I'm selling most of my CD's. Unfortunately they will only let me list 100 at a time. In alphabetical order, I'm up to "C". As I sell more I will list more and keep adding on. Peace.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?sid=crimhead420&isRefine=true&_pgn=1
In 2012, the world of Fusion Rock/Jazz was shook by the introduction of a new supergroup of unparalleled musical virtuosos who came together under one umbrella for a blockbuster studio album. Both the group and its debut album were called simply The Fusion Syndicate, and it featured some of the biggest names in fusion including members of Mahavishnu Orchestra, Yellowjackets, Brand X, Soft Machine, and Spyro Gyra PLUS Yes, Dream Theater, King Crimson, Tool, Porcupine Tree, Hawkwind and more!
Tracks Listing:
1. Random Acts Of Science (7:52)
2. Stone Cold Infusion (7:30)
3. Molecular Breakdown (7:19)
4. Particle Accelerations (7:37)
5. At The Edge Of The Middle (7:34)
6. Atom Smashing (7:33)
7. In The Spirit Of... (7:15)
Total time 52:40
Line-up / Musicians
- Billy Sherwood / keyboards, Rhodes, synths, guitars, vocals, composer, production & mixing
With:
- Rick Wakeman / keyboards (1)
- Jerry Goodman / violins (1)
- Nik Turner / sax (1)
- Jimmy Haslip / bass (1)
- Steve Stevens / guitar (2)
- Jordan Rudess / keyboards (2)
- Mel Collins / sax (2)
- Colin Edwin / bass (2)
- Billy Cobham / drums (2)
- Jay Beckenstein / sax (3)
- Billy Sheehan / bass (3)
- Gavin Harrison / drums (3)
- David Sancious / keyboards (3)
- Larry Coryell / guitar (4)
- Derek Sherinian / keyboards (4)
- Eric Marienthal / sax (4)
- Chester Thompson / drums (4)
- Steve Morse / guitar (5)
- Jim Beard / piano (5)
- Randy Brecker / trumpet (5)
- Percy Jones / bass (5)
- John Etheridge / guitar (6)
- Tony Kaye / Hammond & synths (6)
- Chad Wackerman / drums (6)
- Steve Hillage / guitar (7)
- Scott Kinsey / keyboards (7)
- Theo Travis / sax (7)
- Justin Chancellor / bass (7)
- Asaf Sirkis / drums (7)
The album was released on November 5, 2013, in conjunction with the Jimi Hendrix video documentary, Hear My Train A Comin'. "Fire" and "Foxey Lady", recorded during the afternoon-show, were also released as a stereo 45 rpm single. The album reached number 39 on the US Billboard 200 album chart and number 120 on the Belgian (Walloon) chart.
By the time Jimi Hendrix took the stage at Hallandale, Florida’s Gulfstream Park on May 18, 1968, the 25-year old guitarist, songwriter and visionary’s reputation preceded him. He had already released two studio albums (1967’s Are You Experienced and Axis: Bold as Love released in 1967 in the U.K. and 1968 in the U.S.) and established himself as an unpredictable performer not to be missed when he set his guitar ablaze amidst the peace and love of the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967. With Jimi Hendrix, there was always fire – if not literally, always musically.
There were actually two Miami Pop Festivals that year. Hendrix joined Frank Zappa and his Mothers of Invention, Blue Cheer, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown and others for the May festival promoted by Flipper trainer Ric O’Barry and future Woodstock guru Michael Lang. In late December, promoters Tom Rounds and Mel Lawrence held another fest at the same venue, enlisting artists including Procol Harum, The Turtles, Jose Feliciano, Country Joe and the Fish, and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. The May event welcomed an estimated 50,000 people, and inspired Hendrix to pen “Rainy Day, Dream Away” (included on Electric Ladyland, released in September 1968) when his planned performance on the second day was cancelled due to inclement weather. Lang, proprietor of a Miami head shop that was one of the first such establishments on the East Coast, dubbed the event as “where the seeds of Woodstock were sown.”
