John Tropea - 1975 - Tropea

John Tropea 

1975 

Tropea

01. Tambourine
02. 7th Heaven
03. The Jingle
04. Just Blue
05. Muff
06. Cisco Disco
07. The Bratt
08. Dreams

Guitar John Tropea
Guitar David Spinozza
Bass Will Lee
Drums Rick Marotta
Drums Steve Gadd
Keyboards Don Grolnick
Percussion Rubens Bassini
Keyboards Ken Ascher
Percussion Nick Remo
Bass Don Payne
Contrabass Charlie Conrad
Drums Allan Schwartzberg
Keyboards Don Grolnick
Sax George Young
Keyboards Eumir Deodato
Trombone Sam Burtis
Flute Bob Minrzer
Programming Larry Fast
Horns Alan Rubin
Horns David Taylor
Horns John Gatchell
Horns Randy Brecker
Horns Sam Burtis
Reeds Robert Mintzer
Reeds David Sanborn
Reeds George Opalisky
Reeds George Young
Reeds Kenny Berger
Reeds Lew Del Gatto
Reeds Michael Brecker
Contrabass – Charlie Conrad

Strings – Caroline Levine, Emanuel Green, Frederick Buldrini, Gene Orloff, George Ricci, Guy Lumia, Harold Kohon, Harry Lookofsky, Jesse Levy, Matthew Raimondi, Paul Gershman, Richard Maximoff

Eumir Deodato, Michael and Randy Brecker, David Sanborn, Will Lee, Steve Gadd, Rick Marotta, Don Grolnick, Bob Mintzer, Rubens Bassini and others - the lineup tells you what kind of music you'll encounter on this record. Remember that session musician band Stuff? That's what I'm reminded of sometimes, though this here is a more orchestrated sound. John Tropea, one of NYC's top session guitarists in the seventies (and beyond), takes the chance here and there on his debut LP to demonstrate why folks wanted his sound on their albums so often. The world of music is not re-defined here, nevertheless, the music is entertaining, the playing is topnotch - what would you expect with those cats on board! - and there are moments that make you want to return and play the album again.

By the time guitarist John Tropea had recorded his solo debut on the tiny Marlin imprint in 1976, he had been a session guitarist for nearly a decade. His understated, decidedly non-show-off playing graced records by everyone from Laura Nyro to Deodato (including Prelude and Deodato 2), from Ashford & Simpson to Bo Diddley, from Billy Cobham to Peter Allen, from Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway to Paul Simon, Van Morrison, Luiz Bonfá, and Ray Bryant. After this he played with everyone from Alice Cooper to Lalo Schifrin and Kurtis Blow and way, way beyond. Tropea's cast of studio players is a who's who of the '70s, '80s, and '90s. The core band on this funky, squeaky clean, keyboard, horn, and guitar driven set are bassist Will Lee, keyboardist Don Grolnick, percussionist Rubens Bassini, and drummers Steve Gadd and Rick Marotta -- one in each channel. Some of the guest appearances are stellar: David Sanborn's trademark emotionally rich saxophone is heard on "Muff," and Bob Mintzer's wonderful flute playing on his "Cisco Disco" (which is truly funk and not disco), and Deodato plays keyboards on the beautiful "Dreams." There is a heavyweight reed section with Mintzer, Sanborn, and Michael Brecker among its members and horns that include Randy Brecker, Sam Burtis, and Dave Taylor, to name a few. Yes, this was the 1970s: there are strings with Gene Orloff among them. The tunes? Hip, funky numbers like "Tambourine," with a restrained but toothy fuzz solo by Tropea, great congas by Bassini, and a well balanced but dynamic horn chart. "7th Heaven" is a smoother workout, with punchy actual and keyboard basslines, with great breakbeat work by both drummers. Despite its mid-tempo jaunt, the thing is deep with enough of an uptown soul chorus to make it a popular stepper with the club crowd. It's tunes like these, as well as Mintzer's and Tropea's "The Jingle," that place records like this more on the CTI side of things than in the hardcore Fuzak realm. These selections are songs, not collections of riffs, vamps, and solos. When solos occur in these tunes, they do so with respect to arrangement and groove. It also sounds more lifelike than a lot of what was coming out of L.A. at the time, because it has a decidedly East Coast sensibility. Tropea's production job is expert and tight, but it's his arrangements and orchestrations that are really impressive. The opportunities for excess here with all these superchopper players are many, but not once does any of this album lapse into mere glossy show and sheen. This is one of the truly great forgotten jazz-funk sets of the '70s.