Thanks to the plethora of Moe posts on Soundological, there's no need to cover his history here. In fact, most of the line-up has received personal attention on these pages in the multiple Koffman and/or Dr. Music posts over the last year and you need only click on the "can con" label for a full reading list. One dude involved in this set who hasn't had much mention here is long-time session guitarist Bob Mann, who has appeared on some of my favourite records (Johnny "Hammond" Smith'sWild Horses/Rock Steady, Hal Galper'sWild Bird and Chico Hamilton'sEl Exigente to name a few). Being a go-to guy for NYC session work in the early 70s and doing the same in the Toronto scene after the mid-70s, his extensive credits also place part of the blame on him for perpetrating some of the worst pop pap in recent history (Barry Manilow, Cher and Tony Orlando & Dawn anyone?). However, putting aside how he chose to earn his daily bread, his talent is not in question and most of the funky touches to be found on this LP are derived from his playing.
Speaking of which, there are a couple factors holding this album back from being truly funky in the final analysis. The first is Koffman's well-known inclination to be an early-adopter (or even follower) of musical trends and at this point in time, fusion-oriented funky jazz was beginning its metamorphosis (or is that slide?) into the super-sanitized sound that would be known as "smooth" jazz. Production-wise the album is ahead-of-the-curve in that aspect, for the most part sounding like a late 70s or early 80s outing from any major jazzbo on a major label: slick studio sheen, gated compression galore, vague world music influences, overdone overdubs and dodgy synth presets.
Another shortcoming is the compositions themselves. Most are decidedly radio-friendly MOR and although there is much in the way of technical brilliance on the album, the grittiness inherent in funk has been bleached out by safe choices and washed away with assembly-line soloing. It's almost as if everyone involved on both sides of the glass forgot they weren't working on a TV show or an advert and came to the session with that requisite clinical detachment so crucial to recording purely commercial music. For all intents and purposes, this one could have been called Jingle Man.
That's not to say the album is bad...if you like the smoother side of the genre then you'll probably find it a superb addition to your playlist. However, if you prefer an edge to your jazz then you'll likely have a hard time warming up to this marshmellow of a record. For the crate digging sample heads, there are a few treats you may find tasty but not much in the way of open breaks to be found on this short but saccharine set. Often fetching $10 or less, it's worth picking up at that price point if only for the dope Gahan Wilson cover art and the catchy title track.
1 Jungle Man 2 Monkey Strut 3 Tribal War Dance 4 Spider Lily 5 Jungle Woman 6 Tiger Claw 7 Temple Flower 8 Idono (About De Jungle) 9 It's All Right (In De Jungle)
Get lost in the jungle with SoundologicalHERE or HERE.
Every good doctor has a few tricks in their pharmacopeia for inducing sweet dreams and the good Dr. Music is no different. Rather than rendering you comatose or anesthetizing you 'til you're numb, as the album art seems to promise, this album would be more along the lines of an opiate or a mild hallucinogenic. A lot of that probably has to do with Riley's switch in preference from the brash B3 to the dulcet Rhodes for the bulk of the album but maybe even more with the fact that it was the mid-70s and everybody was high on something. Just look at the way they dressed in those days.
It's often called the best Canadian jazz album and if it isn't, it ain't far from it. What it is far from, are the first and second Dr. Music albums previously posted on Soundological. Outside of two short vocal numbers that tether the album to earthly matters (Jimmy Webb's"I Keep It Hid" and the 20s standard "She's Funny That Way"), the remainder drifts off into the free-jazz (the white-knuckled "Tickle" and the samba-tinged "Gandalf") and kozmigroove ("Take That Rollo") sectors of the galaxy on the remaining four extended pieces. Showing his contemporary influences on his sleeves, the title cut is a laid-back interpretation of Herbie Hancock's"Tell Me A Bedtime Story." It's turned into a soft ballad here and only spotlights Riley's deft touch on the Rhodes late in the game, almost as if out of deference to the composer. However, he shines in both technique and feel (as he does throughout the album) and it's a gentle comedown to return you to reality and a fitting end to softly send you to your pillow. Don Thomspon's return to the fold is surely welcome but the big addition to the line-up on this effort has to be highly-respected drummer Claude Ranger. In all probability, his stridently uncompromising nature was a major factor in the success of the free-jazz format Dr. Music put forth on this effort. How uncompromising? He was fired by Moe Koffmanon-stage, mid-set, in front of an audience in Sydney. Figuring the goings-on were shite even for a cheese-meister like Koffman, he stopped playing mid-song and refused to continue which sparked a colourful shouting match (f-bombs included) with Moe and resulted in the termination of the Claude's services on the spot - all while being taped live by Australian TV. He was that uncompromising. Or maybe it was drunk. Getting fired for getting stinko was becoming a pattern with Claude and he had been sacked the year before by his friend Lenny Breau for letting his boozing get in the way of business.
