of the new trio is a German reed player, Silke Eberhard. Less known outside of her home country, she is one of the most interesting female reed players on today's European jazz scene. She played with such renowned artists as Henry Threadgill, Dave Liebman, Michael Formanek, Joe Morris, and Dave Rempis, among many others, but she made her name actually with her Potsa Lotsa - a project, founded in 2009 and dedicated to the music of Eric Dolphy.

In 2010, Potsa Lotsa released "The Complete Works Of Eric Dolphy" - an ambitious double-CD album, containing 28 compositions, all played by four reedists. In 2014, Silke returned with the improved Potsa Lotsa Plus and another Dolphy-dedicated album, "Potsa Lotsa Plus Plays Love Suite By Eric Dolphy". Her enlarged collective this time consists of six reed players plus a keyboardist.

Finally, in 2017, Silke formed the most ambitious Potsa Lotsa version - Potsa Lotsa XL. The tentet (which contains pianist, drummer, bassist, vibist, and cellist besides woodwinds) on British and German labels released four albums during the last five years.

Third member of JoSilEmi - Austrian drummer Emil Gross, for 15 years was known as a member of a few blues/rock bands and a roots/reggae artist. Later, he started playing with avant-garde jazz/experimental musicians. Kindred/Fonda/Gross Blues Trio and Generations Trio (with the same Joe Fonda) can be mentioned among his more jazz-related collaborations.

Back to "Hear This" - Silke's knowledge of Dolphy's music and its influence are notable here without doubt. Unlike Potsa Lotsa (of all sizes), where Silke plays Dolphy music with richer arrangements, bigger sound, and even adding some electronics, JoSilEmi is an acoustic minimalist trio and it works pretty well.

The music here contains two Fonda and three Silke originals, all played with well-controlled freedom and passion. Recorded live, there are some enthusiastic public screams and applause heard here and there. Silke’s sax has a clear tone; she plays tunes, switching to improvisation seamlessly, and returns. The music flows unpredictably but never goes too far - it always keeps the listeners' attention under control. Compared to well-known late German free-jazz giant Peter Brötzmann's "Teutonic jazz", Silke's "German jazz" is well-calculated and controlled, but never brutal. It's elegant and playful, fresh and intriguing.

The rhythm section is more than competent; Joe and Emil ensure an excellent backing for Silke's soloing. They even have a moment of their own freer solos, but it's still Silke who's the hero of the day here.

The music's sound is very good for live recording - clear, aerial, with well-heard smallest details. Silke's sax is always in the front of the mix, but in this case, it works pretty well.

I really enjoyed listening to this album. It pushed me to re-listen to some of Silke's previous works (and to search for some unheard of too).

Review by arcane-beautiful — Honora by Flea is a very interesting first solo album for the legendary musician. Incredibly different from anything he has done with Red Hot Chili Peppers, this album sees him fully embrace his jazz background, with creative bass lines, some very beautiful trumpet arrangements and trumpet playing from Flea himself plus some great guest collaborators throughout. But the song I'd highly recommend is his cover of Maggot Brain, where the arrangement is changed from keys and guitar to melodic percussion and trumpet, and it really shows off another side to that beautiful piece of music originally from Funkadelic. Overall it's not as gripping as you'd expect because it is incredibly jazzy, but the musical talent on display can't be ignored. I'd give this a mid to high 7 out of 10.

Review by Bassman — Few bassists in contemporary jazz combine diplomatic stature, compositional ambition and melodic authority as convincingly as Harvie S. A former Jazz Ambassador for the United States, a touring artist across Europe and Southeast Asia, and co-leader of the influential Double Image, which recorded for ECM Records and Enja Records, Harvie S brings decades of global experience to Bright Dawn. But this album is not a retrospective statement. It is a forward-facing work, a meditation on narrative, texture and the evolving role of the double bass in modern jazz.

From its opening moments, the record establishes a language that is both contemporary and grounded in tradition. The melodic lines are expansive but never indulgent; rhythmic structures shift subtly, sometimes stretching across bar lines, sometimes tightening into sharply defined pulses. What distinguishes the writing is not complexity for its own sake, but architectural control. Themes unfold patiently, then fracture into improvisational dialogue before reassembling with quiet inevitability.

The ensemble, carefully chosen, highly responsive, approaches the material without hesitation. There is no sense of musicians navigating difficulty; instead, there is collective fluency. Harmonic colors are explored rather than merely stated. Dynamics swell and recede organically. The interplay suggests years of listening, not just to each other, but to the broader history of the music.

Harvie S has often been associated with the spacious aesthetic of ECM, yet here he moves beyond atmosphere into something more structurally assertive. This is not ambient lyricism. It is acoustic fusion in its most thoughtful form, a synthesis of jazz lineage, chamber-like intimacy and rhythmic elasticity. Written passages dissolve into improvisation so seamlessly that the boundaries blur. The album rewards, and demands, repeated listening.

A reinterpretation of Chick Corea’s “Humpty Dumpty” offers a revealing case study. Rather than treating the piece as repertoire, Harvie S reframes it. The familiar contours remain, but tempo inflections and subtle reharmonizations shift the emotional center. The bass does not simply anchor; it converses, redirects, occasionally destabilizes before restoring equilibrium. It is interpretation as authorship.

The solo bass passages throughout the album are among its most arresting moments. In these spaces, Harvie S demonstrates a rare ability to balance technical command with narrative clarity. Pizzicato lines speak with muscular directness; arco passages bloom with almost orchestral resonance. He moves from grounded resonance to suspended harmonics with deliberate pacing, allowing silence to function as structural punctuation. The double bass becomes not accompaniment, but protagonist.

That narrative impulse reaches its emotional apex when he takes up the bow on “Navalny.” The performance carries a cinematic weight, unfolding less like a jazz solo than like a monologue. Long, sustained tones create tension against restrained harmonic movement beneath them. There is restraint, but also quiet urgency. The piece suggests contemplation, of loss, of resilience, of elemental forces, without resorting to sentimentality. Wind, water, light: the music feels attentive to the natural world without imitating it.

What ultimately defines Bright Dawn is clarity of intent. Every motif feels considered. Every rhythmic displacement serves a purpose. Yet the album never sounds academic. Listeners can follow the melodic lines at face value and find immediate pleasure. Those who lean in more closely will discover deeper structural conversations, counterlines emerging beneath themes, rhythmic tensions resolving across extended arcs.

Harvie S does not overwhelm the listener; he trusts them. That trust may be the album’s most radical gesture. In an era of maximalism and speed, Bright Dawn insists on patience. It insists on attention. It insists that the double bass, often relegated to foundation, can instead articulate the conscience of the ensemble.

