Acoustic Guitar, Guitar [Amplified], Twelve-String Guitar, Bass Guitar – Ron English
Backing Vocals – Fito Foster
Drums – Victor Reeves
Drums, Percussion – Ronald Johnsons
Electric Guitar – Skeets Curry (tracks: A1)
Electric Piano, Clavinet, Mellotron, Synthesizer – Kenny Cox
Soprano Saxophone, Flute – Buzz Jones
Vocals – Ursula Walker
In 1974, Strata Records Inc. was well known in Detroit for their art gallery, live music venue and record label, turning out records by artists like Kenny Cox and Lyman Woodard. In 2012, nearly 4 decades later, Scion commissioned DJ Amir Abdullah to research and create an exhibit based on lost youth culture in Detroit for a new online museum. Familiar with the history of Strata Inc., Amir decided the best way to define the era was through the lens of the labels brief but potent influence on the city’s culture. Inspired by this project, Amir set out to re-introduce the world to Strata Inc. through his own label, 180 Proof Records.
The Lyman Woodard Organization’s Saturday Night Special (1975) is perhaps the jewel of the label, but the LP that was to follow – Cox’s unreleased Clap Clap! The Joyful Noise, is at the same time radical and sublime. It’s a visionary work, inspired by both the innocence and zeal of his 3-year-old son, Philip, and also the culture of Latin America and Caribbean lands Cox admits in the album’s original liner notes that, “oddly enough…I’ve never seen.”
The title track, “Clap Clap! The Joyful Noise” is a frolicking bossa groove awash in the gentle sound of waves one can imagine lapping against the shores of Brazil’s Praia da Fazenda, or perhaps the Taipus de Fora. “Samba de Romance” teems with the mischievous tones of two lovers playing not cat and mouse, but cat and cat (!), until the chase ends in a passionate nighttime rendezvous in sultry island air.
The pulsating bounce of “Island Song,” with its mood set by Moore’s vibrant flugelhorn and the percussion of Ronald Johnson and Nengue Hernandez, is just about everything one would imagine an island song to be, while “Lost My Love” is really “Feel Like Making Love” in delicious disguise and the album’s close, “Beyond The Dream,” is a 13-minute enlivening, reflective odyssey on everything one has lived, and all that remains to be achieved.
This previously unreleased masterpiece by Kenny Cox has been remastered from the original reel to reel masters, along with the artwork, extensive liner notes and never seen before photos.
The album's a lost gem from the Strata label – home to Lyman Woodard's Saturday Night Special album – and there's definitely a side to this record that's shared with that one – a bit more laidback, definitely, but equally soulful, and mixed with spiritual jazz elements that echo the style of Kenny's Tribe Records contemporaries on the Detroit scene.
Other players include Charles Moore on flugelhorn, Buzz Jones on soprano sax and flute, Ron English on bass, and Skeets Curry on electric guitar – and in addition to Fender Rhodes, Cox also plays clavinet, mellotron, and Arp as well! The set's got a bit of vocals – from Fito Foster and Nengue Hernandez – but the main focus is instrumental, and the long tracks really have the group spinning out beautifully.
Recorded November 26, 1969 at GM Recording Studios, East Detroit, Michigan.
Bass – Ron Brooks
Drums – Danny Spencer
Piano – Kenny Cox
Tenor Saxophone – Leon Henderson
Trumpet – Charles Moore
Detroit native Kenny Cox (who preferred Kenn to Kenny) was born on November 8, 1940. He began playing music on trumpet, and studied at the Detroit Conservatory of Music from 1949-1958, but had given up the horn for the piano as a freshman at Cass Tech High School in 1956, where he started with the piano. Upon graduation from Cass Tech in 1958, he attended the Detroit Conservatory of Music from 1949-1958 and the Detroit Institute of Music Arts from 1959-1961. Cox then left for New York City, where he connected with Etta Jones and was her accompanist and music director until 1966, also working on occasion with Helen Humes and Ernestine Anderson. He returned to Detroit and joined a legendary hard bop quintet led by trombonist George Bohannon. Emerging as a modern jazz composer inspired by the music of the ’60s and the political and cultural landscape of Detroit, Cox also produced a weekly radio program, Kaleidophone, on WDET, and was the station’s director of community access programming.
In 1967 he had written enough material to record two albums for the Blue Note label, and formed the Contemporary Jazz Quintet with Ron Brooks, Charles Moore, Leon Henderson, and Danny Spencer. It was a breakthrough ensemble in modern jazz, in many ways paralleling the work of Miles Davis. In addition, the trip to New York allowed him opportunities to perform with the likes of Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Eddie Harris, Jackie McLean, Roy Haynes, Ben Webster, Wes Montgomery, Kenny Dorham, Joe Williams, Philly Joe Jones, and fellow Detroiters Kenny Burrell, Donald Byrd, Roy Brooks, Charles McPherson, and Curtis Fuller. CJQ changed with the times in the electronic-infused ’70s, adding second drummer Bud Spangler, guitarist Ron English, keyboardist Phil Mendelson, and others in what was dubbed an “infinite Q.” Cox and a group of self-determining musicians formed the Strata co-operative, produced a line of albums, publications, and performance opportunities from 1970-1977. Cox remained active, but remained nationally obscure in the ’80s; he played in the metropolitan Detroit area, and appeared with his Guerilla Jam Band, at times featuring Regina Carter, James Carter, Marion Hayden, Rodney Whitaker, Ange Smith, Shahida Nurullah, Fred Johnson, Tani Tabbal, Jaribu Shahid, Craig Taborn, Alex Harding, Cassius Richmond, Francisco Mora, Ralph Jones, Phil Lasley, Vincent Bowens, and Donald Walden, performing at several Montreux-Detroit Jazz Festivals. He also had select compositions covered by the Jazz Crusaders, Rodney Whitaker, Eldee Young, Marshall Vente, and Norman Connors, among others.
He formed the Societie of the Culturally Concerned, became an adjunct professor at Wayne State and Michigan State Universities, lived in Las Vegas teaching for a brief stint, and was an instructor for the Cal State Summer Arts program. In Detroit he led a trio featuring Bert Myrick and Marion Hayden and the percussion-oriented larger ensemble Drum with Djallo Djakate Keita, Mahindi Masai, Igbo, and Greg Cook. In addition, he published a book of compositions, And Then I Wrote…The Music World of Kenn Cox, composed a jazz mass, and collaborated with the band Eternal Wind, featuring former CJQ member Charles Moore and percussionist Adam Rudolph, who had worked with Yusef Lateef. Blue Note reissued the recordings Introducing Kenny Cox and Multidirection on CD in 2007. In the spring of 2008, Cox was given a lifetime achievement award by the Southeastern Michigan Jazz Association. He died of lung cancer at his home in Detroit on December 19, 2008 at the age of 68.