Notoriously difficult to work with, Ranger lived like a pauper in a one-room apartment because he refused to become a puppet in the commercial milieu while his colleagues in the Toronto jazz scene were making money hand-over-fist recording jingles for TV and radio ads or doing session work for pop stars. However, many of those who worked with him are effusive in their praise of his talents and the following quote from Stone Alliance'sGene Perla is typical:
Having had the opportunity to play with some of the greatest drummers(Elvin Jones, "Philly" Joe Jones, "Papa" Joe Jones, Art Blakey, RoyHaynes, Mel Lewis, Buddy Rich, Billy Higgins, etc.), I can honestlytell you that I always looked forward with extreme delight to beplaying with Claude, and he never let me down.He was a stand-alone individual and I would rank him in the same categoryas those I've mentioned above, except for one -- Elvin. Elvin was ina class by himself, and I know that Claude would agree as he told me sohimself. 07/27/2005 at 05:53:26
Unfortunately, the drug & alcohol habits that were as notorious and uncompromising as the man and his music would be his undoing, as is so often the case. Shortly after selling his cherished custom-built drum set (one of his few worldy possessions) at a rock-bottom price in the late 90s, he checked into a rehab in BC. He walked out the back door one day in 2000 and seems to have completely dropped off the face of the earth since then - his missing persons file is apparently still open with the police and he is presumed dead. The CBC aired a captivating radio documentary on this stereotypical tragic figure in 2007 called "Sticks and Stones" but it currently seems available only from Australia's ABC Radio National.
In an interview for the documentary, Don Thomspson recounts a backstage chat he was having about Ranger with avant-garde sax goliath Dewey Redmanafter a Montreal gig in the late 90s. The young drummer who was playing with Redman's band at the time enquired as to whom was the subject of their conversation. Thompson replied "Oh, Claude Ranger...he was probably the best drummer in Canada," whereupon Dewey - who came to prominence while working with Elvin Jones - interrupted to say: "Make that the world."
1 I Keep It Hid 2 Take That Rollo 3 Tickle 4 She's Funny That Way 5 Gandalf 6 Bedtime Story
Rumour has it this album is available on iTunes but I ain't installing that proprietary-format pimpmobile just to confirm it. If you like to choose for yourself what type of gizmo on which you play your 1s and 0s, until it's out on CD you can get the full story from SoundologicalHERE. (Link updated May 23, 2013)
Continuing with the Dr. Music discography, here's the second album by the pared-down unit Riley had re-assembled. Losing the powerful singers from the previous line-up, Brenda Russell (née Gordon), Terry Black, Rhonda Silver and Diane Brooks, meant more emphasis was put on the musical chops and the result was an album that is almost half instrumental. It's still rooted very much in the same free-form R&B and gospel-inflected spirit as its predecessor, although less obviously chasing radio success and more comfortable with just being itself. If Dr. Music I was the first date - more tense than relaxed, trying a bit too hard to impress - then Dr. Music II has the relaxed attitude attained after having cohabited for a few months.
One roster change made when the band shrunk from 15-piece to 7-piece was a switch to Wayne Stone on drums. No stranger to the crew, he was also in Motherlode with Kennedy and Marco and, like them, had originally come from the rock-soul garage band Grant Smith & The Power. Like Marco, who never returned to the line-up after the first outing, Stone only appears on just the one Dr. Music LP. He lays down a nice break with some sampling potential at the start of "On The Road" and does a good job of keeping it funky and swingin' enough to be more than a bluff throughout the proceedings.
Besides the vocal team, another cut from the first group is bassist/keyboardist extraordinaire Don Thomspon. One of Canada's premiere jazz bassists, he was part of the John Handy Quintet when they played Monterey in '65 and he also played on The 2nd John Handy Album which was posted a while back on Soundologicalhere. The year this particular Dr. Music album came out he was steadily working on stage and touring Canada and the U.S. as part of Paul Desmond's unit and by sometime in '74 he hooked up with Jim Hall and was off to play Europe. I'm not sure sure if it was simply his schedule that precluded him from working on this album since there is no bassist credit at all. It's most likely that the role was filled economically, and to great effect, by Riley's B3. However, Thompson would find the time to participate in Dr. Music's next outing, Bedtime Story, released the following year.
Doug Riley - keyboards Doug Mallory - lead vocals, guitar Michael Kennedy - vocals, percussion Steve Kennedy - vocals, tenor & alto sax, flute Keith Jollimore - vocals, baritone, alto & tenor sax, flute Barrie Tallman - tromboneWayne Stone - drums
1 Long Time Comin' Home 2 On The Road 3 In My Life 4 6~5 5 Tryin' Times 6 Doctor Doctor 7 Rollin' Releases 8 Where Do We Go From Here
The Dr. and Soundological make another housecall HERE. (link updated May 23, 2013)
Just tryin' to put back into the music blogosphere by fillin' in any blanks I can with out-of-print vinyl as well as the occasional mix, remix, re-edit, art or rant. But mostly vinyl. Mostly.
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