This is not merely a display of mastery. It is a reminder that jazz, at its most vital, is both story and structure ,emotion shaped by design. And here, Harvie S shapes both with unflinching precision and quiet authority.

Thierry De Clemensat Member at Jazz Journalists Association USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News

Review by FunkFreak75 — Recorded in Los Angeles on September 12, 1974, Native Dancer was released by Columbia Records on January 18, 1975, this was Milton Nascimento's breakthrough album in the American world of music.

1. "Ponta de Areia" (5:18) opening with a Brasilian-sounding melody being announced by Herbie Hancock's piano and Milton Nascimento's upper register voice is soon joined by Dave McDaniel's bass, Roberto Silva's drums, and Wagner Tiso's electric piano, eventually devolving into Wayne's soprano sax and Wagner's Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood-like electric piano with some incidental drum contributions. It is a beautiful melody and reinforces its power when the full band rejoins to get behind it for the final 90-seconds. Nice if a little rudimentary. (8.875/10)

2. "Beauty and the Beast" (5:04) Herbie, Wagner, and the rhythm section (which now includes Milton's countrymate, Airto Moreira) set up what sounds like a simple song motif (one that does not sound far from the pace and structure of the first motif of a song Wayne contributed to Weather Report's 1977 release, Heavy Weather, called "Harlequin"). There's a fun urban USA vibe to this song, as if Wayne were writing music for Bob James or some television show like Sesame Street or Starsky and Hutch. The section around the four-minute mark is rather sublime. The fadeout at the end lets me know that the studio time spent on this jam was much longer. (8.875/10)

3. "Tarde" (5:49) the album's second Milton Nascimento composition shocks me for how similar it is to Pedro Aznar and Pat Metheny's song, "Más Allá" from the Pat Metheny Group's 1984 masterpiece, First Circle--which leads me to ask the question, Is this a common song structure and style for Brasilian music? I mean, we all know that Latin singers- -and especially Brasilian singer-songwriters--have a gift for expressing emotions from a far deeper depth than American singers, but how many of these incredibly powerful, heart-wrenchers have we Americans missed by not being deluged with Brasilian music? (9.125/10)

4. "Miracle of the Fishes" (4:48) multiple tracks given to Milton's amazingly-ranged voice as well as his and David Amaro's acoustic guitars. Nice bass, drums, and keys (organ and electric piano) to ground this high-flying song. Wayne's sax jumps to the fore in the third minute with some genuine-sounding feeling and emotion. What a cool (if, for our ears, unusual) song! (9.25/10)

5. "Diana" (3:04) Wayne on the piano and soprano sax while Airto, Roberto, and Dave McDaniel support. No help from Milton on this one. Nice. (8.875/10)

6. "From the Lonely Afternoons" (3:15) great melodic Jazz with all of the Latin help and Milton's great worded and wordless vocalizations for the first 90-seconds and then Wayne takes over on his tenor sax. So this is where Pat Metheney's inspiration for all of the recruitment of great Brasilian musician/vocalists comes from. Wayne, once again we are indebted to you (especially we lovers of Pat Metheny Group's 1980s production). Again he sounds and feels inspired. This must be a really soul-healing collaboration for Wayne as I can really feel his connection to the music. (9.25/10)

7. "Ana Maria" (5:10) piano and soprano sax (both coming from Wayne--though Wagner Tiso is also playing his own piano) performing a rather heavy, almost-Burt Bacharach-like ballad. (8.875/10)

8. "Lilia" (7:03) an unusual (for this album) heavier mood pervades this song--mostly anchored in the low end bass work performed by Wagner Tiso and the militaristic drumming coming from Roberto Silva and Airto but even expressed in the "sadness" of Milton's upper-register wordless vocalizations as well as Wayne's more urgent sounding sax and electric piano. A very interesting, almost Weather Report-sounding song. (13.375/15)

9. "Joanna's Theme" (4:17) the album's final song starts with some pensive, even melodramatic piano play, heavy bass chords and all. This is Wagner Tiso masterfully manipulating the ivories. It's not until 1:50 that anybody else joins in-- Wayne on his soprano sax and Roberto with his crashing, crescendoing cymbals. Kind of a lachrymose swan song. (I'm sad it's over, too!) (8.875/10)

Total Time 41:41

After the joy and enthusiasm for life first half of the album they had to turn to some rather heavier, even sorrowful music for the second half. I guess that's the Latin/Brasilian way. (Is it Buddhist, though?)

B+/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of world fusion: successful but not quite convincing as to the polish and development of each song. I think the parties involved could have used more practice time together before pushing the "record" button.

Review by FunkFreak75 — Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on March 10, 1967, but Blue Note did not release this album until May of 1969. For this very popular album, all songs but "Kryptonite" are Wayne Shorter originals, the former was penned by wind player James Spaulding. A1. "Tom Thumb" (6:15) a salsa over which the soloists embellish the melodies as they feel inspired. I love this kind of melodic, rolling rhythm pattern. (9/10)

A2. "Go" (4:52) a nice slightly-Latinized rhythm pattern feeds and supports solos from James Spaulding on flute and Wayne on tenor sax (getting two segments) with Herbie providing the glue in between as well as a nice piano solo in the third minute and the sexy brass section working to help provide the bridges and the song's finish. I can't help but admit to feeling surprised at the limited (or absent) time in the spotlight given to the other band members--all of whom were quite capable and, I'm sure, willing. I do, however, hear the increased confidence and maturity in Wayne's own voice--something that perhaps he lacked a bit during his 20s. (8.875/10)

A3. "Schizophrenia" (6:59) a little bit of a rush to get into and through this one as Ron Carter and Joe Chambers speed along, Herbie doing his best to keep up with both punctuation and accents. Wayne takes the first solo before trombonist Curtis Fuller gets a turn, then James on his alto. Joe's ride cymbal work is so dominating that one can almost not hear any of his stick work on the skins much less the bass drum--until, that is, the end of the sixth minute when he finally breaks out (though not for a solo, just as a bridge to the next soloist: Herbie). Not Herbie's greatest solo, the chord work at the end is wonderful before the horn section rejoins to close the door on the end of the song. Competent and crisp if not totally engaging (much less mesmerizng). (13.5/15)

