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Kenyatta recorded most of this album with some of the superstars of 60s and 70s Jamaican music, basically laying jazz licks over reggae covers of tunes from various genres. Considered one of his most successful stabs at this type of fusion, it hearkens back to the glory days of ska when jazz-infused horn sections took front stage.
Bio by his daughter Ayo for his 2004 obituary at JazzHOUSE:
Saxophonist and educator Robin Kenyatta, whose bright career included service with Sonny Stitt, Dizzy Gillespie and B.B. King, died in his sleep on Tuesday, October 26, 2004, in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he was preparing for a sold-out concert in Lucerne. He was sixty-two years old. Born Robert Prince Haynes on March 6, 1942, in Monk's Corner, South Carolina, Bobby, as he was affectionately called by his family, was the third child of Thomas and Rebecca Haynes. He moved to New York with his family at the age of four.
While in high school, at fourteen, he began playing the alto saxophone. After graduation he spent two years playing as a sideman in local clubs and had his first gig at 19 at a hotel in the mountains of the Jewish Borscht belt. In 1962 he enlisted in the Army where he played in the jazz band. During that time, he met the composer Russell Garcia and learned to write music while perfecting his sound on the tenor, alto, and soprano saxophones and flute. After two years, he went back to the clubs of New York and formed his first band, which played the music of his heroes, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane and Ben Webster. Likening his music style to that of his political idol, Jomo Kenyatta, Robert Prince Haynes forevermore became known as Robin Kenyatta.
At 23, he got his first chance to record when he supported pianist Valerie Capers on her 1965 album Portrait in Soul. The next year, he performed on Sonny Stitt's album Deuces Wild: Introducing Robin Kenyatta, which announced his arrival to the jazz world. His own first album, Robin Kenyatta: Until, released in 1968, showcased his love and savvy for avant-garde and be-bop styles.
In 1969, he went to Paris for two weeks and stayed for three years. Upon moving back to New York, he landed a contract with Atlantic Records. His version of ''Last Tango in Paris'' garnered industry respect for his incredible sound and became one of his biggest hits. While with Atlantic, he went on to record Gypsy Man, Terra Nova and Stompin' at the Savoy, the latter of which led critics to christen him "The Magician of Swing". Robin felt that American jazz was becoming too conservative and status quo and went back to Europe, where the audiences embraced him and his musical style.
While making his home in Switzerland, he traveled the world sharing his music with jazz lovers. In over thirty years in Europe he performed at some of the most esteemed jazz festivals of the world, such as the Montreux Jazz Festival, and with incomparable performers like Dizzy Gillespie, George Benson and B.B. King, just to name a few. Although not on a major record label for many years, Robin continued to record and produce albums featuring music he instinctually knew audiences wanted to hear. With a discography of over twenty records, Cool Blue, recorded in New York in 2001, was an autobiographical album that reflected the maturing of Robin's music and person, and his desire to return to his roots.
Between concerts, he taught at the Ecole de Jazz Musique Actuelle and later founded Hello Jazz Music School, both in Lausanne, Switzerland. Robin loved teaching adults and children the fundamentals of jazz while they also learned how to play various musical instruments. In 2002, this love of teaching opened the door for his return home to the United States and his reintroduction to the American jazz scene. Robin landed a job he enjoyed immensely, teaching several music courses to business students at Bentley College in Waltham, MA, the alma mater of his daughter.
January of 2003, at the Regatta Bar in Boston, marked Robin's first performance in America in over twenty years. Robin followed up that performance with several more in New York and Boston. Never one to just sit home, Robin enjoyed looking up old friends and colleagues from his early days in New York, and took great satisfaction in reintroducing himself to old fans while making new ones. Over the last year, the music that Robin became incredibly passionate about and longed to record was his jazz interpretations and arrangements of American Negro Spirituals.
A consummate professional and performer Robin loved keeping his audiences guessing as to what was next for him musically. A natural charmer with a smile that could warm the coldest heart, Robin was a musician that commanded and demanded respect of his music. His regal dress and distinctive style told the world that he was a step above the rest. He was a man who loved life and looked forward to garnering the acclaim he had once achieved in the 60's and 70's.
