Gary Chandler - 1972 - Outlook

Gary Chandler

1972

Outlook

01. Baby Let Me Take You (In My Arms) 10:05

02. Flamingo 6:30

03. Kaleidoscope 4:35

04. The Jet Set 4:00

05. Blue Dues 7:15

Congas, Tambourine – Buddy Caldwell (tracks: A1, B1 to B3)

Drums – Idris Muhammad (tracks: A1, B1 to B3)

Drums – Robert Battle (tracks: A2)

Electric Bass [Fender] – Gordon Edwards (tracks: A1, B1, B3)

Guitar – Cornell Dupree

Organ – Ceasar Frazier

Saxophone [Tenor] – Harold Ousley

Trombone – Dick Griffin

Trumpet – Gary Chandler

This is a great set of groovy soul jazz by funky trumpet man Gary Chandler. Notable musicians joining him are drummer Idris Muhammad, soulful guitarist Cornell Dupree and organist Ceasar Frazier, whose Hammond really pulls this album together. Harold Ousley and Dick Griffin, players I am not yet familiar with, join in on tenor and trombone respectively.

Muhammad is missed on the second track, Flamingo a ballad where he is replaced by Robert Battle. This track loses some of the steam the opener brought to the table.

The two highlights book end the album. Both upbeat funky soul jazz with great extended solo jams. On the closer, Blues Dues Muhammad pushes himself on the drums and takes a standard blues progression out of mediocrity.

Also of note, Rudy Van Gelder appears as engineer. The sheer amount of music that man witnessed astounds me every time I read his name on a record. Respect.

Maybe the only album ever issued under the name of trumpeter Gary Chandler -- but a smoking little set that rivals some of the best jazz funk records at the start of the 70s -- including heavyweight classics on Prestige by Melvin Sparks, Leon Spencer, and Boogaloo Joe Jones! The feel here is very similar to those -- given that the short-lived Eastbound label not only featured production work from Bob Porter, who handled the best Prestige funk sets -- but also because the lineup here is filled with some of the top contemporaries from that scene -- including Harold Ousley on tenor, Caesar Frazier on Hammond, Cornell Dupree on guitar, Dick Griffin on trombone, and the mighty Idris Muhammad on drums! Idris keeps things nice and funky, and tracks are long, and filled with smoking solos -- the most famous of which is the album's cover of "Baby Let Me Take You In My Arms", with an excellent break intro -- which has been sampled heavily over the years