B1. "Kryptonite" (6:25) more fast-paced bass walking and ride cymbal races for James to play flute over for the first two minutes, the tempo lets up a little--from both Joe's cymbal stick and Ron's bass-walking pace--as James switches to his alto sax. I like the way he moves from longer notes to fast flourishes and diving and soaring runs. Herbie sneaks in during the fifth minute which evokes an odd slow down response from Ron--I mean, really slow--but then he jumps back into fast-walking during the second half of Herbie's solo (an awesome solo, by the way) before regulating his pace again a couple of times; It's as if he's driving in city traffic and has to be mindful of changes in the traffic patterns! I have to say that overall it just feels like a weirdly-constructed song. (8.875/10)

B2. "Miyako" (5:55) a beautiful and emotional love song for Wayne's first-born child, daughter Miyako. The song has been so analyzed and lauded for so many years that it seems rather pointless for me to express my own take, but it feels obvious that the arrival and presence of his daughter has brought Wayne no small measure of peace and serenity. It's gorgeous: fully deserving of all of the praise and accolades that have been thrown at it through the years. With the opening song, this is my favorite song on the album. (9.5/10)

B3. "Playground" (6:20) this unusual song serves as a stark contrast to the serene beauty of the previous song, and it is certainly playful--especially in the opening minute as the band is establishing the ground rules for such a loose and idiosyncratic song. Solos from Wayne and Curtis definitely convey the serious attitude toward concentrated play coming from each individual while Ron and Herbie seem to be fully engaged in the frivolous, even easy ADD distractability of playground presence. Joe Chambers seems to be expressing the most serious, hyperfocused attitudes--like he's all business on the playground--until the playfulness of Ron's bass, Wayne's horn, and Herbie's twinkle-toed piano solo start to stir him out of his robotic athleticism. Then it's all for himself as Herbie, Ron and Joe seem to be left alone playing off one another--though the horns rejoin, sometimes as a unit, sometimes fractioning off into individual silliness, before the producer/engineer starts to slow pull down the faders on the master, dimming everyone's fun. Interesting and, yes, kind of fun. (9/10)

Total Time: 36:38

While many reviewers I've found cite this album as either their favorite Wayne Shorter album, a revolutionary transitional album, or otherwise very important to Jazz and Wayne's personal evolution, I do not find it quite as engaging as several of his previous albums (two of which won't be released until 1979 and 1980, respectively). Wayne seems to be stingy with his gifts of giving the spotlight to his collaborators, even shutting them out on a few songs despite each their own impressive legacies. Also, I'm not quite as much of a fan of the shorter song formats as some of the longer layouts he allowed with previous recordings (including compositions he gifted to Miles Davis' albums during this period). I get the fact that he's older, more mature and composed with his own voice--and that his compositions have provided a launching pad for so many of his collaborators in the past--I just miss the more generous space he seemed to

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of Jazz--perhaps the last Bop album we'll be hearing from the ever-evolving Wayne Shorter.

Review by FunkFreak75 — This BeeJay Production is neither Wayne's debut as a solo artist nor his first appearance on tape and vinyl this is his breakthrough album in terms of quality, mature music arrangements and compositions, containing no less than four of Wayne's own original compositions (along with one from bandmate Eddie Higgins). Recorded on November 2 and 6 of 1961, the album was released in the next year, the album is noteworthy for being the product of a bunch of twenty-somethings with the sage presence of one mature member, Wayne's collaborator in the Art Blakey Jazz Messengers lineup, bass player James Raleigh "Jymie" Merritt (uncle to the Chi-Lites founder/member of the same name) who was 35-years old at the time of these recording sessions.

1. "Black Orpheus [Take 4]" (4:35) an Antonio Carlos Jobim-Luiz Bonfá composition, a beautiful rendering thanks to pros Eddie Higgins and Jymie Merritt. Smooth and cool. Wayne, methinks, tries a bit hard to impress straight out of the gate, whereas Freddie and Eddie are much more composed, slowly building up their creds. It's okay: Wayne does better next time around. (9/10)

2. "Devil's Island [Take 8]" (3:56) the first of Wayne's original compositions feels a lot like the previous song--in tempo and melodic flow as well as kind of in style and harmony. Opening with Freddie and Wayne operating in tandem as a "horn section" they then move into solos with the order being Wayne (nervous?), silky-smooth Freddie, and Eddie (the longest) before coalescing back as a "horn section" for the finish. (8.875/10)

3. "Moon Of Manakoora [Take 2]" (3:43) a cover of an Alfred Newman Frank Loesser tune features more of the standard rhythm section work from Marshall and Jymie before Freddie, Eddie, and Wayne take their turns in the solo range. Again Wayne seems to jump in as if he feels he's got something to prove. I'm getting a bit tired of the "standard" drum and bass play. Three songs in a row! (8.875/10)

4. "Dead End [Take 8]" (4:34) Wayne's second contribution to the album, apparently it took eight takes to meet the composer's satisfaction--and I can see why: it's a rather demanding song both in terms of horn play but more in terms of the much more exacting requirements placed upon the rhythm section--especially the peppy pace. Everybody does very well to pick up their game--especially drummer Marshall Thompson--but Freddie Hubbard is the one that impresses me the most: he's just so solid, so strong and cool. Wayne barely takes any solo time. (8.875/10)

5. "Wayning Moments [Take 2]" (4:21) bandmate Eddie Higgins' contribution to the album (and, thus, the corny song title--which somehow became the album's title as well), it's a Miles Davis "All Blues"-like cool jazz piece that asks Freddie to use a modulating muting cap on his trumpet. Pianist Eddie Higgins does very nicely in the middle and Wayne pulls off one his better, more mature (if Dexter Gordon-sounding) solos. Nice melodies, Eddie! (9/10)

6. "Powder Keg [Take 5]" (3:13) Wayne's third original composition opens like the title says, with an explosion of full-band sound and with the frenetic pace of the panicky scurrying around that people do after such a peace-shattering disruption to their regular routines. Once again, everybody seems to step up to the composition's demands, especially Marshall and Freddie (Eddie and Jymie seem to lack the oomph in their performances). Just wish it had a little more catchiness to it. (8.875/10)

7. "All Or Nothing At All [Take 3]" (2:58) slowed down for another attempt at covering a standard, this one by Arthur Altman and Jack Lawrence. Nice "My Funny Valentine"-like melodies--one can practically hear the vocalist through Wayne's tenor sax renderings. This one could have (should have) gone longer (because it's nice as well as to allow for the recordings of the solo interpretations by the other musicians). (9.125/10)

8. "Callaway Went That-A-Way [Take 3]" (4:51) the last of the four original compositions Wayne contributed to the album, I comprehend the reference in the song's title but I don't know Cab Callaway's music (or mystique) well enough to hear/feel any references being made in Wayne's music. I love the drum work of Marshall Thompson, and Jymie and Eddie seem well suited to following and filling in the rest of the rhythm track while Wayne and Freddie take their turns soloing: again I find Freddie the most impressive; he has such an aura or presence of maturity! And he was only 23 at the time of these recording dates! My favorite song on this solid if unexceptional album. (9.5/10)

Total time 32:11

Interesting to hear a classic Jazz album containing such relatively-short songs. Several of these musicians I'm hearing for the very first time, but by far the most impressive and consistent performer is Freddie Hubbard.