AMG Bio by Ron Wynn
Though an often fierce and spirited alto saxophonist, Robin Kenyatta has enjoyed a rather uneven career, particularly in terms of recordings. His best material has been in the hard bop and free vein, where his solos have been both intense and imaginative. Other times he's done more contemporary material that's been overproduced and unmemorable. Kenyatta played with Bill Dixon in the mid-'60s, and was featured during a series of New York concerts Dixon co-sponsored called "The October Revolution in Jazz." He recorded with The Jazz Composer's Orchestra, Roswell Rudd, Sonny Stitt, Dixon (Intents & Purposes), Archie Shepp (For Losers & Kwanza) and Barry Miles in the mid and late '60s, before heading his own bands. Kenyatta recorded with Alan Silva and Andrew Hill in the '70s. During the late '70s, flirted with instrumental pop (Ed.: plus discofunk and blues - he also appeared on Midnight Movers, Unltd.'s Follow The Wind, Hidden Strength's Hidden Strength and Luther Allison's Night Life); in the '80s and '90s has tried to find a comfortable middle ground between fusion, instrumental pop and his hard bop and free music roots. Kenyatta has recorded for Vortex/Atlantic, ECM, ITM and Jazz Dance.
Robin Kenyatta - Flute, Sax (Alto), Sax (Soprano)
Gladstone Anderson - Piano
Hux Brown - Guitar
Radcliffe "Dougie" Bryan - Guitar (Rhythm)
Winston Grennan - Drums
Boris Gardiner - Bass (Electric)
Winston Wright - Organ
Neville Hinds - Piano, Piano (Electric)
Clifton "Jackie" Jackson - Bass (Electric)
Sonny Burke - Organ
Ron Carter - Bass (Electric)
Carlos Garnett - Sax (Tenor)
Jonas Gwangwa - Trombone, Horn Arrangements
Ray Lucas - Drums
Ralph MacDonald - Percussion, Conga
Enrico Rava - Trumpet
Pat Rebillot - Piano, Piano (Electric)
Betty Davis - Vocals
1 Temptation Took Control of Me (And I Fell)
2 Need Your Love So Bad
3 Terra Nova
4 You Are the Sunshine of My Life
5 Freedom Jazz Dance
6 Mother Earth (Provides for Me)
7 Touch
8 Island Shakedown
AMG Review by Thom Jurek
Backing off a bit from the outright funky fusion of 1972's Gypsy Man, Terra Nova nonetheless finds saxophonist Robin Kenyatta still indulging his newfound love of electricity and rhythmically altered jazz-funk tempered by his newfound love of Caribbean music. This Michael Cuscuna-produced date showcases Kenyatta's alto in three different settings -- though half of them feature him in an octet with a pair of electric guitarists and two pianists, an organist, bassist, drummer, and no less than Ralph MacDonald on percussion. The feel on most of these cuts is informed by bubbling funky reggae and calypso. Eric Kaz's "Temptation Took Control (And I Fell)" and " Mother Earth (Provides for Me)," Stevie Wonder's "You Are the Sunshine of My Life," Eddie Harris' "Freedom Jazz Dance" and the originals "Island Shakedown" and the title track (that add saxophonist Carlos Garnett, trumpeter Enrico Rava, and trombonist Jonas Gwangwa), are all drenched in these rhythms. The remaining two numbers include a tough, Ray Charles- inflected soul-jazz version of Little Willie John's "Need Your Love So Bad," and the straight up proto-smooth jazz tune "Touch." These latter two numbers make the recording feel a bit schizy, but nonetheless extremely enjoyable -- though in 1973 it must have felt like it was coming from left-field -- and has dated well. This is a prime example of the wide range of musical interests Kenyatta attempted to integrate during the '70s. Wounded Bird finally made this set available on CD in 2008.