So, you’re probably thinking: “wait, another Hendrix live album – aren’t we scraping the bottom of the barrel”? The answer is, an emphatic NO. In fact, Miami Pop Festival may turn out to be one of the finest documents of the cosmically-talented guitarist’s short career.
If it’s that good, why wasn’t it released until now? Well, these tapes were thought to be long lost, so better late than never, right?
Organized by Michael Lang, who would famously put together Woodstock a year later, the Miami Pop Festival was the first outdoor rock festival on the East coast. Thrown together in a month, the promoters lucked out when Jimi Hendrix said “yes” to an invitation to play. He had wowed the audience at Monterey the year before with his flaming guitar, and since then, he was the biggest concert attraction around.
What sets Miami Pop apart from other Hendrix live albums is that this one sounds really good. While even Winterland, for all its greatness is kind of sludgy in the mix of instruments, Miami Pop is really crisp. A lot of the credit goes to engineer Eddie Kramer, who was asked to record the concert while on hiatus from helming Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland LP. He was also brought back in to remix these tracks 45 years later.
The disc opens with an introduction which features something unbelievable: Hendrix, one of the greatest guitarists of all time, having to tune his own guitar. Certainly, you’d think he’d have a guitar tech standing by to do that! As was tradition, this is followed by a long jam, which encompasses the beginning of “Hey Joe.” As the actual song begins, marvel at the frenetic kick pedal of drummer Mitch Mitchell.
“Tax Free” gives Hendrix a chance to work out the wah wah pedal, while “Fire” is played at lightning speed. Things slow down for an intense version of the blues standard “Red House.”
The booklet comes with an excellent essay giving background to the event. Plus, there’s some fantastic photos, showing Hendrix with his signature hat in place.
There’s excellent video footage from this show in the new Hendrix documentary Hear My Train a Comin (read our review). Seeing Hendrix and band perched on a makeshift stage made of flatbed trucks, makes you appreciate just how good this material sounds, despite the conditions. In a long line of Jimi Hendrix live albums, Miami Pop Festival stands as one of the all-time best.
Track listing:
Introduction (no music) – 1:54
Hey Joe (Billy Roberts) – 6:22
Foxey Lady – 4:33
Tax Free( Bo Hansson, Janne Karlsson) – 8:20
Fire – 2:47
Hear My Train A Comin' – 7:58
I Don't Live Today – 4:50
Red House – 12:07
Purple Haze – 4:19
Fire (afternoon show) – 3:07
Foxey Lady (afternoon show) – 4:56
Personnel:
Jimi Hendrix – vocals, guitar
Noel Redding – bass guitar, backing vocals
Mitch Mitchell – drums
The album primarily comprised recordings from three shows at the Roxy Theater in Hollywood, and featured tracks never before or thereafter released on any Zappa/Mothers album.
The opening track, "Penguin in Bondage", is edited together from performances at the Roxy and the Chicago date. The guitar solo on "Son of Orange County" is one of the few Zappa guitar solos edited together from more than one concert, in this case the Edinboro and Chicago dates.
Some of the unused tracks from the Roxy shows circulate as bootlegs, as well as the entirety of the Edinboro show. Other tracks were released on Volumes One, Three and Four of the You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore series. On a side note, Zappa can be heard, on the released and unreleased Roxy tapes, speaking of the making of a 'film' that could potentially be "broadcast on television", as well as reminding the audience not to be "uncomfortable around the intimidatingly large 16 mm cameras."
A four-channel quadraphonic version of the album was mixed by Zappa[4] and advertised, but the quad version has never been released.
The 2014 CD Roxy by Proxy includes other material from the Roxy shows, including alternate versions of some songs from Roxy & Elsewhere, with no overdubs.
In the documentary Genesis: Together and Apart, Phil Collins states that the twin drum solos in "Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?" is what inspired him to ask Chester Thompson to become Genesis' touring drummer in late 1976.[5] Collins and Thompson also used the drum fill from the chorus of "More Trouble Every Day" in the coda of live versions of the Genesis song "Afterglow."