A-/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of solid jazz from a group of relatively young "upstart" Jazz musicians (Wayne, Marshall, Freddie Hubbard, and Eddie Higgins were all under 30; drummer Marshall Thompson was 19).

Review by FunkFreak75 — Recorded at Van Gelder Studios, New Jersey on March 4, 1965 but held from release until 1979. On a recording pace that could have seen an album released every three months, Blue Note execs worried about over-saturation of the market with too much Wayne Shorter as well as the release of too much "new" music (innovative, experimental songwriters like Wayne were deemed a risky investment while bands covering old standards and recent pop hits were considered a more solid financial risk). Thus, this album did not reach the public until 1979.(!)

1. "Lost" (7:14) though a Blue Note album in 1965 was supposed to open with a song that the listening audience could easily and immediately hook their teeth into, this great song with its odd rhythmic pattern was probably not as smooth as management would have liked: demerit number one that might have contributed to its 14 year delay in finding public release. Otherwise, the waltz-like rhythm pattern the song is founded upon, to my ears, is wonderful--very engaging (making me, of course, want to waltz) and the solos are all very smooth and accessible (with minimal oblique avant-garde melodic phrasings) and excellent coherence between the band members. Perhaps it came across as a bit too laid back? I really like it! (14.125/15) 2. "Angola" (4:48) rushing out into the field as a routine hard bop tune, again eschewing any avant or free jazz experimentations, the song cruises along as Anthony and McCoy drive this train while bassist Ron Carter actually acts like the paranoid-hypervigilant conductor on the train, scurrying around willy-nilly as if constantly being distracted and torn as to which way to divide his attentions and actions. Meanwhile, Freddie Hubbard and James Spaulding make their contributions rather straightforwardly--until the band relinquishes to make space for an impressive if brief drum solo at the end of the fourth minute. Nice, solid hard bop though nothing revolutionary. (9/10)

3. "The Big Push" (8:19) opening with a "big band" approach to the horn section's blasted three-part exposition of the main theme, the horns finish and leave the rhythm section to establish a cool weave of walking bass, swinging drums, and unique piano chord play (fast, slow, syncopated, quick change and long sustained chords) over which James, Freddie, and Wayne trade 30-second solo spots. I have to say that the melodies being emitted from all three horn players are quite engaging, quite enticing, earning my attention as horn solos rarely do--and Anthony's work beneath is quite animated and creative though remaining rather "quiet" and hella nuanced. McCoy gets a solo in the seventh minute--the space around him which allows the great work of Ron and Anthony to really be stick out. The horns rejoin at 7:00 in the "big band" fashion with which they opened the song--sounding so strong and great--with great harmonic rapport. I really love this song! Jazz does not get much better than this. (19.5/20)

4. "The Soothsayer" (9:36) high tempo Jazz with all of the moving parts running along as if in long-distance mode. While Ron's bass walking is impeccably timed, Anthony's drumming subtleties are so impressive and creative. McCoy is moving those chords, top and bottom, very quickly, hardly holding any one for effect as the horn players take their minute-long windows with a little more speed and aggression than any of the previous songs--yet they somehow continue to remain fairly fluid and melodic. Once again the cohesion of the whole of the six musicians' work is remarkable: they feel so synched in. How these high-speed travelers can stay in sync while still reacting to and feeding off of one another is remarkable! (I guess that's what makes for master Jazz musicians--as all of these players are.) While not quite as engaging or delectable as the previous songs, this one continues to wow me as much any of the others. (17.875/20)

5. "Lady Day" (5:31) the album's ballad, we get that slowed down, wind-down late-night feeling from Anthony's brushed drum skins, Ron's well-spaced, long-held bass notes as well as the horn players' long notes. McCoy, however, is expressing with that melodic fervor that lounge pianists are often wont to do, his phrasings dancing effortlessly, masterfully, between trills, chords, runs, and tinkles. The pianist's genius being expressed on high. When the horns play in synchrony there is a wonderful harmonic arrangement in both pitch and volume. Cool! (9.125/10)

6. "Valse Triste" (7:35) the only song on the album that is not a Wayne Shorter composition, it is a cover of a Jean Sibelius song that's been arranged/adapted by Wayne for his sextet (something I would have never guessed as I do not know much of Sibelius' work and do not even feel much of a classical presence in the chords or melodies). Anthony's drumming feels a bit out of synch with his band mates but that may, in fact, be the effect that Wayne was aiming for. The solos and piano play are all very much in the pocket for American Jazz with Freddie's resonating with me particularly strongly. I find the tempo changes within the waltz quite intriguing but the musicians seem quite unfazed by them, which is cool. Even Ron gets some time in the spotlight for parts of the sixth and seventh minutes, but it is Wayne and Freddie's work that I find the most satsifying. (13.75/15)

Total time 43:03

Switching out Speak No Evil's Herbie Hancock for McCoy Tyner and drummer Elvin Jones for young phenom Tony Williams as well as Sun Ra graduate-turned-Blue-Note-studio-musician James Spaulding was most definitely going to have the effect of ramping up both the pace and dynamic range of the music of this session. What I didn't see coming was the incredible feeling of rapport that this sextet would emanate--they just sound so smooth and relaxed despite playing Wayne's complex compositions. It makes me wonder if Miles Davis or anybody else in the Jazz or Blue Note world got wind of this album's music and repressed its release due to jealousy! I mean: Miles would've loved to have been gifted some (or all) of these songs for his Quintet albums.

A/five stars; another wonderfully-solid and accessible album of 1960s Jazz from a particularly productive compositional period of Wayne Shorter's still young life. (He was only 31 years old.) Why this album had to wait 14 years to reach the public ear is one of the travesties of Blue Note and Jazz history but here it is. Let's consider it all for the best (despite the fact that its Disco Era 1979 release as an "undiscovered masterpiece" still managed to stay pretty much under the radar--thanks to poor record label marketing and packaging).