Multidirection has as much in common with Blue Note's mildly avant-garde releases of the early '60s as it does the soul-based output typical of 1969. In this sense, one could compare it to Andrew Hill's Grass Roots or Jackie McLean's Jacknife, as soulful yet mildly dissonant hard bop is the order of the day here as well. The most profound difference between the three is the relative absence of household names on Multidirection. Trumpeter Charles Moore contributes three interesting -- if not entirely memorable -- tunes featuring choppy, stutter-step heads. Cox supplies the rest, all of which are decidedly more hard bop in nature. The flying cymbal patterns of drummer Danny Spencer are particularly interesting, as his rapid-fire, tension/release hi-hat style sounds a like a virtual carbon copy of Tony Williams as heard on early avant-garde classics such as Evolution and Out to Lunch. This may delight some listeners and bother others, as Spencer's chops are adequate but nowhere near as tight and tastefully flamboyant as those of the brilliant Williams. Similarly, the group's collective response to Moore's solo on "Snuck In" is again reminiscent of the high-modernist sound on Evolution, though this time it reminds one of Lee Morgan's passage on "Air Raid." Unfortunately, neither Morgan or Williams were present on this date, making it enjoyable but, like a reasonably good sports franchise, lacking the starpower to take it to the next level.
Whereas their first album sounded like a deliberate attempt to play 61 jazz in 68 for no other reason than to be the only group doing so, on this one they've jacked the post-bop quotient way the hell up to the point that it sounds awfully similar to 1965-era Andrew Hill. So you could say it's still stuck in the past, but it's stuck in a significantly more interesting/adventurous part of jazz's past than their first is.
Introducing Kenny Cox and The Contemporary Jazz Quintet
01. Mystique 4:40
02. You 5:25
03. Trance Dance 6:00
04. Eclipse 5:47
05. Number Four 10:45
06. Diahnn 8:35
Bass – Ron Brooks
Drums – Danny Spencer
Piano – Kenny Cox
Tenor Saxophone – Leon Henderson
Trumpet – Charles Moore
Originally released in 1968, Introducing Kenny Cox and the Contemporary Jazz Quintet is the first recording by the storied and somewhat lesser known Detroit ensemble. Led by pianist Cox, the Contemporary Jazz Quintet featured saxophonist Leon Henderson (brother of Joe Henderson), trumpeter Charles Moore, bassist Ron Brooks, and drummer Danny Spencer. Interestingly, this group is perhaps best known for its connection to the legendary Detroit rock group the MC5 as both Moore and Henderson performed on the band's 1971 cut "Sister Anne." Cox himself was well established in the Detroit scene by the time of this recording having studied at the competitive Cass Tech High School and the Detroit Conservatory of Music as well as performed with a who's who of Detroit players including Yusef Lateef. Though well-versed in the traditions of jazz standards and bop, Cox and his ensemble resembles most closely here the classic Miles Davis quintet of the mid- and late '60s. But rather than merely aping Davis, the Contemporary Jazz Quintet had a muscular and urban group sensibility all its own. In that sense, this is fiery, expansive, and cerebral post-bop of the highest order.
Detroit native Kenny Cox was born in 1940. He began playing music on trumpet, but switched to the piano, attending the Detroit Conservatory of Music/ Institute of Music Arts. After graduation he left for New York City, where he connected with Etta Jones and was her accompanist and music director until 1966. The spell in New York also allowed him opportunities to perform with the likes of Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Jackie McLean, Kenny Dorham, and fellow Detroiters Kenny Burrell and Donald Byrd (who of course left Detroit to pursue their careers )
Cox developed as a modern jazz composer inspired by the music of the ’60s and the political and cultural landscape of Detroit. By 1967 he had written enough material to record two albums for the Blue Note label, forming the Contemporary Jazz Quintet. It was a breakthrough ensemble, in many ways paralleling the development of Miles Davis.
In the electronic-infused ’70s, CJQ changed with the times, adding second drummer, keyboards, and guitar, in what was dubbed an “infinite Q.”. Cox also formed the Strata co-operative, and with other musicians, produced a line of albums, publications, and performance opportunities. In the ’80s; Cox remained active but nationally obscure, playing in the metropolitan Detroit area, and appeared with his Guerilla Jam Band, performing at several Montreux-Detroit Jazz Festivals.
He was taken on as a professor at Wayne State and Michigan State Universities, and enjoyed a brief stint teaching in California. Back in Detroit, he led a trio, published a book of compositions, And Then I Wrote…The Music World of Kenn Cox, collaborating with former CJQ member Charles Moore’s band Eternal Wind (an unfortunate name, which prompted LJC to wince, Chronic Flatulence? )
In the spring of 2008, Cox was given a lifetime achievement award by the Southeastern Michigan Jazz Association. He died of lung cancer at his home in Detroit at the end of 2008, age 68.
Quite an introduction, we might agree. Lead by Cox, Moore and Henderson's brass ramblings might feel somewhat 1965, given how progressive Jazz was way back yonder, for that we should be grateful, this "old" style soon to give way to more funky excursions from the likes of Miles, Herbie, Wayne et al. The rhythm section of Spencer and Brooks is absolutely sparkling, which goes without saying for pretty much each and every Jazz combo of that generation. Great production too, capturing the vitality while still coming out fresh, Rudy Van Gelder and Francis Wolff dab-hands at such nuances.
Joe Chambers - piano (tracks 1-4), electric piano (track 2), tabla, (track 2), cymbal (tracks 2 & 3), drums (tracks 5 & 6)
Larry Young - organ (tracks 1-3, 5 & 6), synthesizer (track 2)
A spacey album of keyboard duets between Joe Chambers and the great Larry Young! The album was recorded shortly before Larry passed away, and it features him and Chambers on a number of different keyboards -- electric, acoustic, and organ -- plus additional drums by Chambers on a few tracks. The overall sound is very spare -- much more laidback than the hard-jamming fusion of Larry's Arista years, and a wonderful coda to Young's career.