Discography:
1967 Robin Kenyatta: Until
1969 Beggars & Stealers at Nine Sisters
1970 Girl From Martinique at Mutant Sound + People/Profit
1972 Gypsy Man excerpts at vinyl4giants
1972 Looking For A Free State at the growing bin
1973 Terra Nova at Soundological
1974 Stompin' At The Savoy
1976 Encourage The People at My Favourite Sound
1979 Take The Heat Off Me
1987 Live at Cully: Blues for Mama Doll
1991 Ghost Stories
2001 Cool Blue
If you're not familiar with Robin Kenyatta territory then Soundological is happy to help you explore new lands HERE or HERE.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
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CD rip & scans from TVT 5210-2
Critical darlings from the early 90s, D*Note were among the vanguard of those trying to bring jazz into the post-acid house era. Although technically a one-man band, Matt Winn collaborated with a tight-knit circle of friends connected to the Dorado/Filter label consisting primarily of Matt Cooper, Charlie Lexton (older brother to Jamie AKA Kid Loops) and Ceri Evans, with help early on from Gary Crosby (of Nu Troop and Jazz Jamaica). As the 90s petered out and the global house scene became an unstoppable phenomena, Matt W and crew kept with the times and scored a hit single in 2002 with Shed My Skin. As broken beat brought back a heavier reliance on jazz and polyrhythms in the earlier half of this decade, he followed suit and released Laguna. You can hear some of it yourself since Winn's posted a few tracks on his MySpace page.
Discogs Bio
The skills behind D*Note's brand of jazz, rap & rare groove belong chiefly to Matt Winn (Matt Wienevski), who is helped by scratcher Charlie Lexton (Cool Breeze) & occasional keyboard player Matt Cooper (who records for Dorado in his own right as Outside). Their debut album housed the singles Now Is The Time, Bronx Bull, Scheme Of Things & The More I See, each of which enjoyed good reviews in their original formats. Criminal Justice the 2nd album, built on the energy level of the debut & included stand out tracks like the title, Inquinity Worker and the monumental The Garden Of Earthly Delights with a stand out performance by vocalist Pamela Anderson, a regular on the first three albums, who for obvious reasons changed her name to PY Anderson later on.
Other collaborators on the 1st albums include Ceri Evans (Sunship), singer Dee Major & rappers Navigator and Krazy Cool D-Zine. Only Anderson resurfaced on the slightly disappointing third album, where D*Note moved in a more conventional housier direction. It does include one of their best anthems though, the moving Waiting Hopefully again starring Anderson. 4 Hero & Deep Dish graced the 12" versions with topnotch remixes.
AMG Review by John Bush
By the time of D*Note's second album, acid jazz had begun to get a bit stale, so Winn & Co. expanded the range of their sound, incorporating a bit of ragga-jungle on the title track (with chatting by MC Navigator), mainstream house on "Garden of Earthly Delights" (with the vocals of Pamela Anderson, sister of Jhelisa), and ambient jazz on "Deep Water." Despite the diversity, D*Note never fails to lose their character through it all, and the acid-jazz fusion comes off remarkably well.
Matt Winn - Composer, Flute, Drum Solos, Producer
Matt Cooper - Piano
Gary Crosby - Acoustic Bass
Pamela Anderson - Vocals
Dee Major - Vocals
Joy Malcolm - Vocals
MC Navigator - Vocals
Ceri Evans - Piano, Producer
Charlie Lexton - Producer
1 Criminal Justice
2 A Place In The City
3 Deep Water
4 Iniquity Worker
5 Perspex
6 Solomon's Blade
7 Flesh And Blood
8 V
9 The Garden Of Earthly Delights
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EXTRAS
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Cool Breeze - Acoustic Blues
Cool Breeze - Can't Deal With This (Kid Loops Remix)
Cool Breeze - Can't Deal With This
Cool Breeze (Special Projects) - 27 Years of Solitude
D-Note - Iniquity Worker (Devil's Work Mix)
D-Note - Now Is the Time
D-Note - The Garden Of Earthly Delights (X-Press 2 Radio Edit)
D-Note - Waiting Hopefully (4 Hero Remix)
D-Note - Waiting Hopefully (Faze Action Dub)
Steve Reich - Piano Phase (D*Note's Phased & Konfused mix) from Reich Remixed.