Review by snobb — London-born reed player Shabaka Hutchings is one of the key figures on the revitalized UK new jazz scene over the last decade. His bands Sons Of Kemet (Afro-Caribbean jazz), The Comet Is Coming (space-jazz), and cross-continental project Shabaka And The Ancestors (with South African artists) were all among the best and most influential collectives around. In January 2023, Shabaka stepped away from playing the sax - his main instrument- and switched to flute (the instrument he had never played before). In 2024, he released his first solo album (as flutist) collaborating with a dozen of renowned artists, including Americans; bassist Esperanza Spalding, harpist Brandee Younger, pianist Jason Moran, and Brits; electronics wizard Floating Points and multi-instrumentalist Miguel Atwood-Ferguson among others. Shabaka's new sound became more distanced from African rhythms and adapted a more electronic, contemporary feel.

Shabaka's just released, "Of The Earth", is the continuation of his solo career, and actually is a "pure" solo album - Shabaka plays all the instruments (and uses studio possibilities) strictly by himself.

As one can expect, the new album's music is even more distanced from Shabaka's earlier collaborations. In fact, a big part of the new release has only a partial relation with jazz. Fortunately, Shabaka returns to playing the saxophone (what he always did best) - besides the flute. Other musical instruments used are wooden blocks, bells, bass pedal, synth, and probably something else. Still, rhythmically, the album's music depends a lot on generated sounds and loops.

Twelve short pieces are connected with each other in a way as if they were one spacey suite. There are tune snippets, and a lot of cosmic loops all around. Shabaka (for the first time) adds rap on two songs. "Go Astray", a lazy meditative cosmic piece, in contrast to music, contains Shabaka's lyrics on colonialism, capitalism, etc - the themes, much more usual for his early works. The other song with vocals - the closer "Eyes Lowered" lasts only a little longer than one minute and contains probably the album's concept idea: "Keep firm your spirit - They desire your soul...".

Musically, the album varies from obvious new age (the opener "A Future Untold" is a great example) to dub ("Those Of The Sky" or "Step Lightly") to knotty African rhythm scented jazz-electronica ("Dance In Praise"). Shabaka himself mentioned that one of the inspirations was Flying Lotus music.

The great thing is that Shabaka is with no doubt talented visionary, everything he does is way above the average. Still, "Of The Earth" contains very different music from his earlier works. To appreciate it or not is a listener's choice.

Review by FunkFreak75 — Pat's first "Group" lineup finds studio time for the making of their second studio album, American Garage was recorded at Long View Farm Studios in North Brookfield, Massachusetts, in June of 1979. The album was then released by ECM Records on November 1, 1979.

1. "(Cross the) Heartland" (4:54) one of those delicate, multi-part Group collaborations that explore the possibilities offered by both acoustic and electronic instruments. There is a lot of poppy shlock in the up-tempo whole-band parts while much more tension and nuance in the softer acoustic-guitar woven parts. There is also an unmistakable recent-Weather Report influence to the commerciality of this song. (8.875/10)

2. "Airstream" (6:55) Lyle's piano work in the opening minute of this feels so Midwest Americana--like something that belongs to a soundtrack of a Ken Burns production. But then when the whole band becomes involved it sounds like something from Burt Bacharach's soundtrack to the film Arthur (which won't come out for another two years). You get my point: this is very friendly, very accessible, very familiar and highly-melodic music--qualifying for admission to the Bob James School of Smooth Jazz. (I wonder if Burt, Carole, and Christopher Cross heard this album before/as they were composing the music to their award-winning Arthur soundtrack.) (13.375/15)

3. "The Search" (6:20) a Smooth Jazz palette for Lyle to show off (one of) his signature synthesizer leads: the amorphous "ghost cor anglais." (8.75/10)

4. "American Garage" (4:13) Bruce Springsteen! The rock and Americana foundations of this song are so blatant and pop-oriented as to make me feel a tremendous amount of gratitude that Pat did not continue on this path of shlock production. Again the effect of the Popular Weather Report influence is strongly present here. (8.667/10)

5. "The Epic" (12:59) another hugely Popular Weather Report Era influenced song: both the rhythmic and melodic patterns as well as the sound palette. After about three minutes, it does, however, morph into something more akin to classic Pat Metheny Group sound and then wind and wend its way through several other motifs making it definitely qualify as a suite-like "epic." The soft and gentle motif in the 10th and 11th minutes is probably my favorite--especially as it leads to a cool buildup and crescendo-lite in the 12th--before it returns to a recapitulation of the themes of a couple of the opening movements. (22.125/25)

Total Time 35:21

I'd never thought of Pat Metheny as a contributor to the Smooth Jazz movement until hearing this album. Yes, they definitely were!

B/four stars; an excellent, if temporary, foray into Weather Report-like radio-friendly Smooth Jazz.

Review by FunkFreak75 — Recorded at Studio Bauer, Ludwigsburg, Deutschland, in December of 1975; it was then released by ECM Records in June of 1976. Innovative band leader Gary Burton loves the help of great songwriters and here he's found one of his favorites in Carla Bley. Grooming yet another corps of young talent,

A1. "Dreams So Real" (6:21) beautiful renderings by Gary but something is off about the overloading bass tone of Steve Swallow as well as the mix between instruments: everything just feels too crammed into the front/foreground! Still, as an interesting and enjoyable piece of music, this kind of lounge music doesn't get much better than this. Some of Carla's melodies just creep up on the realms of "achingly-beautiful" but then seem to suddenly back off as if afraid of really going there--really committing to full-on beauty. Weird! (9.125/10)

A2. "Ictus / Syndrome" (10:24) a song that seems constructed on the whimsy of challenging stuff: as if Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood's Johnny Costa had been required to compose something chaotic to help back a particularly upsetting or disappointing event in King Friday's world of Make-Believe. Around the three-minute mark there seems to be a shift into a motif that is a bit more straightforward with Steve Swallow's walking bass lines and Bob Moses' swinging drumming--over which Pat Metheny gets some solo time. I do so enjoy the presence of the Vibraphone: even when it's in the accompanying role it brings such a nice fullness of sound to the palette--especially with the four-mallet playing approach that Gary uses (and pioneered). In the eighth and ninth minutes Gary, Pat and Mick Goodrick provide a kind of Math Rock weave to support first a nice solo by Steve Swallow on the electric bass before passing the torch to Mick before coming back together for the quick finish. (17.75/20)

A3. "Jesus Maria" (3:46) gently and slowly spaced Vibraphone notes open this one giving us the feeling like opening a Frank Sinatra ballad. In the very middle of the song Gary finally lets the main melody rise to the top where it washes through the listener like some old favorite comfort song. Thereafter his two hands (and four mallets) seem to almost play two different songs as they continue walking their own melodic paths. I can't even begin to imagine trying to play this! (9.25/10)