This is an unusual date. Joe Chambers, best known as a drummer, is heard on piano on four of these six tracks (including a fine effort on an unaccompanied version of "After the Rain"). The other selections are duets with the great organist Larry Young who would pass away four and a half months later. The music is somewhat adventurous with Chambers as the lead voice on the numbers on which he plays piano; the final two performances are organ-drum duets that put more of an emphasis on Young's unique sound. This interesting session has some surprising music.
Perhaps the most underrated drummer in the pantheon of Blue Note Records, Joe Chambers is also one of the most versatile and forward-looking. Chambers excels in hard bop, avant-garde, soul-jazz, and fusion contexts, and NEW WORLD is proof positive of that fact. Recorded in 1976 and given its CD debut, WORLD draws together all those strands (as well as Latin rhythms). Chambers's playing is the nigh-on-perfect balance of dynamism and subtlety, and WORLD features lively ensemble work throughout.
Recorded February 10, 1971 (#2, 5); October 8, 1973 (#1, 4); November 1, 1973 (#3, 6).
A modal masterpiece verging on spiritual jazz with a series of excellent players: from Richard Davis and Cecil McBee on bass to Ray Mantilla on congas and percussion, through Harold Vick's distinctive flute and tenor sax. The major voice on this record belongs to the traps of Joe Chambers. The enormous potency combined with complete authority and tonal clarity that Chambers brings to the drums has made him one of the more distinctive percussive voices in jazz.
Joe Chambers is an extremely versatile and tasteful master of all post-bop idioms. Chambers drives an ensemble with a light hand; his time is excellent and his grasp of dynamics superb. He's not a flashy drummer by any means, but he's a generous collaborator who makes any group of which he's a part as good as it can possibly be. Chambers worked around Washington, D.C., in his late teens. After moving to New York in 1963, he played with Eric Dolphy, Freddie Hubbard, Jimmy Giuffre, and Andrew Hill. In the mid-'60s, Chambers played with a number of the more progressively inclined musicians associated with the Blue Note label, such as vibist Bobby Hutcherson and saxophonists Joe Henderson, Wayne Shorter, and Sam Rivers. In 1970, Chambers joined Max Roach's percussion ensemble, M'Boom, as an original member. During the '70s, Chambers played with a great many of jazz's most prominent elder statesmen, including Sonny Rollins, Tommy Flanagan, Charles Mingus, and Art Farmer. With Flanagan and bassist Reggie Workman, Chambers formed the Super Jazz Trio. In the late '70s, he co-led a band with organist Larry Young. Chambers recorded with bands led by trumpeter Chet Baker and percussionist Ray Mantilla in the early '80s. He's maintained his association with Roach into the '90s. Chambers has recorded infrequently as a leader; his output as a sideman, however, continues to be sizable.
Drummer Joe Chambers' first album as a leader (cut for Muse and reissued on this 1998 CD by 32 Jazz) actually contains two selections apiece from three different sessions. Two cuts are from 1971 and match Chambers with trumpeter Woody Shaw, trombonist Garnett Brown, Harold Vick on tenor and flute, keyboardist George Cables, and bassist Cecil McBee. On October 8, 1973 Chambers, Cedar Walton, and bassist Richard Davis were joined by three percussionists, while the November 1, 1973 session has Chambers and electric bassist Walter Booker recording with the same trio of percussion players. Overall, four of the pieces are Chambers' originals while there is one song apiece from Joe Zawinul and Andrew Hill. In most cases, the leader's drums and the percussionists are in the forefront, the individual selections have weak themes and, although the complex rhythms are intriguing, the music is not all that memorable. Perhaps if the selections had been programmed as a suite or if there was some logical development from tune to tune, then this well-intentioned effort would have been more successful.
Tones for Joan's Bones is the first solo album by American jazz pianist Chick Corea, recorded in 1966 but not released until 1968 on Vortex Records, a subsidiary of Atlantic. It features Corea with tenor saxophonist Joe Farrell, trumpeter Woody Shaw, bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Joe Chambers.
Corea had previously recorded with Mongo Santamaria, Sonny Stitt, Dave Pike, Hubert Laws, Blue Mitchell and Cal Tjader. This was the first Corea album to feature Joe Farrell, who would go on to record with Corea many times, including in the first and last lineups of Return to Forever. Farrell and Woody Shaw had played with Corea in Willie Bobo's band, and Shaw would record with Corea again on the 1969 album Is. Tones for Joan's Bones was produced by flautist Herbie Mann, with whom Corea had recorded four albums the previous year.
"Litha" was later recorded by Stan Getz, appearing on the 1967 album Sweet Rain, with Corea on piano. "Tones for Joan's Bones" and "Straight Up and Down" were both recorded by Blue Mitchell for his album Boss Horn, which features Corea, and which was recorded several weeks before Corea's album. "Straight Up and Down" later appeared as the closing track of Like Minds in 1998, which features Corea, Gary Burton, Pat Metheny, Dave Holland and Roy Haynes. In 2011, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra included "Tones for Joan's Bones" in its first Chick Corea retrospective concert.
In a 1968 review for DownBeat, Harvey Pekar awarded the album 4.5 stars, and commented: "Here's a real sleeper. Corea and his sidemen are not among the most well-known performers in jazz, but they've cut a splendid record." The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded the album 4 stars, and stated: "Given that he had already been playing for 20 years, there is no reason to regard Tones as the work of a prodigy... he felt under no particular pressure to record as a leader, and approached the first session... with a very relaxed attitude. That is evident in every track. The title-piece is a jazz classic and the opening 'Litha' deserves to be better known."
Jim Todd, writing for AllMusic, awarded the album 4.5 stars, calling it "a blazing, advanced hard bop set" and stating: "Anybody with an interest in this vital and exciting period will find this session indispensable."[4] John Fordham included Tones for Joan's Bones in his list of Corea's 10 greatest recordings, and commented: "the 25-year-old reflected the soulfully punchy hard bop jazz style that the rock-dominated 60s were already displacing. But since he was partnered here by such savvy experts in the method as trumpeter Woody Shaw, saxophonist Joe Farrell and bassist Steve Swallow, and he was unveiling his signature fusion of direct, songlike lyricism and driving swing with a side order of formal classical elegance, it was a memorable entrance just the same."
The album has been re-issued on CD paired with the Miroslav Vitouš album Mountain in the Clouds (a.k.a. Infinite Search, a.k.a. The Bass, 1970).[3] The four tracks from Tones for Joan's Bones, along with two previously unreleased tracks from the same session, were released on the 1973 compilation Inner Space.
