Larry Nozero - 1975 - Time

Larry Nozero

1975

Time

01. Reflections Of My Past
02. Tony
03. Chronicle Of The Murdered House Part I
04. Chronicle Of The Murdered House Part II
05. Tune For L.N.
06. Impressions Of My Lady
07. All The Things You Are
08. Two Worlds
09. Baubles, Bangles & Beads

Bass – Ron Brooks
Cello – Pat Appleman
Congas – George Pardo
Drums – Danny Spencer
Electric Piano, Clavinet, Synthesizer, Vocals – Dennis Tini
Percussion – Muruga Sharma
Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Flute – Larry Nozero
Violin – Halina Lia, Kathie Spratt, Lorraine Periman, Zaida George

The final album to be released on Strata Inc., Time is a dream- like mix of mood, an album full of range, tempo, and feeling; from the impulsive and airy rendition of the jazz standard “All The Things You Are” to the brooding melancholia of “Tony,” Nozero’s Time is destined to become known among aficionados as a classic of 1970s jazz. Like time itself, each song is open to individual interpretation – something Nozero himself confessed to on the album’s original liner notes, saying “It got so deep that we decided to call the group and our album after that concept of TIME, because it seemed to mean something to just about everyone.”

A native of Detroit, Nozero spent time in Charles Moore’s Detroit Contemporary 5 (part of Strata Inc.) before being drafted into the military. While enlisted, Nozero capitalised on his time by honing his craft in the Army Band. By the time he returned to Detroit, Nozero had little trouble landing high-profile gigs. No stranger to success, Nozero’s previous credits and collaborators include Henry Mancini, Sergio Mendes, and playing Soprano sax on Marvin Gaye’s iconic 1971 album, What’s Going On.

Working with his cousin and collaborator Dennis Tini, Time is unlike many albums of the era in that it truly feels like a work fuelled by freewheeling expressionism. The pieces are funky, soulful, strange and soothing all at once. Tini’s stand-out contribution to the album is “Tune for L.N.”, a funk-fuelled piece of rhythm-centric jazz. A distinguishing feature of the album is the use of wordless vocals. The scat work on part two of “Chronicle Of The Murdered House” adds a distinct counterpoint to Nozero’s reed work, while the high pitch bebop of “Baubles, Bangles and Beads” closes out the album with a carefree and buoyant groove.