B1. "Vox Humana" (7:01) another song almost immediately presents a feel and combination of melodies (from the vibes, two guitars, bass, and drums) that feel so familiar--as if drawn from covering a Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons song ("You're just too good to be true, Can't take my eyes off of you, . . . " I find myself waiting for the horns.) The harmonic weave is so thick and fruitful--with so many tracks worthy of one's full attention. Again, this sounds so familiar, so poppy, that I can't believe it's all a Carla Bley composition. Beautiful Smooth Jazz/elevator music. (13.625/15)

B2. "Doctor" (4:12) the jazziest, avant-garde odd duck of the bunch, this song seems defined around mathematical ideas more than pretty melodies, using odd chord and harmonic pairings to express its melodies. It is still melodic, it's just that the melodies are carried almost exclusively by the whole band's strict adherence to a very certain, proscribed progression of oddly-aligned chords. Interesting. This is definitely avant-garde Jazz that I can sink my teeth into. (9/10)

B3. "Intermission Music" (6:30) calling a spade a spade! Yes, so much of Jazz can sound like filler--like music that might have been used to fill "intermission" patches in a theater setting--whereas Smooth Jazz feels more like "relax and feel comforted" music for whiling away the time spent in an elevator (thus, the term "elevator music"). Once again everybody in this mix feels as if they've been assigned key roles playing their independent melody lines while the over view shows that the composer had an ingenious ability to see and plan for the harmonic interconnections between all five of the melodies! Awesome! (9.125/10) Total time: 38:24

Carla Bley is quite respected--even revered--among musicians--particularly in the Jazz world--yet before this album I'd not heard anything that had really proven to me why. There is an universal singularly quirky and peculiar way in which she seems to construct her songs and present her (fine) melodies--on multiple levels--using oddly-aligned yet harmonically-interconnected chord progressions. Now I get it! Also, Gary Burton is one of the geniuses who can pull it off (the presentation of Carla's quirky music).

A-/4.5 stars; a minor masterpiece of complex compositions that are oddly smooth and oddly melodic while also feeling . . . odd. Well met, Gary & Co.!

Review by FunkFreak75 — The first glimmers of Pat Metheny Group patterns and behavior: welcome Lyle Mays and Danny Gottlieb into Pat's rather idyllic world! Welcome Pat and Lyle to the world of Manfred Eicher's ECM magic! Thank you, Eberhard for your presence and wizardry. Behold: a masterpiece of Jazz-Rock Fusion that portends a vein of the Domain that manages to remain true to the spirit of the founders and creators of the sub-genre. Recorded in February 1977 at Talent Studio in Oslo, this May 1, 1977 ECM Records release was Pat's second solo album.

1. "Watercolors" (6:30) thus begins Pat's settling into the guitar sounds and group soundscapes that have become signatory to him and his collaborations. Take this song to the 1987, 1997, or 2007 "Group" and they'd all say, "Yep. This is our sound." After only knowing Eberhard Weber for his underwater electric bass sounds for 40 years, I find it such a pleasure to hear him playing within the "confines" and expectations of a standard jazz combo. And here we have a nice introduction to Pat's life-long collaborating companion, the great Lyle Mays--here only on piano but what a great start! The melodies, skills, jazzy phrasings, and clarity of sound are such a delight to hear. While I find absolutely no fault with this song, it does not reach out and grab my heart the way many of Pat and Lyle's future tunes will. (9.333/10)

2. "Icefire" (6:08) solo Pat on his 15-string harp guitar, offering a glimpse into the eternally-curious sound-pioneering side of one of Jazz, Jazz-Rock Fusion, and progressive rock's most adventurous, creative, well-rounded, and skilled musicians. The strums of the harp chords get a little boring (thank goodness he takes a break from them in the mid-section of this), but the melody lines created by Pat's main fretboard are spellbinding and gorgeous--sometimes soul-crushingly so. (9.25/10)

3. "Oasis" (4:05) Pat opens this one by creating mirage-like waves with the finger-picking arpeggios of his 12-string guitar chords while Lyle and Eberhard support from beneath with ever-so-delicate sound waves that sound like plaintive animal cries. As nature-imitative as any music you-ll ever hear: befitting of Mark Isham's Never Cry Wolf soundtrack or something to accompany any desert videography. (9.75/10)

4. "Lakes" (4:46) a nice, melodic jazz piece that previews many future masterpieces (as well as Bob James' work for Touchdown and "Angela"). The cohesion and timing of the whole quartet is actually quite remarkable and should be duly recognized. Lyle's piano solo in the middle is, unfortunately, the only detractor from such a whole-group achievement as his role within the mix seems much more important than the expression of his own melodic ideas, and, thereafter, the band never really re-congeals as it had for the first two minutes while Pat finishes the song in the spotlight. Too bad. Those first two minutes were quite magical. (9/10)

5. "River Quay" (4:57) on this tune the band feels as if they are bending to the will and expectations of external/comercially-motived forces: here creating something that feels more fitting as a radio friendly, easy listening piece. Luckily, this will rarely be the direction Pat and Lyle forge for their music in the future. But, here we have an example of the Will Boulwaire/Rainbow-"Feel Like Makin' Love"-like direction they could have gone had they chosen. So much skill! (9.125/10)

- Suite: 6. I. "Florida Greeting Song" (2:32) some more loosely-constructed jazz that portends Pat's works with both Charlie Haden and Ornette Coleman--this despite the late establishment of a more-directional motif due to Pat's fast-strumming guitar play and Danny Gottlieb's fast-driving drumming. (4.375/5)

7. II. "Legend of the Fountain" (2:32) Spanish-sounding impressionistic jazz using nothing but Pat's solo guitar play. Quite lovely. I fail, however, to see the connection between the two movements of the "suite." (4.5/10) - 8. "Sea Song" (10:18) opening with waves of Lyle's beautiful piano conjoined with Pat gentle finger picking of fairly static chords and Eberhard's gorgeous, long-sustained soft-horn-like bowed-bass notes. In the middle of the second minute Eberhard steps back, leaving lots of space for Pat to step forward--bringing Lyle with him. The two then wanders into a mid-section in which they seem to be meandering like mice over coastal grasslands--a section that lasts for over two minutes as the two weave their melodic lines over, around, and separate from one another. Then Eberhard returns with his now-signature fretless electric "underwater bass" play (as does Danny's active mostly-metal percussion play). All in all, it's quite lovely, quite evocative of a windblown Cliffs of Dover- or Carolinian Coastal-like look out over the expanse of sea. Well done, guys! Music really does not get much better than this, folks! (20/20)

Total Time: 41:48

The skill exhibited by these musicians throughout this album is rather astounding. Couple that with the sound that Manfred Eicher produces from his ECM recording and mastering and you get one pristine album of highly-precise and skillful rendering of exceedingly-high-quality compositions.