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Greetings, reader! You may have noticed a reduction in the pace of posts recently. I'm moving house in a few days, so unfortunately posts will be intermittent (and probably a bit briefer) for the next couple weeks. I'll try to post and respond to comments as much/soon as I can as well. Don't worry, it'll be back to business as usual once the dust settles. As a special treat, there may also be the occasional guest post -- starting with this essential slab brought to you courtesy a good friend of Soundological, Julian from playjazzloud. If you appreciate the post, don't sleep on peepin' his site. It's chock-full o' podcasty goodness and other musical delights!
Boomp3.com86.7 MB192 CBR LAME mp3Very excited about our first guest post on Soundological. We've been big fans of the blog at playjazzloud HQ and hope that our post can come close to the high standards set. Glass Bead Games is not the rarest piece of jazz vinyl you'll come across but it is certainly an LP that you must have in your collection, period. This is the kind of record that will have you looking at the tracklist whenever your iTunes shuffle finds a track from the album.
Here's what Dusty Groove has to say about Clifford Jordan's best record...
An essential bit of 70s soul jazz -- a real standout in both the catalogs of tenorist Clifford Jordan, and the Strata East label! This is one of those few records where every element is perfect, and all players rise together to a new level of expression -- and we'd easily rank this one right up there with John Coltrane's A Love Supreme or Pharoah Sanders' Kharma for sheer magnitude of sound and message! Clifford Jordan is at the height of his tenor powers -- cutting sharp lines, stretching out his notes, and hitting all these dark edges that had never appeared in his work -- and the rest of the group is great too -- with Stanley Cowell on piano, Bill Lee on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums. Higgins is amazing, and gives the set a sort of lyrical freeplay that makes Jordan's hard solos come alive in a magical way -- and Cedar Walton also plays piano on a few numbers, pushing things forward with the sense of warmth and imagination that always made him a treat in the 70s! Every cut's a winner, and the set list includes "John Coltrane", "Alias Buster Henry", "Glass Bead Games", "Biskit", and "Bridgework". Great stuff, and a huge amount of music!
1 Powerful Paul Robeson
2 The Glass Bead Games
3 Prayer To The People
4 Cal Massey
5 John Coltrane
6 Eddie Harris
7 Biskit
8 Shoulders
9 Bridgework
10 Maimoun
11 Alias Buster Henry
12 One For Amos
Download HERE or HERE.
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Vinyl rip & scans from Motown S7-751R1
If you've read the previous post or followed the links to his bio therein, you're aware of Major Lance's history and how his career was interrupted (well, basically ended) when he was busted dealing coke. That occurred the same year this LP came out, which (like the Garnett Mimms posted here a while back) was the first full-length of new material from the soulster in a decade. It's a hodge-podge affair and a little uneven, but there are some nice grooves in there as his classic Chicago soul gets an updating that isn't quite full-on disco or funk but has enough of both to pass for either in '78. Having another Mayfield grad and childhood buddy named Otis Leavill on board helped as well.
Major's voice had matured well and sounds less overtly like Jackie Wilson, having that smokey quality which creeps in with life experience. Unfortunately, the material is so-so and most of the arrangements non-descript. Normally that would highlight his vocal talent but here it just works against Major's favour and dilutes his contributions. If he had a proper manager (and looking over his career path it seems fairly plain that wasn't the case), he would have likely made a decent quiet storm jam or got into some smooth jazz crooning because this not only isn't the best showcase for his qualities, it simply got lost in the glut of disco cash-ins that was flooding the market at the same time.
1 I Never Thought (I'd Be Losing You)
2 Wild & Free
3 Chicago Disco
4 Do The Mess Around
5 How My Love Goes
6 Think About The Love We Had
7 Troubles
8 Love Pains
9 It's All Over
AMG Review by Andrew Hamilton
Major scored a series of hits on the Okeh label, most written by his childhood friend Curtis Mayfield. He does Mayfield's "Wild & Free" but fails to outshine the original. The best songs on Now Arriving are the two party jams, "Chicago Disco," and "Do the Mess Around"; you can do a mean Errol Flynn on the latter. The single "I'd Never Though" has no bite and little charm, but he displays his versatility on Harry Belafonte's "Troubles." The rest is unmemorable.
