Caesar Frazier - 1975 - '75

Caesar Frazier

1975

'75

01. Mighty Mouse 5:20
02. Summer Breeze 5:41
03. Sweet Children 5:46
04. Funk It Down 5:23
05. Living For The City 6:02
06. Walking On The Side 5:00

Piano, Electric Piano – Horace Ott
Baritone Saxophone – Babe Clarke
Bass – Wilbur Bascomb
Congas – Buddy Caldwell (tracks: A1, A2, B3)
Drums – Bernard Purdie (tracks: A3 to B2), Jimmy Young (tracks: A1, A2, B3)
Guitar – Cornell Dupree (tracks: A3 to B2), David Spinoza (tracks: A1, A2, B3), John Tropea (tracks: A1, A2, B3), Richie Resnikoff (tracks: A3 to B2)
Organ, Electric Piano, Clavinet, Soloist, Keyboards – Ceasar Frazier
Soloist, Guitar – David Spinoza
Tambourine – Joe Venuto (tracks: A3 to B2)
Tenor Saxophone – Charlie Brown
Trombone – Garnett Brown
Trumpet – Joe Shepley, Jon Faddis

Released in 1975, Caesar Frazier returned to the Eastbound/Westbound Family for a second solo album. Caesar’s deeply funky take on what we now call Soul Jazz is performed with even more confidence and bravado. His mastery of the Hammond organ now on full display and backed by another monstrously funky studio band, Caesar takes the listener on a journey through driving, uptempo originals and slow groove covers. Every note played is supremely elegant, and of course massively funky.

Great instrumental funk record. I did recognize 3 breaks. The track Sweet Children has been sampled by Kanye West, for the track "real people". Funk It Down has been sampled by gang starr twice!! The start of the song has been used in the song "speak ya clout" for guru's part, then at 1 minute comes in a horn, that's used for another gang starr song "Ex To The Next Girl". Even if your not into rap breaks I'd recomend this album to fans of Booker T & the MG's, it's similar in style.

The second great album from organist Ceasar Frazier -- a tightly grooving set that expands his sound a bit from the first! All the best elements are still in place here -- including funky organ from Ceasar, production from jazz funk maestro Bob Porter, and a hip range of players that includes Horace Ott, Wilbur Bascomb, and Bernard Purdie. But the overall sound is somewhat shifted too -- brought more into the tightly jamming jazz funk mode of the mid 70s -- a bit richer and fuller overall, yet never in a way that's slick or sloppy -- just more like some of the best later sides on Prestige or Fantasy from the same stretch. The record features a crazy version of the "Mighty Mouse Theme", a mellow take on the Isley's "Summer Breeze", Stevie Wonder's great "Living For The City", and the original "Funk It Down"