1979
Exhibition
01. Care To Dance? 4:27
02. Acting Up 4:05
03. Nicole 6:56
04. Sabotage 3:36
05. Exhibition 7:10
06. Just For Kicks 3:37
07. Mouse March 7:38
Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone – Bob Sheppard
Drums – Carlos Vega
Electric Bass – Flim Johnson (tracks: A1), Gordon Johnson
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Barry Finnerty
Piano, Keyboards, Synthesizer – John Serry Jr.
Vibraphone, Xylophone, Bells, Chimes, Congas, Timbales, Percussion – Gordon Gottlieb
Vocals – John Serry Jr. (tracks: B2), Nancy Shanx (tracks: A2)
Recorded at Electric Lady Studios, N.Y.C., additional recording at The Record Plant, N.Y.C., mixed at Devonshire Sound Studios, L.A.
First pressings have the Chrysalis "We've Got Music For Your Ears" inner sleeve, with thumbnails of other artists and their album titles.
Besides piano, John Serry Jr. also plays Fender Rhodes, Yamaha CS80, ARP Odyssey and Clavinet. On track B2, "Just For Kicks" he plays all the instruments.
Hyper-technical fusion from 1979, which could be a very good or bad thing, depending on your bias. Mine favors it, and to these ears, this is about as good as that stuff gets. Make no mistake, "that stuff" also includes Spyro Gyra, the "Charlie Rose" theme, and if you follow the fuzak ideology far enough, all the way into Kenny G.
John Serry's music ain't smooth jazz, though. The Eastman-educated pianist writes fusion charts like Kerouac wrote novels: up for days at a time on who knows what, running through phrases a mile a minute, and seemingly with an endless supply of kinetic licks and funky grooves.
His previous band Auracle played the same kind of stuff, and as a college-educated instrumental musician myself, I'm well aware of the proggy jazz culture this fits into, though I might add it fits just as well into a scene were professional session cats are allowed carte blanche in a recording studio to get out all their rocks before laying shit down for, say, Barry Manilow (for whom drummer Carlos Vega played a year after this album).
Nevertheless, this is pretty exhilarating in a shamlessly flashy kind of way, and Serry is a good enough writer that these tunes aren't merely about chops. Hell, he was nominated for Grammy (!) for "Sabotage", so you don't have to be a muso nerd to enjoy it. Doesn't hurt tho.
It's truly a shame that John Serry did not become a star. This is just further proof that technical skill has very little to do with popular appeal. He was the keyboardist for the other little known group "Auracle" back in the late 70's. His virtuouso playing is on full display on this album yet for reasons unfathomable to me, this is the only review of this masterful album.
For lite jazz fusion afficionados, do yourself a favor and pick this up (if you can find it).
02. Acting Up 4:05
03. Nicole 6:56
04. Sabotage 3:36
05. Exhibition 7:10
06. Just For Kicks 3:37
07. Mouse March 7:38
Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone – Bob Sheppard
Drums – Carlos Vega
Electric Bass – Flim Johnson (tracks: A1), Gordon Johnson
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Barry Finnerty
Piano, Keyboards, Synthesizer – John Serry Jr.
Vibraphone, Xylophone, Bells, Chimes, Congas, Timbales, Percussion – Gordon Gottlieb
Vocals – John Serry Jr. (tracks: B2), Nancy Shanx (tracks: A2)
Recorded at Electric Lady Studios, N.Y.C., additional recording at The Record Plant, N.Y.C., mixed at Devonshire Sound Studios, L.A.
First pressings have the Chrysalis "We've Got Music For Your Ears" inner sleeve, with thumbnails of other artists and their album titles.
Besides piano, John Serry Jr. also plays Fender Rhodes, Yamaha CS80, ARP Odyssey and Clavinet. On track B2, "Just For Kicks" he plays all the instruments.
John Serry's music ain't smooth jazz, though. The Eastman-educated pianist writes fusion charts like Kerouac wrote novels: up for days at a time on who knows what, running through phrases a mile a minute, and seemingly with an endless supply of kinetic licks and funky grooves.
His previous band Auracle played the same kind of stuff, and as a college-educated instrumental musician myself, I'm well aware of the proggy jazz culture this fits into, though I might add it fits just as well into a scene were professional session cats are allowed carte blanche in a recording studio to get out all their rocks before laying shit down for, say, Barry Manilow (for whom drummer Carlos Vega played a year after this album).
Nevertheless, this is pretty exhilarating in a shamlessly flashy kind of way, and Serry is a good enough writer that these tunes aren't merely about chops. Hell, he was nominated for Grammy (!) for "Sabotage", so you don't have to be a muso nerd to enjoy it. Doesn't hurt tho.
It's truly a shame that John Serry did not become a star. This is just further proof that technical skill has very little to do with popular appeal. He was the keyboardist for the other little known group "Auracle" back in the late 70's. His virtuouso playing is on full display on this album yet for reasons unfathomable to me, this is the only review of this masterful album.
For lite jazz fusion afficionados, do yourself a favor and pick this up (if you can find it).