On February 2, 2018, Zappa Records/UMe released The Roxy Performances, a definitive set that collects all four public shows from December 9–10, 1973, and the December 8th film shoot and soundcheck, each presented in their entirety without overdubs, along with bonus content featuring rarities from a rehearsal, unreleased tracks and highlights from the recording session at Bolic Sound.[6]
On June 17, 2022, Zappa Records/UMe released Zappa/Erie, a six CD box set including the complete May 8, 1974 concert from Edinboro that had been one of the sources of "Son of Orange County" and "More Trouble Every Day" from Roxy & Elsewhere.
That's entertainment! This double LP record has been recorded live, and Frank Zappa plays the role of an entertainer on it! There are many parts where just a light background music gives an atmosphere to the conversations and to Zappa's oral presentations. The record has many fast and complex instrumental parts. "Be-Bop Tango" is a 16 minutes tracks where Zappa invites some people in the audience to dance while George Duke scats and plays a solo at the same time; this track also contains an outstanding trombone solo, plus "impossible to play" xylophone-drums-bass-trumpet combination. "Cheepnis" is an absolutely addictive track, very catchy, rhythm changing, complex and fast! The consecutive "Echidna's Arf" and "Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?" demonstrate a great mastering of the challenging synchronization of instrumentation; those tracks have very complex and fast fusion patterns; Ruth Underwood's percussions are outstanding! Zappa does not miss to play some impossible guitar solos. After the jazzy Grand Wazoo album, Zappa made 5 records between 1973 and 1975, and this one is the most instrumental and jazz/fusion by far!
Track listing:
01 Penguin In Bondage 6:48
02 Pygmy Twylyte 2:13
03 Dummy Up 6:03
04 Village Of The Sun 4:17
05 Echidna's Arf (Of You) 3:53
06 Don't You Ever Wash That Thing? 9:41
07 Cheepnis 6:31
08 Son Of Orange County 5:54
09 More Trouble Every Day 6:01
10 Be-Bop Tango (Of The Old Jazzmen's Church) 16:40
Personnel:
- Frank Zappa / guitar, guitar (electric), keyboards, vocals
- George Duke / keyboards, vocals
- Tom Fowler / bass
- Ruth Underwood / percussion
- Jeff Simmons / rhythm guitar, vocals
- Don Preston / synthesizer
- Bruce Fowler / trombone, dancing!
- Walt Fowler / trumpet
- Napoleon Murphy Brock / tenor saxophone, flute, vocals
- Ralph Humphrey / drums
- Chester Thompson / drums
Live is the plectrist's latest release—a time-capsule of a 1991 live performance—and perhaps the finest recorded representation of his work to date. Working with his preferred compadres (bassist Bob Magnusson and drummer Jim Plank) in a San Diego hotel, this recording gives new meaning to the term "lounge music. The set consists of well-chiseled standards performed off-the-cuff with minimal preliminary bandstand chit-chat, the familiarity of the material and the familiality of the players creating a comfort cushion allowing, paradoxically, for maximum artistic freedom. Most of the numbers open with Diorio ruminating over the harmonic implications of the piece, fleshing out his thoughts in a variety of voicings, tones, textures and techniques with the fluency of a veteran master who has many options to draw on; he plays a lot of guitar without sounding like he's overplaying, comping for himself in the manner of Barney Kessel. Magnusson is the perfect foil, utilizing slapped staccatos and slow-sliding attacks that seem to arrive at the note just in time, while Plank corners every turn with them; unfortunately again, the recording doesn't do justice to the nuances of his drumkit sound.
Although this live gig by guitarist Joe Diorio was released for the first time in 2006, the music dates from a lost 1991 recording uncovered by his wife, with the guitarist joined by bassist Bob Magnusson and drummer Jim Plank. This entirely unrehearsed set focuses on standards, all played in extended form with imagination and plenty of risk-taking. The trio members eschew the normal approach to the ballad "Lover Man," instead slowly working their way into it, repeating a series of chords before finally loosening up and increasing the tempo as they play straight-ahead. The leader softly hums to himself during his unaccompanied introduction to the old warhorse "On Green Dolphin Street," though this standard sounds very fresh in the hands of the trio, featuring terrific breaks by each musician. The slowly savored interpretation of Thad Jones' lush "A Child Is Born" is yet another highlight, as is the intense workout of "Yesterdays." It seems unfair that Joe Diorio has not been more widely recognized within the jazz community, but those who discover the music on this highly recommended CD will quickly become devoted fans.