A/five stars; a masterpiece of creative and innovative Jazz-Rock Fusion. Let the new masters and upholders of the Faith be known and worshipped!

Review by arcane-beautiful — Distracted by Thundercat has some good moments, showing off his great bass and vocal talents, but it doesn't have the impact of his previous work, like what he accomplished on his album Drunk. It is enjoyable for what it is but there is alot more that he is able to show off because of his vast talent. Some of the guest collaborations are enjoyable but it isn't the best work that they've been part of either. But it is far from a bad album. I'd give this a mid to high 6 out of 10. The track I'd recommend is What Is Left To Say.

Review by FunkFreak75 — Jeremy is here joining the CTI train, producing a modernized, pop-oriented display of Jazz-Pop with nice female vocals and expanded cast of contributors. The album was recorded in 1977 at Electric Lady Studios, New York City, on March 4 & 22 and April 11, 1977 and then released by CTI Records later in the year.

A1. "Firefly" (11:55) fine funky with lots of catchy melodic and song-twisting hooks courtesy of the sweet Minnie Ripperton-like voice of Googie Coppola and Jeremy's very spirited flute performance, there is much borrowed here from the pages of the Disco Funk-R&B that was driving all of the dance clubs (now called "Discos" in the US), the rhythm section is quite potent with Gary King, Ray Mantilla, Sue Evans, Steve Gadd, a horn section and two guitarists (Eric Gale and Hiram Bullock) and two keyboard players (Richard Tee and Cliff Carter) adding their funky injections of spice and encouragement from the wings. It would have been a fun song to dance to but it was nothing that could've generated a following much less frequent radio play--this despite Jeremy and Googie's very enjoyable performances. (22.125/25)

A2. "Living Inside Your Love" (5:28) taking a recent jazz-pop hit tune (an Earl Klugh-Dave Gruisin composition that first appeared on Earl Klugh's popular breakout album of the previous year, Living Inside Your Love) and bringing it into the fold of popular cover tunes certainly does a lot to increase the value and audience to a song. Despite the vocal track being imbedded into the weave of the music and dispersed among multiple voices, Googie Coppola's performance here is quite remarkable--like a blend between Minnie Ripperton, Patti Austin, Deniece Williams, Lani Groves, and even a little bit of Diana Ross. It's such a great song--such ear candy--that it'd be hard to ruin it even if you didn't have an amazing singer to bring it to light. (9.125/10)

B1. "Everything Is Coming To The Light" (2:58) another very pretty vocal performance from this artist that is totally new to me: Googie Coppola. Where did she come from--what's her story--and why haven't we heard more of her? The song, however, struggles to get into second or third gears (8.75/10)

B2. "Hop Scotch" (7:25) turn up the funk! This is Herbie Hancock or Billy Cobham territory! Gary King is going wild with his bass lines and Richard Tee is really holding it all together as Jeremy lays it all out there but I find myself drifting off with Ray Mantilla's easy and hypnotic conga play more often than anywhere else. John Scofield's wah-wah guitar sneaking up in the middle while Jeremy is wailing away is a cool effect, as are the deep thrums of Gary King's low-end bass chords. The specially credited piano performance (and solo) by Richie Bierbach is nothing specially--especially as the song seems to be crying out, in my opinion, for an electric keyboard. Finding out that this song is a composition of drummer-extraordinaire Joe Chambers makes me get why it sounds so much like something composed by Narada Michael Walden. (13.875/15)

B3. "Sweet Hour Of Prayer" (2:01) a Gospel spiritual played at the very lowest breathy levels on Jeremy's flute and volume as Richard Tee supports on a reverb-panning Fender Rhodes. (4.375/5)

B4. "Grasshopper" (5:17) some great cinematic Blaxploitation funk on this Jeremy Steig compostion with more amazing flute play from Jeremy BUT it's the amazing guitar-with-vocals solo by Hiram Bullock in the middle (with the awesome horn accents) that makes this song something really special! Hiram's vocal expressing during his solo even seems to inspire Jeremy to go even further in his own next solo! So cool! Great composition, arrangement, and rendering! (9.375/10)

Total Time: 35:31

A-/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of funky radio- and dance-friendly Jazz-Rock Fusion.

Review by FunkFreak75 — Recorded on February 11, 1970 and then released in May on Solid State Records.

A1. "Howlin' For Judy" (4:38) three tracks of flute, one in each of the ears and one very aggressive one front and center accompanied by Eddie and Don. It's Beatnik and Bacchanalian as well as highly repetitive yet surprisingly engaging and comforting, even soothing. (9/10) A2. "Permutations" (8:00) despite the anchoring effect of Eddie Gomez's metronomic bass line and Don's free-spirited brush play on his drum kit, Jeremy's free form flute play renders this song well within the dark basement confines of a peak-era Bohemian Beat cave. (13.125/15)

A3. "Hot-Head" (8:50) pure blues, solidified as such by guest Sam Brown's electric guitar. The musicianship is great, quite appropriate for the blues scene, but not my cup of tea. (17.333/20)

B1. "Alias (a li 'as)" (4:18) Flute with bongos floating within a hypnotic Beatnik groove of drums and double bass! After 90 seconds a second track of flute joins in on the other side of the soundscape. Kind of cool. The drumming sound feels so loose and free--and unprocessed! As if Buddy Rich were practicing in an adjacent room. I like it! (9.125/10)

B2. "Nardis" (11:02) after a long (over 110-second) flute intro the band is finally allowed to join in and finally we are allowed to hear something that immediately reminds us of the original version of John Coltrane's iconic song. Those first two minutes, however, sound a lot like the avant-garde free-jazz exploratory experimental expressions that Jeremy will use more in his next album with Eddie. Again I hear no guitar work on this song, only the trio of Jeremy's flute, the rudiments of Don's brushed drum kit, and Eddie's fingers walking the multiple pathways of the double bass. Jeremy's free-form flute melodies continue to fly their own way over the rhythm section's own seeming willy-nilliness. The play might be impressive but the music is just not enjoyable enough for me (unless I were hearing it as a soundtrack or background music in an underground cave bar.) Eddie has a nice solo in the tenth minute but, again, my puny, uneducated brain just doesn't get what this has to do with John Coltrane's "Nardis." (17.375/20)

B3. "Piece Of Freedom" (6:02) another solo flute opening of avant-garde free-jazz. At least this one is fire-spirited with Jeremy's breathwork being every bit as entertaining as the notes coming out the other end. Eddie and Don's work is loose and more reactive to one another's attempt to provide a listener something anchoring to carry them through the six minutes though I suppose that they, too, have been instructed to channel some kind of thought, idea, or emotion for their individual performances of this very loosely-tied-together weave. (8.75/10)

Total Time: 42:05

Legwork finds seasoned fusionist Jeremy Steig exploring the fusion of Jazz with world acoustic traditions as well as his bluesy Beat Generation "sit-in" forms and avant-garde free-jazz styles. This might not qualify as a true Jazz-Rock Fusion album but one must give Jeremy's his due for his already-long contributions to pushing the boundaries of traditional jazz into other realms.