Tones for Joan's Bones, Chick Corea's first session as a leader, is a blazing, advanced hard bop set from late 1966, with writing that reveals an affinity with McCoy Tyner's seminal hard bop structures from this period. Tenor player Joe Farrell and trumpeter Woody Shaw are ideal for this music. They deliver virtuoso performances that are both visceral and cerebral. Steve Swallow, while later focusing exclusively on electric bass, often with a melodic, impressionistic approach, is pure thunder here. In a blindfold test his acoustic bass could be mistaken for Buster Williams'. Drummer Joe Chambers is all relentless, propulsive energy, but subtle too. Corea is a torrent of harmonic and melodic imagination, couched in unerring rhythm. Anybody with an interest in this vital and exciting period will find this session indispensable.
01. Earl's World 4:23 02. Peace With Myself 9:37 03. Right Now 5:47 04. Household Of Saud 6:06 05. Lil's Paradise 7:05 06. Paper Man 6:11
Alto Saxophone – Gary Bartz (tracks: B1 to B3) Bass – Ron Carter Drums – Joe Chambers Piano – Herbie Hancock Trumpet – Charles Tolliver
This was Charles Tolliver’s first album as a leader. The setting is unique only because his second Freedom-Black Lion album “The Ringer” and all of his subsequent albums on Strata-East featured his quartet Music Inc. with pianist Stanley Cowell. Here he is surrounded in quartet and quintet formats with a truly stellar cast of the leading players on the New York jazz scene.
Charles plays the role of leader, composer and trumpeter. But it is surely that last role that deserves the most attention. The trumpet is a brass instrument that leans toward a hard sound and staccato phrasing. Yet Tolliver is the quintessence of fluidity. While it may be undeniable that he has learned from his musical heritage and past trumpet masters, a trumpeter of such flow, tone, control, lyricism and creativity is, by definition, a major musician.
Charles Tolliver first came to the professional jazz scene in the mid-sixties, when he first met Jackie McLean. Under McLean’s leadership, he played on a number of Blue Note record sessions, some of which have yet to be released. He contributed original tunes to many of those sessions.
Within a couple of years, Tolliver was a well known figure in New York circles, playing and/or recording with Booker Ervin, Archie Shepp, Andrew Hill, Roy Ayers, Art Blakey, Sonny Rollins, Willie Bobo, Gerald Wilson, McCoy Tyner, Hank Mobley, and many others. His compositions were getting recorded by many artists. He gained his greatest recognition during a two year stint with the Max Roach quintet that also included Gary Bartz and Stanley Cowell.
There is also a previously unreleased bonus track of the song, “Repetition”, recorded by Charles for this LP which will be included on this new release of the album. This song was originally made famous by Charlie Parker’s LP With Strings.
This album is certainly an important and lasting document in light of the musicians involved and in light of its unique context for Charles Tolliver. But basically, it is just a great album to listen to.
At the time of this recording, Charles was part of a whole new generation of hardboppers who were coming up in a world of new ideas. Here he is surrounded in quartet and quintet formats with a truly stellar cast of the leading players on the New York jazz scene that features Gary Bartz on sax, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Joe Chambers on drums. This was Charles Tolliver’s first album as a leader. The setting is unique only because his second album “The Ringer” and all of his subsequent albums on Strata-East featured his quartet Music Inc.
The first moment of genius from trumpeter Charles Tolliver – a set that wasn't originally issued on the Strata East label, but which really set the tone for all the genius to follow on Tolliver's label! At the time of the record, Charles was part of a whole new generation of hardboppers who were coming up in a world of new ideas – a time when Coltrane, Shepp, and Ayler were transforming the left side of jazz – while other musicians were pushing the boundaries of more familiar modes too. Tolliver worked with Horace Silver, Max Roach, and others at the time – and here, he's a brilliant leader right out of the box – set up with an all-star combo that features Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Joe Chambers on drums – perfect partners for exploring the new music that Charles brings to the record. Gary Bartz joins the group on the second half – another young player about to transform a generation – and the whole album's a dream all the way through, with the mix of soul and spirit of some of Woody Shaw's first records, or maybe Bartz's first few albums for Milestone.
Among the legions of neglected jazz guitar players, the late Attila Zoller is one of the best. Enja's reissue of Common Cause presents all the evidence needed to make the case. Bassist Ron Carter and drummer Joe Chambers round out this fine trio recording, one that suggests a reassessment of Zoller is long overdue.
Zoller has a big sound oddly reminiscent of Charlie Christian. They were both guitarists who loved the sound of the electric guitar, producing big round notes that seem decisive and firm in a nearly physical way. But Zoller's music was the music of a later era, the post bebop era in jazz; and, besides, he was also familiar with 20th century classical music. His trio mates are just as sophisticated. In addition to featuring Zoller's trio, Common Cause includes two long solo guitar tracks, with seven of the disc's eight tracks original Zoller compositions.
Highlights of the session include the trio's performance of the title track, where Zoller and Carter carry on a long intertwined dialogue with Chambers providing understated but tight accompaniment to these two very articulate voices. Zoller's memorable, slightly mid-eastern sounding opening solo on "Tshitar" is joined at various points by Carter's bowed and pizzicato bass. Carter then echoes fragments of Zoller's solo phrasing before kicking the whole trio into high gear. Throughout, Chambers' precise and agile drumming guides the music from below, as the tempo rapidly shifts several times, and stylistically the music moves into a more modernistic vein.
"Lady Love" provides a graceful shift into a more traditional ballad melody, and a lushly romantic one at that. The deft versatility of these musicians is notable; there's not much these three instrumentalists can't do together, Zoller's two long solo tracks sustain the high level of musicianship throughout the session. The clear, sharp sound quality of the reissue adds to the pleasure of this subtle and highly recommended trio recording.
Recorded June 1967, SABA-Tonstudio Villingen/Black Forest
An early album by French violinist / composer Jean-Luc Ponty, recorded in a quartet setting with a European quartet, which also included German pianist Wolfgang Dauner, Danish bassist Niels-Henning Orsted-Pedersen and Swiss drummer Daniel Humair. The album presents five tracks, one each by Ponty, Dauner and Humair, one by American composer Denny Zeitlin and one standard. The recording was initiated by my friend and Mentor, the producer Joachim Berendt, who wrote the liner notes for the original album, which are respectfully included in this album’s artwork.