For Joe Diorio's many fans, the appearance of a new album is a significant event. Among jazz guitarists, Joe Diorio occupies a legendary place as a glorious and incomparable musician . . . a "bad-axe" cat. This publication of Diorio's longtime working trio "in concert" reveals a musical partnership that displays Diorio's gentle beauty in its best setting.
The album opens with "Loverman," an extended philosophical meditation that lifts into a romp, as if the song's little recognized exuberance awaited just these three players to find it. Plank's light-hearted dance precisely frames Magnusson's growling churn. We are up and off, gliding, prowling, cavorting with musicians atuned to one another. The unerring surplus of the whole is the sympathy between the three players, a sympathy that literally defines this live album: a single set here replicated just as Joe Diorio's
Trio laid it out one early evening in San Diego in 1991 ...perfection of a kind seldom found anywhere -- unselfconscious, bold, most of all, joyful.
Track listing:
1 Lover Man 14:30
2 Corcovado 11:30
3 Green Dolphin Street 10:20
4 A Child Is Born 10:10
5 Yesterdays 10:41
6 The Night Has A Thousand Eyes 10:06
Personnel:
Guitar – Joe Diorio
Bass – Bob Magnusson
Drums – Jim Plank
The box set was recorded during King Crimson's 2015 tours of Japan, Canada and France, mostly in Takamatsu, Japan. The material performed is mostly from the 1969–1974 period, and most had not been performed live since the 1970s, although the songs were rearranged to suit the current line-up. Also included are some pieces from 1995 and onward, alongside new material. The title is derived from a song of the same name that the band has been playing in concert.
The set was released in two editions: a 4-disc standard edition featuring the complete concert in one Blu-ray disc and three CDs (individually themed "virtual studio albums" with no audible audience); and a 6-disc deluxe limited edition, featuring the same as the standard edition plus two DVDs with the complete concert and an expanded booklet. The Blu-ray disc has a "picture off" mode which allows listening to the music without the video.
When it comes to quality live material, there's never been a better time to be a King Crimson fan than the 2010s. In addition to the exhaustive 40th anniversary boxes, there have been multiple releases from the 2014-2015 seven-piece band culminating with Radical Action to Unseat the Hold of Monkey Mind, a set that features every song performed on the tour in excellent audio and video quality.
The vast majority of the set was recorded in Japan, with other shows filling in on the songs that weren't performed there. Every show was recorded in high-quality audio and video with a multi-camera shoot, so there's no difference in quality. While the band doesn't improvise as extensively as they have in the past, a comparison of the solos shows that they aren't phoning in their performances, either. The Blu-Ray presents the show (mostly) as it happened from beginning to end. The cameras were in fixed positions (for minimal distraction) but they effectively capture all the action. Sometimes the superimposed shots get a bit dense as they try to show as much musical action as possible, but on the whole, the footage and direction are excellent. You even see Robert Fripp smiling at times! If you just want to experience the show without the visuals, there's an option for that on the Blu-ray version.
The CDs dispense with the running order of the show (and the audience!) in favor of slightly arbitrary thematic groupings: "Mostly Metal," "Easy Money Shots," and "Crimson Classics." These are different mixes than those on the Blu-ray set, specifically for audio-only. The different mixes and running order provide a different feeling to the sets, but both are equally powerful. This band is a juggernaut and hearing them tackle not just the '70s repertoire they hadn't performed in decades, but some '90s tracks as well, is something fans could not have dreamed of at the turn of the century. Rarely has a band that's been around for 45-plus years sounded so vital. This is essential for fans.
This latest incarnation of Robert Fripp’s touring band has been well presented via two recent live releases, yet Crimson fans should prepare themselves for Radical Action (To Unseat The Hold Of Monkey Mind) upping the ante. For completists, the three CDs (and accompanying Blu-ray/DVD discs) here bring together every track performed live by the band since 2014, giving us about seven extra tunes absent from the previous couple of albums.