Soundological offers you a chance to see if your memory will be any different HERE or HERE.
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Major Lance was a popular soul star in the 60s, riding the crest of Curtis Mayfield's wave as it washed over Chicago and then the rest of the world. Curtis was a staff producer at Okeh and was cranking out souls hits for its stable of acts as well as his Impressions on ABC. Major was one of those artists and he enjoyed his highest level of artistic and commercial during his years at the label. In fact, Curtis wrote music and lyrics for all but two of these hits; all in the Top 40, most in the Top 10 and "The Monkey Time" hit #2 in 1963. That same year the Impressions reached #1 on the pop and R&B charts with "It's Alright" and in the next year he would write a spate of hits, with five tracks making it to the top of both Pop & R&B charts, "Keep On Pushin'" likely the best known. During the time Major Lance was under his stewardship, Mayfield was on fire.
Much of this success should also be credited to Carl Davis (one of the unsung heroes of soul as mentioned in his AMG bio and a personal fave producer) and Johnny Pate, who also contributed arrangements for most of these tunes. Those three cats were basically responsible for what's known as the "Chicago Soul" sound which AMG describes as "a sound based on laid-back yet effervescent soul, with sweet vocals and a stinging horn section." Personally, that's my favourite brand of soul and R&B from the 60s and often the 70s as well.
I had a discussion about "desert island discs" with WeFunk's Professor Groove at our nascent Rockdeep night, back at the turn of the century. Already an avowed hardcore Curtis fan for over a decade, I claimed if I had to choose between the output of Mayfield and James Brown in an either/or proposition then it would be Curtis in a heartbeat - as much as I love the Godfather, his breadth and depth just can't match. I took a lot of stick from the funkster's round table for it at the time but I'll stand by that statement no matter what. I think the Prof sees where I'm coming from these days, though!
1 The Monkey Time
2 Come See
3 Sometimes I Wonder
4 Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um
5 Girls
6 Sweet Music
7 Ain't It A Shame
8 Hey Little Girl
9 The Matador
10 Rhythm
11 Ain't No Use
12 Gotta Get Away
Extras:
Follow The Leader
Gonna Get Married
I'm The One Who Loves You
It's The Beat
Since You've Been Gone
Think Nothing About It
You Don't Want Me No More
You'll Want Me Back
You're Everything I Need
A few of the extras were culled from my copy of the 1995 comp Curtis Mayfield's Chicago Soul and the rest were accumulated over the years and ripped from vinyl comps & 45s or dl'ed from slsk/kazaa/napster. You don't see too much Major Lance floating around the blogs, which is a shame since you'd think that someone so popular, with such a wonderful voice and such superb material would have a higher profile.
Perhaps it was the post-Okeh output that caused the public to lose interest or the fact he (like so many of Chicago's soul survivors) was overshadowed by Curtis in later years. Unfortunately, as his popularity waned and he got into sketchier aspects of the music industry he was eventually arrested for dealing the bolivian botox in the late 70s. Outside of the Northern Soul scene in the UK he's pretty much fallen by the wayside but, to quote fellow Chicagoans the Chi-Lites, he was too good to be forgotten.
If you dig a bit, you can find any of numerous greatest hits collections on various (mostly budget) labels with little difference in track listings. The one posted by Soundological is the 1st put out by Okeh and was distributed in Canada by Epic, so likely a 1976 reissue (Epic released two of their own Major Lance compilations that year). I've had this since the late 80s but every once in a while I come across it in a store for $5 - $10 and pick it up anyway. Until you have the same luck, you can listen to more sweet urban soul by one of the premier performers from the Curtis & Okeh camp HERE or HERE.
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Vinyl rip & scans from Westbound W-205
Houston Person is regarded as the man who took up Gene Ammons' Boss Tenor crown and has continued holding the torch high and still going strong at the age of 74. This was one of the Westbound sessions sought after by acid jazz and jazzfunk afficianados but is hardly ever checked in his discographies (AMG and Discogs for example). Next to no info on the cover or anywhere else here regarding the musicians involved. Since one funky insurance salesman named Ed Nuccilli is named as arranger shortly after Motown parted ways with both Detroit and him the previous year, it's likely members of his Plural Circle Big Band Orchestra at the time were present. That's about as narrowed down as it gets.