At this early stage of his career, Ponty was already recognized as a great talent and continuator of the French violin Jazz school, following in the footsteps of Stephane Grappelli. But Ponty was not a mere keeper of the tradition, as his improvisation was close to John Coltrane and his musical path was about to include stints with Frank Zappa, John McLaughlin and other pioneers of Jazz-Rock Fusion, who established the genre.
The three partners Ponty selected to accompany him on this album were also, despite their young age, already amongst Europe’s most seasoned and talented young musicians. The immediate perfect rapport between the quartet members is evident from the very onset of the music and lasts unbroken till the very last note.
The original material is certainly as good, and in fact better than any standard the quartet might have picked to perform together, and the talents of all three composers was about to flourish for years to come. Although Orsted-Pederson died in 2005 and Dauner in 2020, Ponty and Humair continue their brilliant careers now, fifty-five years after this classic gem was recorded.
Overall, this is one of the greatest gems of early European modern Jazz and a classic album in every respect, which has but a few equals over time. The fact that it is finally available on CD should make countless fans of violin Jazz ecstatically happy. This is an absolute must in every serious Jazz record collection.Side NoteThe legendary German MPS (Musik Produktion Schwarzwald) label, founded by Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer (HGBS) in 1963, first as SABA Records and later on from 1968 as MPS Records, was the most important independent European record label, which had an enormous contribution to the development of European Jazz. For many years MPS cooperated with the legendary German producer / author Joachim Berendt, my friend and mentor, whose visionary approach and open-mindedness brought the crème de la crème of the Jazz (in the broadest meaning of the word) musicians from all over the world to the label. Between 1963 and 1983 MPS produced about five hundred albums, many of which are among the most important Jazz recordings on this planet.
In 1983 the MPS catalog was sold to Universal, which sadly resulted in all those artistic treasures to almost disappear from the face of the earth – a situation not only tragic but culturally criminal. Universal reissued a part of the MPS albums (probably 128 titles) on CD between 1999 and 2011 under the "Most Perfect Sound Edition" moniker.
Since 2008 the German Promising Music label released some of the MPS recordings, but at a very slow pace.
In 2014 the German company Edel AG bought the MPS catalogue from Universal and released a series of 25 MPS albums on CD with a new slipcase graphic design, which brought all those excellent albums back to life. In 2015 Edel AG started to record and release new albums under the MPS moniker. In 2016 Edel AG released a series of 10 classic MPS albums on CD, which were beautifully remastered and re-packaged, presenting the original artwork and liner notes, as well as new liner notes and photographs. An obvious labor of love, these reissues are what the MPS catalogue truly deserves. This project was continued in 2017 with another series of 10 classic MPS albums released on CD. In later years some new reissues were released sporadically.
Although there were two earlier dates led by violinist Jean-Luc Ponty (for Palm in 1963 and Philips in 1964), this was the first album to get much circulation. Originally recorded for the German Saba label and made available in the U.S. on this Pausa LP, Ponty is heard performing in a quartet also including pianist Wolfgang Dauner, bassist Niels Pedersen and drummer Daniel Humair. The music, much more straight-ahead than Ponty's output of the 1970s, is quite advanced, looking toward John Coltrane at times. In addition to "You've Changed" (one of the few standards ever recorded by the violinist), the band performs Denny Zeitlin's "Carole's Gordon" and three group compositions, including Ponty's "Suite for Claudia." Already at this time, Jean-Luc Ponty was a highly original and brilliant player.
A really beautiful early album from the legendary Jean-Luc Ponty – a set that's maybe more straight jazz than some of his later work, and which also represents a pivotal shift in the use of the violin in jazz! Ponty's phrasing here is very different than previous players who handled the instrument in such a setting – almost more informed by a saxophone than earlier instrumentalists – often with notes that are not nearly as sweet as others, and heard to perfection in the company of this quartet! The whole group is great – Wolfgang Dauner on acoustic piano, also straighter than in later years – plus Niels Henning Orsted Pederson on bass, and Daniel Humair on drums.
Legendary drummer Kenny Clarke compared Jean-Luc Ponty to Dizzy Gillespie. Fellow violinist Stuff Smith marveled, “He plays violin like Coltrane plays saxophone.” Born in 1942, the French violinist transported jazz violin playing into the world of modern jazz. On Frank Zappa’s urging, Ponty moved to the States in 1970. Over the next years he toured with Zappa, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Chick Corea’s “Return to Forever”. On the 1967 Sunday Walk the band saunters through two blues, a waltz, and a standard before reaching Suite for Claudia which begins at a blistering pace with Ponty’s saxophone-like “brilliance and fire” playing. It then settles into a medium swing groove with Wolfgang Dauner’s infectious piano play followed by a smoldering Ponty. Daniel Humair’s crisp drum solo segues into a heart-felt waltz. After all, this was written for Ponty’s wife. Ponty is here with a group of Europe’s finest at their youthful best. The way they play, it’s all a walk in the park.
Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, March 14, 1969
Elvin Jones - drums
Lee Morgan - trumpet
Joe Farrell - soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, flute, alto flute
George Coleman - tenor saxophone
Wilbur Little - bass
Candido Camero - congas
Miovelito Valles - percussion
A unique 70s package from Blue Note – one that features two full albums recorded by the drummer for the label, both of which were unissued until this double-length set! The first half features some of the material that would later go on to make up the longer album At This Point In time – a unique large group session that was recorded in 1973, and which has jones really expanding his musical vision past familiar modes – leading a tremendous group with superb saxophone work from Pepper Adams on baritone, and both Frank Foster and Steve Grossman on soprano and tenors – plus a young Jan Hammer on keyboards and piano, Cornell Dupree on guitar, and the mighty Gene Perla on bass – really giving everything a great sort of kick! But there's also plenty of percussion too – as the lineup includes work from Candido on congas, Warren Smith on tympani, and both Omar Clay and Richie Pablo Landrum on added percussion – all of which really sounds amazing next to Elvin's already dynamic work on drums. Titles include "At This Point In Time", "Whims Of Bal", "Currents/Pollen", and "The Prime Element". The second half of the record is a really wonderful session from 1969 – one with a slightly different vibe than some of Jones' power trio records of the 70s, with superb contributions from Lee Morgan on trumpet, George Coleman on tenor, and frequent musical partner Joe Farrell on soprano, tenor, and flutes!
With their second album, For Everybody, Karma added new member, vocalist Michael Greene, without altering their sound; the L.A. outfit still resembled a cross between Earth, Wind & Fire and the Crusaders. This time, however, Karma offered several gems that might have been hits if they had been released as singles and promoted aggressively.
