Tom Scott And The L.A. Express - 1975 - Tom Cat

Tom Scott And The L.A. Express

1975

Tom Cat

01. Rock Island Rocket 5:00

02. Tom Cat 3:40

03. Day Way 4:16

04. Keep On Doin' It 3:04

05. Love Poem 4:15

06. Good Evening Mr. & Mrs. America & All The Ships At Sea 4:42

07. Backfence Cattin' 4:04

08. Mondo 8:31

09. Refried 4:11

Acoustic Guitar, Guitar [Electric] – Robben Ford

Bass – Max Bennett

Drums, Percussion – John Guerin

Electric Piano, Organ, Synthesizer [Arp] – Larry Nash

Saxophone, Woodwind, Synthesizer [Moog], Percussion, Lyricon – Tom Scott

Despite the absence of Joe Sample and Larry Carlton, Tom Scott's L.A. Express remains very Crusaders-influenced on Tom Cat -- a highly accessible jazz-funk-R&B date that, as commercial as it is, leaves room for inspired blowing courtesy of both the leader and sidemen like electric guitarist Robben Ford and keyboardist Larry Nash. Sweaty, hard-hitting jazz-funk is the rule on such down-home grooves as "Good Evening Mr. & Mrs. America & All the Ships" and "Day Way," which allow the players to let loose, blow, and say what needs to be said. "Love Poem" is a pleasant, likable piece of delicate mood music (but not "Muzak"!) that features wordless vocals by pop-folk singer Joni Mitchell and has a slightly Flora Purim-ish appeal. Unfortunately, a CD as good as Tom Cat serves as a reminder of how dreadfully unimaginative most of Scott's GRP albums are.

Jazz-funk in a very similar vein to another Los Angeles based group, The Crusaders. Not surprising, considering the fact that Joe Sample and Larry Carlton both appeared on the L.A. Express debut album, Tom Scott and the L.A. Express. Great, accessible, groovy stuff. Probably the only jazz-funk group complete with their own fursonas. Speaking of which, Larry Nash looks positively eldritch on the the cover (leftmost cat, behind the rest).