The fact arranger and producer extraordinaire Jimmy Roach lent a hand doesn't help much since he was in the same boat after Motown moved in '74. Knowing it was cut at Artie Fields Studio is no help, since it was a motor city mainstay and everyone from MC5 to Gladys Knight & The Pips recorded there. The studio didn't have a house band near as I can tell and simply provided the room & board, in this case under the supervision of another Motown strandee named Ken Sands. The liner notes thank Westbound founder Armen Boladian (the sample troll), The Detroit Emeralds' Abe Tilmon and someone named Mariam Lampkin who never existed as far as Google is concerned. The other Houston Person LP on Westbound I own is Get Out'a My Way! and there's little variance on the info quotient there. So, at the end of it all, the players are still a mystery and even poking around the Soulful Detroit Archives (which is usually a treasure trove of inside info) yielded little.
Best guess would be this was recorded at the same time as another Westbound obscurity, Etta Jones '75 (W-203), for which Houston was bandleader and made his debut as a producer. It was her first album in 10 years since Etta Jones Sings and after that LP, Houston and her enjoyed a 33 year working relationship. It was also her last kick at the funky can as their next sides were for Muse and notable for being early returns to straight-ahead jazz in the fusion and funk-filled heydey and the style to which she would remain faithful until her passing in 2001.
Dusty Groove's review:
Houston hits a funky groove for Westbound -- not as hard, heavy, and Prestige-sounding as his work on the now-dead Eastbound label, but also not too bad either. The overall sound is more produced, and there's some cuts that have a smoother tenor sound than you're used to with Houston. Titles include "Shotgun", "500 Gin Rummy", "All In Love Is Fair", "Funky Sunday Afternoon", and "A Touch Of Bad Stuff".
Houston's selected* discography:
1966 Underground Soul! at My Favourite Sound 2.0
1967 Chocomotive
1967 Trust in Me
1968 Blue Odyssey at My Favourite Sound 2.0
1968 Soul Dance! at My Favourite Sound 2.0
1969 Goodness at My Favourite Sound 2.0
1969 Jamilah
1970 Truth! at My Favourite Sound 2.0
1970 Person To Person at My Favourite Sound 2.0
1970 The Best of Houston Person (Prestige) at My Favourite Sound 2.0
1971 Houston Express at My Jazz World
1972 Broken Windows, Empty Hallways at My Jazz World
1972 Sweet Buns & Barbeque at My Favourite Sound 2.0
1972 The Big Horn
1973 The Real Thing at My Favourite Sound 2.0
1975 Houston '75 at Soundological
1975 Get Out'a My Way! at Disco Magic
1976 Stolen Sweets at My Jazz World
1976 Pure Pleasure at My Jazz World
1977 Harmony at My Jazz World
1977 Lost & Found
1977 Wildflower at My Favourite Sound 2.0
1977 The Nearness of You
1978 The Gospel Soul of Houston Person
1980 Very Personal
1980 Suspicions at My Jazz World
1985 Always On My Mind at My Jazz World
1987 Talk Of The Town at My Favourite Sound 2.0 + BeeQ
1989 The Party at BeeQ
1990 Why Not at Good Jazz Was Recorded To Stay
1990 Now's The Time w/ Ron Carter at My Favourite Sound 2.0
1991 The Lion & His Pride at My Favourite Sound 2.0
1998 My Romance at BeeQ
1999 Soft Lights at BeeQ
* Since original posting this, master jazz scholar Doug Payne has posted a very thorough discography here and an in-depth review of his "lost" Mercury years here. As with all of Mr. Payne's informative writings, these are highly recommended!
This one is really off the radar, so Soundological thought you might like a chance to listen to it for yourself HERE or HERE.