Such gems include sweaty funk songs like “For Everybody (Feel the Whooga)“, “Now That’s Bionic” and “Spotty Funk“. However, this release also has its share of strong album tracks that didn’t have much black radio appeal, including the ethereal “All Love Needs” and the jazz-funk instrumental “Abundance“. This LP deserved to do well commercially, but unfortunately, it didn’t sell and was Karma’s final album.
Karma sounding like a cross between Earth, Wind & Fire and the Crusaders and was an interesting but underexposed 1970s soul/funk band that sometimes detoured into jazz fusion and quiet storm. Karma, formed in Los Angeles in 1974, wasn’t a full-time project for its members, who included saxophonist Ernie Watts, trombonist George Bohanon, trumpeter Oscar Brashear, keyboardist Reggie Andrews, bassist Curtis Robertson, Jr., and drummer Joe Blocker.
Many of Karma’s members, who shared vocal duties, had been keeping busy on the L.A. studio scene and had solid credentials in both R&B and jazz. Karma recorded two albums for Horizon/A&M, 1976’s Celebration and 1977’s For Everybody, before calling it quits in 1977.
Karma members were not only among the unsung heroes of 1970s soul and funk; they were also capable of playing solid jazz-fusion. With such talent on board as saxman Ernie Watts, trumpeter Oscar Brashear, and trombonist George Bohanon, the L.A.-based outfit should have hit it big with Celebration, their first of two albums. But the LP, which was recorded in 1974 and 1976, failed to take off commercially. That may stem from the fact that while Celebration is a fine album, it lacked the powerhouse single necessary for the band to grab the attention of soul radio.
Essentially, this is a collection of great album tracks, which range from the Earth, Wind & Fire inflected funk song “Karma” to the bluesy “Well” and the uplifting Brazilian jazz-pop number “Kwanzaa“. Karma’s members really put their jazz chops to work on the 20-minute “Suite Syreeta“, which gives the horn players plenty of room to stretch out. Regrettably, Celebration and its successor, For Everybody, have long been out of print, and it’s unlikely that they’ll ever be reissued on CD. So, if you come across either LP somewhere, grab it immediately.
The union between Stevie Wonder and Syreeta Wright was a godsend.
Near the second phase of his career, Wonder stood at a crossroads. He desired to break ties from Motown’s hit-making assembly that defined his earlier success to pursue greater freedom as a mature artist. Syreeta waited in the wings for her big break as a blossoming singer-songwriter. The Pittsburg native’s beginnings were marked by disappointments and false starts: she began as a secretary for Motown, got eyed as Diana Ross’ replacement in the Supremes after Ross pursued her solo career (a role she didn’t nab), and then scored modest duties as a demo and background singer, eventually cutting a failed single on Motown under her short-lived stage name ‘Rita Wright.’ Syreeta’s early work during this tentative period seemed like try-out rehearsals for her candidacy as the lead replacement for the Supremes, or undercooked stabs at material originally tailored for Ross that was rejected or ended up on her solo albums.
Whatever the case, change roamed her mind.
She simply went by ‘Syreeta’ and crossed paths with Wonder. Together, the two would create a fruitful musical bond that would not only help hone his artistic development but spread her wings as a singer-songwriter. They collaborated on “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours,” Wonder’s first self-produced single that became a huge hit in the summer of 1970. Then, they composed “It’s a Shame,” the Spinners’ lone hit for Motown in 1970. Their pact soon led to marriage in September of that same year, during the recording sessions for Wonder’s underrated 1971 epochal opus, Where I’m Coming From, which Syreeta entirely co-wrote with him. The album’s popular top 10 single, “If You Really Love Me” featured her spirited co-lead soprano. Stevie was 21; Syreeta was 25.
though their musical fruits soldiered on, infidelity and indifferences caused their marriage to peter out, dying after just 18 months. They remained close friends, but their music collaborations grew as introspective windows, mirroring their personal experiences and expressions of love.
By 1972, Wonder reestablished himself as a serious album artist with the pioneering masterpieces Music of My Mind and Talking Book, in which he and Syreeta wrote heartfelt songs that chronicled the highs and lows of their past relationship, such as “Love Having You Around,” “Blame It On the Sun,” and “Lookin’ For Another Pure Love.” It was also during this intensely prolific period that Wonder oversaw Syreeta’s debut album. Her first eponymous outing, Syreeta, released in the summer of 1972 on Motown’s subsidiary label, MoWest, was a gorgeously supple, yet vulnerable song cycle that flaunted the sweet-voiced Syreeta’s far-reaching lyrical and topical prowess. Both she and Wonder concocted a heady, psychedelic soul tapestry that drew from avant-pop, folk, jazz, funk, and orchestral pop influences to explore weighty meditations on black identity politics (“Black Maybe”), romantic disillusionment (“Baby Don’t You Let Me Lose This” and “How Many Days”), and faithful pursuits of love (“Keep Him Like He Is” and “Happiness.”)
While her adventurous debut granted Syreeta critical acclaim, it went nowhere. Motown folded their MoWest subsidiary soon after but kept Syreeta on their roster. In the meantime, Wonder leavened his creative spark, working on 1973’s Innervisions, while Syreeta began writing new material. Disappointed by the lackluster response of her debut, Wonder projected its follow-up to be a well-earned breakthrough that would ascend her to the top of the charts and everyone’s minds. He was experiencing meteoric success with his unparalleled pop-soul touch, so it was inevitable that his touch would strike gold for Syreeta. In the interim of finishing Innervisions, Wonder and his band, Wonderlove ventured off to Los Angeles’ famed Record Plant studio with Syreeta to craft her sophomore album, 1974’s Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta.
Despite the unimaginative title Motown utilized to score Syreeta a bigger audience with Wonder’s top-billing name branding it, Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta is an emotionally potent song cycle that surveys the arc of a woman’s romantic journey. Revolving loosely around Syreeta’s tumultuous relationship with Stevie Wonder, it traces the naiveté of her falling in love to the desperation she’s met with when the love implodes to her realizing that she must start love anew in making herself whole again (as alluded in the album’s central motto, “Upendo Ni Umoja,” which stands for “Love is Unity.”) Compared to most of Wonder’s classic period output, this album’s myriad of emotions and moods of love are mostly interwoven with a lighter, mischievous flair. But given the visceral bite of Syreeta’s songwriting focus, it’s far from a lighthearted vehicle. As they did for its predecessor, Syreeta and Wonder construct a wildly eclectic sonic kaleidoscope that anchors the songs’ lyrical and emotional terrain.