The songs include compositions written specifically for this line-up, such as Suitable Grounds For The Blues and Radical Action II, and older works in the shape of Larks’ Tongues In Aspic Part Two and The Talking Drum. In addition, with audience noise expunged completely, this almost becomes a lovingly recorded ‘live in the studio’ triple album, with added concert hall ambience.
The range and contrast possible with this band are also well delineated, with drummers Harrison, Mastelotto and Rieflin helping to propel the metric meanderings and menace of tracks like Radical Action II, Level Five or One More Red Nightmare, which so effortlessly give way to the languid lament of The Light Of Day or the sublime ache of Epitaph, with Mel Collins’ sax or flute flourishes.
One of the more ingenious tricks the band pull off is the manner in which challenging, fresh interpretations of so many classics are presented, while retaining so much of what made them classic in the first place. While the ‘reimagining’ of some tracks provides a jolt, there’s also comfort in hearing the strains of Mellotrons, or Jakko Jakszyk performing the vocals to songs like In The Court Of The Crimson King and 21st Century Schizoid Man with such deference to the originals.
With minimal whistles and bangs, the video components add further perspectives: honest documents of stellar musicians doing their jobs with conviction. Fripp is masterful, of course – a largely impassive, still presence, seated in his equipment-littered cockpit, just occasionally allowing himself a sly smile: moments that betray just how well he thinks it’s all going, perhaps, or just imagining how to ensure his next project will shake everything up… again
Unfamiliar twists invite exploration and expansion.
Track listing:
Disc one, Mainly Metal
01. "Larks’ Tongues in Aspic: Part One" David Cross, Robert Fripp, John Wetton, Bill Bruford, Jamie Muir 10:36
02. "Radical Action (to Unseat the Hold of Monkey Mind)" Fripp 3:40
03. "Meltdown" Jakko Jakszyk, Fripp 4:22
04. "Radical Action II" Fripp 2:27
05. "Level Five" Adrian Belew, Pat Mastelotto, Fripp, Trey Gunn 6:46
06. "The Light of Day" Jakszyk, Mel Collins, Fripp 5:49
07. "The Hell Hounds of Krim" Gavin Harrison, Mastelotto, Bill Rieflin 3:36
08. "The ConstruKction of Light" (Part I) Belew, Mastelotto, Fripp, Gunn 6:24
09. "The Talking Drum" Bruford, Cross, Muir, Wetton, Fripp 3:48
10. "Larks’ Tongues in Aspic: Part Two" Fripp 6:39
Total length: 54:07
Disc two, Easy Money Shots
01. "Peace" Peter Sinfield, Fripp 2:07
02. "Pictures of a City" Sinfield, Fripp 8:17
03. "Banshee Legs Bell Hassle" Harrison, Mastelotto, Rieflin 1:40
04. "Easy Money" Wetton, Richard Palmer-James, Fripp 8:26
05. "VROOOM" Belew, Bruford, Mastelotto, Fripp, Tony Levin, Gunn 4:56
06. "Suitable Grounds for the Blues" Jakszyk, Fripp 4:51
07. "Interlude" Fripp 2:23
08. "The Letters" Sinfield, Fripp 6:30
09. "Sailor's Tale" Fripp 6:41
10. "A Scarcity of Miracles" Jakszyk, Collins, Fripp 6:52
Total length: 52:43
Disc three, Crimson Classics
1. "Red" Fripp 6:31
2. "One More Red Nightmare" Wetton, Fripp 6:03
3. "Epitaph" Greg Lake, Ian McDonald, Michael Giles, Sinfield, Fripp 8:44
4. "Starless" Bruford, Cross, Wetton, Palmer-James, Fripp 12:17
5. "Devil Dogs of Tessellation Row" Harrison, Mastelotto, Rieflin 3:00
6. "The Court of the Crimson King" McDonald, Sinfield 7:00
7. "21st Century Schizoid Man" Lake, McDonald, Giles, Sinfield, Fripp 10:56
Total length: 54:31
02 Lanny Cordola– Marriage Of Figaro 5:40