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Vinyl rip & scans from Groove Merchant GM-3314
See yesterday's post for the full 411 on McGriff's 70s period and composer/arranger/conductor Brad Baker. I don't find this one as strong as Mean Machine, probably due to the lack of giants such as Joe Thomas and Cornell Dupree on this effort. The Brecker Brothers and veteran session men Jon Faddis & Alan Rubin try their best on the horn side, but it's still a little shy of Joe's blowing.
Jimmy McGriff - Organ, Acoustic Piano, Clavinet & Electric Piano
Bob Babbitt - Bass
Jerry Friedman - Guitar
Lance Quinn - Guitar
Pat Rebillot - Keyboards
Barry Lazarowitz - Drums
Gary Mure - Drums
Alan Rubin - Trumpet
Jon Faddis - Trumpet
Randy Brecker - Trumpet
Barry Rogers - Trombone
Dave Taylor - Trombone
George Young - Saxophone
Lew Delgatto - Saxophone
Mike Brecker - Saxophone
Jimmy Maelen - Percussion
Viola - Julian Barber, Seymour Berman
Violin - Carol Webb, Harold Kohan, Harry Cykman, Harry Glickman, Harry Lookofsky, John Pintavalle, Norman Carr, Peter Dimitriades, Richard Sortomme, Tony Posk
Cello - Jesse Levy, Kermit Moore
Vocals - David Lasley, Arnold McCullen
Producer - Sonny Lester
1 Red Beans
2 Big Booty Lounge
3 Space Cadet
4 Cakes Alive
5 Sweet Love
6 Love Is My Life
Dusty Groove's review:
Jimmy McGriff picks up a few more keyboards than straight Hammond organ -- but that's ok with us, given the great results of the set! The album's got McGriff working on electric piano and clavinet alongside the organ -- plus supporting arrangements from Brad Baker, in that fuller, Kudu-styled approach to jazz funk that Groove Merchant used strongly in the mid 70s -- a slightly smoother sound than before, but still plenty darn great, and definitely filled with more than enough jazz to keep things real! Pat Rebillot plays some additional keyboards on the album -- in that funky style he used well at the time -- and there's almost a spacey Fantasy Records quality to some of the best numbers here! Titles include the incredible tripped out break cut "Space Cadet", plus "Love Is My Life", "Sweet Love", "Big Booty Bounce", "Red Beans", and "Cakes Alive".
Doug Payne's review:
RED BEANS was the second of Jimmy McGriff's disco productions guided by Groove Merchant house arranger, Brad Baker (whose best work always featured McGriff). McGriff helms most of the six disco tunes here on instruments other than his familiar Hammond B-3. He leads on clavinet for "Red Beans," piano for "Space Cadet" and "Love Is My Life," electric piano for "Cakes Alive" and, finally gets back to the organ for the regrettably titled "Big Booty Bounce." McGriff riffs well, as expected, on the disco rhythms and, surprisingly, distinguishes himself on other keyboards with the same kind of soul and wit that's made him recognizable on the organ. The moodiest tracks ("Space Cadet," "Love Is My Life") are the best features for McGriff and Michael Brecker is also heard soloing on "Red Beans" and "Cakes Alive." All six tracks of this 1976 LP were issued on a 1994 CD that also included four of the six songs from THE MEAN MACHINE.
Going into the hundreds of sessions the brothers did together and individually would be silly. The best thing would be to check their credits on AMG and see how many albums you already own on which they appear. They're best known for their evergreen single "Some Skunk Funk" which appears on countless jazzfunk compilations. If you're interested in more of their output as a team then you might want to check out the following releases as a duo during their first fertile period:
1975 Brecker Bros. (recently reissued)
1975 Back to Back at Proyectos de Futuro
1976 The Bijou Cafe (live) (bootleg) at dexondaz
1977 Don't Stop the Music at mec fais tourner les skeuds
1978 Blue Montreux [live]
1978 Heavy Metal Be-Bop (live) at The Sky Moves Sideways
1980 Detente at Proyectos de Futuro1980 Straphangin' at Best of...Both Worlds
If you're just lookin' for the money, grab the East River best of from 1997.
If it's Red Beans you're after, Soundological serves 'em up on a PVC platter HERE and HERE
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