It opens with the incendiary “I’m Goin’ Left” that’s also enigmatic in and of itself. From a lyrical standpoint, one can sense that the song plays like Syreeta’s political prelude to Stevie Wonder’s pointed critique of Richard Nixon’s presidency on his 1974 hit, “You Haven’t Done Nothin’.” Built on an energetic ARP 2600 synthesizer and fuzzy Moog bass groove, it takes on a similar vein to that song’s dense, brazen funk vibe as well. But if you’re paying closer attention to the lyrics, it can very well read as a fed-up lover’s kiss-off from a relationship that’s on the brink of dire straits.
Love’s complexities flow into “Spinnin’ and Spinnin’,” a beautifully cyclical ballad that cleverly uses a loopy, carnival-like arrangement to embellish Syreeta’s cautionary tale of romantic bliss and the chaos it ensues. Continuing the wicked love trip is “Your Kiss Is Sweet,” a carefree, reggae-tinged dig at the foolish games (read: infidelity) unfaithful men play when they’re in a committed, monogamous relationship. The sassy funk of “Come and Get This Stuff” follows, with its sensual come-ons initiating lustful desire. Originally, this song was intended for Rufus & Chaka Khan, but Khan refused to record it. She opted for the similarly themed, “Tell Me Something Good” instead, which Wonder wrote for the band, resulting in their breakthrough hit.
While the dizzying first half of Presents Syreeta centers on a woman’s outlook on unwieldy conditions that arise in a stormy relationship, its somber second half exposes her emotional toil from a failed one. Loneliness funnels through the soulful country-tinged “Heavy Day,” in which Syreeta poetically sings about a lonely spouse, who’s a working musician that longs for her significant other, who also happens to be a working musician. Punctuated by the soundscape of a tranquil storm, heartbreak takes on a ghastly air on “Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers,” with Syreeta regretfully reminiscing on the love she and her spouse once shared right into its demise. The piano-based, MOR pop of “Just a Little Piece of You” conveys a mellow sentiment of longing similarly to “Heavy Day.” The next four songs that constitute the album’s conclusion—“Waitin’ for the Postman,” “When Your Daddy’s Not Around,” “I Wanna Be By Your Side,” and the celestial “Universal Sound of the World—spool as a dramatic, rock opera-like suite, distilling the aftermath of a deserted relationship that leads to a woman’s transformative renewal in the end.
Though its artistic charms were as sweet as candy, Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta didn’t pan out commercially as intended. Unlike Syreeta’s 1972 debut, it at least charted, peaking at #53 on Billboard’s Soul Albums chart. In the echelon of soul greats, Syreeta Wright has the unfortunate case of being placed in the uncelebrated ranks. Her angelic voice may be greeted as familiar to the general public for her 1979 hit duet ballad with the late great Billy Preston, “With You I’m Born Again.” But ever since her untimely death in 2004, the invaluable gravity of her overall work is passed over as either key source material for hip hop producers, or little-known curio pieces that are only of interest to crate diggers and classic soul purists. It’s quite a shame because Syreeta was a gifted singer-songwriter that was ahead of her time and deserved more. Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta is a first-rate tour-de-force that proves why.
fter a promising but uneven debut, Syreeta summoned her creative strengths and worked in tandem with creative partner Stevie Wonder to produce another album in 1974. The result was Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta, the most delightful and consistent album of her career. As with Syreeta, this album pursues a combination of smooth soul tracks ideally suited to Syreeta's silky vocal range and more experimental outings that are creatively in line with Wonder's then-current solo work. However, the eclecticism that weighed down Syreeta is transformed into a strength on Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta: the tracks pursue a dazzling array of different pop-soul styles, but everything is kept in check by solid performances from everyone involved and tight arrangements that keep the album's hook-filled songs on track. Highlights on the first side include "Spinnin' and Spinnin'," a clever tune that uses a spiraling, carnival-styled keyboard motif to bring its tale of an unwieldy relationship to life, and "Come And Get This Stuff," a funky pop number built on an infectious sing-along chorus. Another notable track is "Cause We've Ended As Lovers," a delicate breakup ballad with a stunning, ethereal vocal from Syreeta. On the second side, a majority of the running time is devoted to an Abbey Road-style medley of short tracks. Everything here is catchy and well-arranged, but the highlight is "I Wanna Be By Your Side," a heart-melting romantic duet between Syreeta and fellow Motown solo artist G.C. Cameron. All in all, Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta is the shining moment of Syreeta's solo career and a lost highlight of 1970's soul in general. Any fans of Stevie Wonder owe it to themselve to track this album down because it makes a worthy companion to albums like Talking Book and Innervisions.
Drums – Keith Copeland (tracks: A1 to A4, B2 to B5)
Guitar – Buzzy Feiton (tracks: A1 to A4, B2 to B5)
All Other Instruments – S. Wonder
Strings – Julian Gaillard Orchestra
Without doubt one of the best female vocalist albums ever made, Yet still it remains largely overlooked as a Stevie Wonder side-project withhis then wife Syreeta. Syreeta’s incredibly delicate voice fits perfectly with Stevie’s experimental use of synthesisers. Margouleff andCecil are credited as synth programmers and TONTO is clearly at work in the very opening bars of the album with a wonderful electronic rhythmic effect. The Moog basslines growl throughout – the first two tracks in particular are awash with Stevie’s synth playing – and the use of real strings on Keep Him Like He Is and What Love Has Joined Together givethis album a powerful uplifting feel despite its daring experimentation.
After growing up in Pittsburgh, Syreeta moved to Detroit, where she joined Motown Records with receptionist duties, while contributing vocals in singles by The Supremes and Martha and The Vandellas. As Rita Wright she released "I Can't Give Back the Love I Feel For You", written and produced by Ashford & Simpson with Brian Holland. The single did well enough to convince Motown Records' president Berry Gordy that she could replace Diana Ross when she left the trio in 1970; but it was her association (and marriage) with Stevie Wonder that brought her wider recognition. They co-wrote several hits (Wonder's "If You Really Love Me", "Signed, Sealed, Delivered", "Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer" and "Superwoman", and "It's a Shame" and "We'll Have It Made" for The Spinners) and he produced her cult debut album Syreeta (on the MoWest label), followed by the classic Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta. They were divorced in 1972 and Syreeta married drummer Curtis Robertson Jr., but she continued working with Wonder, as well as with Leon Ware and Richard Perry. In 1979 she had a Top 5 pop hit with Billy Preston, the love ballad "With You I'm Born Again", from the 1979 comedy Fast Break. They recorded two albums together and released other singles, but in 1983, after The Spell, an album produced by Jermaine Jackson, Syreeta left Motown. She briefly joined the group Karma with Robertson, and worked only occasionally as guest vocalist in movie soundtracks and albums by musicians as Gary Bartz, George Harrison and Donald Byrd, among many others. She is considered one of the most talented and best voices Motown Records ever had under contract.