03 Philip DeGruy– Innuendo Out The Other 4:44
04 T.J. Helmerich, Brett Garsed– Quid Pro Quo 5:40
05 Ray Gomez– Smokin' A Shuffle 4:02
06 Darren Housholder– Cakewalk 4:10
07 Allan Holdsworth– Zarabeth 6:30
08 Greg Howe– Untitled 4:33
09 Derek Taylor– Hey, Vato! 3:00
10 Ron Thal– The Shuck Duffle 3:35
11 David Ormonde Thomas– Sleight Of Hand 2:41
12 Muriel Anderson– Nola 2:45
13 Anur-Leber Group– For Ephriam 5:10
14 Scott Mishoe– Domesticated Problems 2:53
15 Neil Zaza– Miller's Atomic Mood Swing 4:13
16 Philip DeGruy– Dear Sur 2:29
17 Todd Duane– Finale 3:42
https://jazz-rock-fusion-guitar.blogspot.com/2014/09/various-artists-1993-guitar-on-edge-vol.html
Michael Ullman of The Arts Fuse stated, "The disc is his defiant, even occasionally joyous, response to the Covid lockdown. In his notes, the guitarist is determined to be positive." Elliot Marlow-Stevens of Jazz Journal wrote, "Drawn from inspiration found during the isolation of the coronavirus pandemic, McLaughlin’s latest album demonstrates his enduring skill as one of fusion’s most important figures." James Hale of DownBeat commented, "A sub-40-minute John McLaughlin recording that includes two solo piano tracks by the leader is bound to be frustrating. Add a pair of band recordings that echo vintage Mahavishnu Orchestra rave-ups, one of which includes a guitar solo filled with ridiculous technique, and you have a recipe for considering what might have been."
As the world reels from the social, emotional, and spiritual toll of the ongoing viral-induced global lockdown, McLaughlin reflects on both the perils and potential of this challenging moment with “Liberation Time” — his newest album, available July 16th on Abstract Logix/Mediastarz. In the fall of 2020, as the reality of pandemic limitations set in, McLaughlin commenced work on “Liberation Time” as a “direct response” (his words) to the mandated restrictions imposed by the spread of Covid-19. Characterized by both joy and reflection, “Liberation Time” finds McLaughlin harnessing his frustrations and redirecting that energy. “The result,” he explains in a candid liner note, “was an explosion of music in my mind.”
McLaughlin reached out to collaborators around the world, utilizing five studios to patch together the same number of groupings. Adding some consistency, three include McLaughlin’s long-time keyboardist Gary Husband, who doubles on drums on the rollicking “Liberation Time” (which features the aforementioned guitar solo). Even after more than 50 years of hearing McLaughlin tear up the fretboard with solos that move effortlessly through key changes and shifting time signatures, with melodic ideas that leap forward and circle back on themselves, his “Liberation Time” solo sounds astonishing.
“Lockdown Blues,” with the exceptional bassist Etienne MBappé, Husband and drummer Ranjit Barot, is another guitar-driven romp that surges joyously and culminates in Barot’s spirited duet between his drums and his konkol vocal percussion.
The quartet with Husband, bassist Sam Burgess and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta sounds only slightly more constrained on the opening “As The Spirit Sings,” and drummer Nicolas Viccaro shines with his quicksilver fills on the steaming “Right Here, Right Now, Right On,” a McLaughlin composition rooted in hard-bop.
“Singing Our Secrets,” with Jean-Michel “Kiki” Aublette on bass and drums, and Roger Rossignol on piano, shifts from ballad to medium-tempo swing and serves up dollops of McLaughlin’s rich, chunky amp tone.