B/four stars; an excellent Blue Note mix of broad spectrum music with Jeremy, Eddie, and Don all venturing further and further into the jungle realms of Avant-Garde Free-Jazz.

Review by FunkFreak75 — Recorded at A&R Studios for Blue Note Records on Feb. 11, 1970. Side two contains three Jeremy Steig compositions while Side Two contains three collaborations between Jeremy and his bass player extraordinaire, Eddie Gomez.

A1. "In the Beginning" (8:14) the quartet works so well together for this beautiful song of hope and longing. Jeremy is not as "crazed" as he can be but he still uses his instrument (and breath) in ways that surpass any other flutist of the era. Sam Brown's laid-back rhythm guitar play shows just how well he has really settled into the fold after Jeremy's previous album on which he was a newcomer. Don Alias' brushwork on the drum kit is exquisite and Eddie Gomez on his double bass knows what he's doing. (You can just tell.) The rock/blues-rock chord structure here reminds one of both the Sixties but also Jeremy's Beatnik days. The most dynamic event in this song is Eddie's almost-aggressive (rock 'n' roll!) solo in the ninth minute, otherwise, as noted, Jeremy's play is fairly tame. Nice tune. (13.75/15) A2. "Mint Tea" (5:17) a song that is oddly rooted in the Cool Jazz of the early Sixties as well as some of the Beatnik-hippy "sit-in" like sounds of the decade. Don Alias' drum work is especially expressive of a kind of loose, reckless abandon while Eddie is pretty steady until the second or third minute when he starts getting "sassy" (I don't really hear any guitar). Interesting and engaging in a happy-go-lucky kind of way. (8.875/10)

A3. "Wayfaring Stranger" (10:54) opening with free-form solo flute meanderings that are joined by incidental percussion noises and, eventually Eddie's equally free-form bass note and sound choices. Obviously, Jeremy's record label is holding fast to the now-industry-standard formulaic demands of its artists for a wide range of styles to be present in the confines of each and every single album. Unfortunately, this kind of formless Free Jazz is not, and has never been, my cup of tea. (17/20)

B1. "Waves" (5:50) another hip Cool Jazz tune that has strains of Folk and Blues shuffling to it that make for a pretty alluring groove--over which Jeremy solos as if he's a butterfly in Eric Burdon's WAR narrating a hippie's drug trip: "Do I dig that wave form?" It's so contagious--but not very demanding of its musicians. (8.875/10)

B2. "All Is One" (10:45) why is it that Jeremy chooses eleven-minute songs to convey his experimental side? To my ears his music is starting to sound either more oriental/Japanese or more avant-garde like Jan Garbarek and Terje Rypdal's scene up in Scandanavia. Not my cup of tea (though I might enjoy it as part of a soundtrack to a play or film or art exhibit or as an audience member in a dark basement café). What Eddie Gomez sees in this music that could get him excited is unfathomable to me. Perhaps they were doing a ton of drugs. At least this song is the more mellifluous of the two long avant-garde pieces.(17.333/20)

B3. "Space" (5:40) more free-form flute fluttering as the bowed caterpillar that is Eddie Gomez' double bass competes for attention in the sunny garden. As for the fit of the song's title, I might be able to stretch my imagination to feel/hear the chaotic craziness that "space" might be like--or, if those "places in-between" is the kind of space Jeremy and Eddie are meaning to celebrate or define, then I'm lost. (8.6667/10)

Total time: 46:47

Odd that of six songs only one contains the participation of guitarist Sam Brown and only three with Don Alias: the album really seems more intended to host the expression of the two other "like-minded" kindred souls on their Avant-Garde Free-Jazz adventures.

C/three stars; an album for collectors and/or those musicologists who are fortunate to have the keys to unlock the meaning and value of Avant-Garde Free-Jazz.

Review by js — There are several bands these days playing 1920s to early 30s jazz music, a time period that is often called classic jazz or hot jazz, it’s the music that came after jazz’s start in New Orleans, and before the advent of the big band swing era. Of these bands, one that really stands out is The Joymakers out of Austin Texas. Whereas other bands may be too scholarly or formal in their approach, The Joymakers remember that this was originally wild party music for gangsters, and they play with the requisite abandon teetering on chaos that makes this music really come alive. They are very knowledgeable about the music and respectful of the traditions, but they can also rock the house with an infectious energy that sets them apart. The band is lead by multi-instrumentalist, Colin Hancock, who is a walking encyclopedia of early jazz, but to hear him tear into his various horns, all you hear is the joy and abandon that comes from playing ‘hot’, high energy music.

Their latest album is called “A Texas-Sized Band”, because they have added a few more members, making the band a ten piece and adding just that much more instrumental voices to push the cacophony. The new album contains a variety of vocal numbers, usually with lyrics about boy/girt issues, plus several instrumentals as well. It’s the fast tempo instrumentals called ‘stomps’, that really stand out. Stomp was the name for the characteristic country flavored rhythm that was a favorite for regional bands that played from San Antonio to Kansas City in the late 20s. Often played at tempos that could rival a hardcore punk band, these stomps probably kick up quite a storm at Austin nightclubs. One of the best is, “The Pay Off”, whose high energy flight makes for great driving music, turn it up loud and watch that speedometer climb. The highlight in this number comes when Hancock kicks in with a ferocious baritone sax that swings and stomps and conveys a sheer joy about being alive and kicking. Not everything is pure adrenaline on here, there are some blues and other more medium tempo fare, but it’s those stomps where The Joymakers live up to their name. The album comes with a very informative booklet that goes into great detail about the Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas City regional bands of the hot jazz era.