Around the time this album was made, Stevie Wonder and Syreeta Wright's marriage was on the rocks, culminating in their divorce before its release. However they remained on amicable terms and after Syreeta had effectively relaunched Stevie's career in what was to be even in its much briefer period the most creatively thriving husband-wife partnership in popular music after Richard and Linda Thompson, he felt naturally inclined to repay the favour in getting Syreeta's solo recording career up and running. Not surprisingly, there's quite a bit of overlap in personnel between this album and Stevie's surrounding ones of the same year; he uses the same co-producers as on Music of My Mind and Talking Book, three of the backing singers and the bass player that were to appear on the evergreen You Are the Sunshine of My Life, and Buzz Feiton who plays on Superwoman and Looking for Another Pure Love, also feature prominently, with curiously the bell tree performed by the same Trevor Lawrence who plays the famous saxophone part on Superstition. Sonically it also has much in common with Stevie's 1972 LPs, with him playing the majority of the instruments, including his tried and trusted synthesizers, the talk box and other innovative devices.
However, in most other respects this is where the similarities end. Despite plenty of fine songs and performances and Stevie contributing six of the songs (three of them as the sole writer), the album just doesn't flow together to anything like the extent as Music of My Mind let alone Talking Book - you'll likely get an equally enjoyable experience sampling the songs at random than listening to them in order as at times it feels like this album is more a platform for exercising Stevie's songwriting, producing and instrumental talents as a warm up for his next big project than a cohesive artistic statement - even some of his own Motown controlled albums had more logical sequencing. And not all of his compositions are vintage Stevie by a long shot - How Many Days is easily the worst of them, a waterered down cross between You and I and Something Out of the Blue, with the unfortunate combination of sounding even more dated than the latter while still looking forward to the overwrought, melismatic female fronted power ballads that plagued the charts in the 1980s. Songs like the funky electronic remake of I Love Everything About You and voicebox-dominated cover of She's Leaving Home are more interesting as production experiments than providing an emotional experience, and while the former is enjoyably upbeat and actually remarkably ahead of its time, almost anticipating the remix-oriented genres of the 1990s, the latter after a pleasant opening minute with just Syreeta and a nice guitar-imitating clavinet part in what initially appears to be a respectful Beatles tribute from the chorus onwards becomes an ill-conceived mess which seems to be just weirdness for weirdness' sake; the "Goodbye" coda is particularly cringe-making when Syreeta decides to join in with Stevie for the talk box lark. Apart from I Love Everything About You and To Know You is To Love You, the style is predominantly soft, slow to mid tempo soulful love themed pop with some of Stevie's typical harmonic sophistication; to some extent the same could be said about his surrounding albums, but this has nothing like their anguished edge - it's mostly very pleasant listening, but it doesn't have the same lasting impact, and unfortunately the comparative lack of flow is a clear contributory factor.
However, whatever its flaws and limitations, there's still a lot of beautiful music on it, and certainly not to be missed by hardcore Stevie fans. Syreeta, while her high notes tend to sound somewhat strained during the more emotive moments, has a very pleasing mezzo-soprano vocal, often understated without sacrificing emotion, which contributes to this album's often laidback mood. The sole social commentary song Black Maybe, is a brooding and jazzy blues-inflected ballad with haunting and inventive keyboard effects contributing to its dreamy and languid atmosphere and a quintessential example of Stevie's peerless gift for elastic melody, and could have just as easily been made for him to sing as it was for Syreeta - his finest composition here and one of those great lost Stevie classics. Keep Him Like He Is is a lovely lilting number with very beguiling vocals and lead guitar and a string backing that like on other songs (with the exception of How Many Days) is tastefully and freshly done and not at all saccharin. Syreeta shows her emerging and underrated talent as a songwriter with her solitary contribution Happiness, a highly melodic Hawaian flavoured lullaby with more poetic synthesizer backing only marred by being a bit on the long side and the odd bit of over-emoting, mostly near the end.
On the next side, What Love has Joined Together is a wonderful cover of a Smokey Robinson minor classic, its strings and Stevie's majestic piano contribution giving it a romantic and epic quality in a nostalgic throwback to the mid-1960s Motown era. The poppy piano and moog-driven Baby Don't You Let Me Lose It with its sumptuous swirling backing vocals from Stevie is another highlight, and with such an obviously sounding commercial (in a good way) chorus, it's surprising it wasn't chosen as the lead single. The multi-part To Know You Is To Love You, opening with Stevie on lead vocal but with Syreeta taking over shortly after, is an effective summation of the various styles collectively explored by the two on this album, an upbeat declaration of love lightly tinged with melancholy that blends in string-sweetened 1970s soul with mellow Fender Rhodes laden funk, with a long instrumental outro with Buzz Feiten shining on electric guitar. (The track time above is taken from the original LP version, which fades out somewhat earlier than the CD one which the YouTube clip is taken from.)
So, if a long way from an unjustly neglected masterpiece or the level of Stevie's best solo work, it's far from a mere historical curiosity or that of a master simply exercising his pen - there's plenty of fine music in its own right that at its best is on a par with the better female fronted soul material of its era. It's surprising given its high critical acclaim upon its release that it fared so poorly on the charts (#185 on the US pop and #38 on R&B) and given its association with the most commercially and critically successful R&B recording artist of the last fifty years that more people haven't been curious enough to seek it out or there hasn't been sufficient demand to permanently reissue it on CD - clearly releasing it on Motown's short-lived subsidiary label MoWest when the company were about to move to Los Angeles anyway didn't help, nor did Motown's fixation on Diana Ross's movie career (of which her second movie as lead actor was directed by none other than Mr. Gordy himself). Let's hope it finds its way into wider circulation for the benefit of fans who acknowledge Stevie's sterling work beyond a handful of acclaimed early to mid-1970s albums.
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