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.

Nektar - 1977 - Magic Is A Child

Nektar

1977

Magic Is A Child

01. Away From Asgard (5:30)
02. Magic Is A Child (4:06)
03. Eerie Lackawanna (3:29)
04. Midnite Lite (4:27)
05. Love To Share (keep Your Worries Behind You (4:07)
06. Train From Nowhere (4:12)
07. Listen (6:02)
08. On The Run (the Trucker) (4:41)
09. Spread Your Wings (4:40)

Bonus tracks on 2005 remaster:
10. Away From Asgard (Original Demo) (6:18)
11. On The Run (Alternate Mix) (4:43)
12. Train From Nowhere (Alternate Version) (4:12)
13. Midnight Lite (Live) (5:07)

- Dave Nelson / guitars, vocals
- Alan "Taff" Freeman / keyboards, synth, vocals
- Derek "Mo" Moore / basses, vocals
- Ron Howden / drums, percussion, vocals

With:
- Robert Fripp ("Walt Nektroid") / guitar (6,12)
- Larry Fast / synthesizer
- Julien Barber, Kermit Moore, Michael Commins & Anthony Posk / string quartet
- Stephan Galfas / string arranger

Magic is a child, or, to be a bit more precise, magic is a floating Brooke Shields with glowing feet by a waterfall. Nektar were trying to hold on to the magic without Roye Albrighton, and Dave Nelson seemed game for the challenge. The shifting away from the band's early psychedelic freakouts continued dramatically here, but there's no mistake that this album is still very much prog, and one I consider more entertaining than a lot of other progressive groups' efforts around this time.

The album starts off on an upbeat note; a jaunty and fun ride away from Asgard and towards the land of somewhat poppish yet very adventurous prog rock. Within its 5:30 frame there is enough material for 3 songs due to its various ideas and licks compacted into a not so epic runtime. This makes the song busy, yet a ton of fun. The music is played reasonably tight, which underscores how far they've strayed from the ultra space rock of their early days.

Other aspects distinguish this effort from their early days (and space rock in general), those being the growing influence of the southern boogie bands at the time and a straight 70's rock plus an AOR touch to a decent portion of the songs. It's a strange blend, and certain songs work better than others as a result, but when it works, it COOKS. Train from Nowhere cooks like a fresh buttocks on sauna coals. The best track on the album, it pinballs its way between heavy jazzy prog rock and Steve Miller style boogie deftly with some memorable licks and one killer little guitar solo. It's the kind of song you could play in some southern country bar without angering the locals, although they'd probably think someone spiked their mugs of Budweiser with some "funny stuff".

A couple of songs don't work out so well: Eerie Lackawanna isn't so bad due to the funky guitar playing, but it does sound like The Doobie Brothers playing naked Twister with Lou Rawls in late 70's easy listening mode. Then there's Love To Share with it's cribbing of some riffs right out of The Beatle's He Said She Said as a homage, sounding considerably goofy as a result despite the coolness of the riff itself.

Those looking solely for the unabashed tripped-out rock of early Nektar might at least dig Listen, which definitely goes down easy with a few bong hits, although don't expect to journey into the center of your own eyeballs. Spread Your Wings is another fun number, basically a straight up rock song with a bit of complexity thrown in for good measure, although the musical embellishments might not be immediately apparent since the focus would most likely begin with the cock rock lyrics. LOOK OUT LADIES, NEKTAR'S IN TOWN!

Is it a great album? Not really, but it has plenty of stellar moments and is a hell of a good time if you don't throw this on expecting a rehash of their early 70s music. Prog music for those who drink cheap beer, in which quantity matters more than quality. Keep on chuggin'.