Track listing:
1. "As the Spirit Sings" Sam Burgess, Vinnie Colaiuta, Gary Husband, John McLaughlin 5:22
2. "Singing our Secrets" Jean Michel Aublette, John McLaughlin, Roger Rossignol 5:13
3. "Lockdown Blues" Ranjit Barot, Gary Husband, Etienne Mbappé, John McLaughlin 7:19
4. "Mila Repa" John McLaughlin 2:29
5. "Right Here, Right Now, Right On" Osam Ezzeldin, John McLaughlin, Jérôme Regard, Julian Siegal, Nicolas Viccaro 7:26
6. "Shade of Blue" John McLaughlin 1:33
7. "Liberation Time" Sam Burgess, Gary Husband, John McLaughlin 7:49
Total length: 36:55
Personnel:
John McLaughlin – guitar
Etienne Mbappe – bass
Jérôme Regard – bass
Sam Burgess – bass
Gary Husband – drums, keyboards
Nicolas Viccaro – drums
Vinnie Colaiuta – drums
Jean-Michel Aublette – drums, bass
Ranjit Barot – drums, vocals
Oz Ezzeldin – piano
Roger Rossignol – piano
Julian Siegel – tenor saxophone
The official Brand X website has asserted that the only official legal members of Brand X since its reformation were original members Jones, Goodsall, and Lumley. All other musicians during this time period are described as legally being "employees" and "guests"
The last and reformed editions of Brand X, all sans Phil Collins, are heard on this double CD set of live performances in Chicago and New York City, respectively. Founding members John Goodsall (electric guitar) and Percy Jones (electric bass guitar) lead the band through classic fusion territory familiar to fans of the band; most of their best material is heard at sometime or another on this two hour excursion. For the Chi-town dates, drummer Kenwood Dennard, percussionist Morris Pert, and keyboardist Robin Lumley comprise perhaps the best overall talent of the many incarnations of Brand X. Highlights include the galloping guitar and klip-klop percussion that inform"Disco Suicide" with a frequently repeated second melody. "Access to Data" uses multi-melodies, a 10/8 figure, and furious guitar coda. Stepping up to 11/8 then 7/4 during "Nuclear Burn," Goodsall uses one of many direct references to the Mahavishnu Orchestra, a repeated line sparking Lumley's screaming synth. The final three tracks are muddy, not as audible or well recorded. A 6/8 head, bridge, and tail for "Euthanasia Waltz" sounds flat, "Malaga Virgin" is a ten-minute Jones-led 4/4 jam, and "Deadly Nightshade" uses a pretty bell-like sweetness to a leaden or quick funk and chiming, repeated synth lines for guitar, truly a great tune. For the second CD in N.Y.C., it's just Jones and Goodsall with drummer Frank Katz, and this stripped-down edition is naturally not as potent, but good nonetheless. The free symphonic electric guitar/synth three-minute egg "Guitar Concerto" is followed by the 6/4 stair step Mahavishnu-type funk of "Thalidomide Squid," while "Strangeness" is simply a workout for Jones and Katz.Katz does a rock slow and fleet, wild "Drum Solo," and "Church of Hype" is a straight 4/4 rock number. The final two selections are in the Mahavishnu bag too; "Healing Dream" is an acoustic guitar solo with John McLaughlin's signature repetition, while "Macrocosm" uses similar changes only in 7/8 with Goodsall's stinging and poignant electric six string. Brand X has always been an expert at using the improvisation of jazz melted over the base loudness of rock or R&B rhythms. They were hardly the off brand, more like the real thing in the fusion-oriented '70s, and this disc proves the idea was still viable beyond its time.
Track listing:
CD -1 Live In Chicago 1977 (63:08)
1. Disco Suicide (7:08)
2. Nightmare Patrol (8:22)
3. Why Should I Lend You Mine (2:59)
4. Access to Data (7:46)
5. Nuclear Burn (8:22)
6. Euthanasia Waltz (6:09)
7. Malaga Virgin (9:51)
8. Deadly Nightshade (12:31)
CD - 2 Live In New York 1993 (55:53)
1. Introduction (1:56)
2. A Duck Exploding (9:47)
3. Guitar Concerto (2:41)
4. Thalidomide Squid (5:53)
5. Strangeness (6:14)
6. Cambodia (6:50)
7. Drum Solo (7:10)
8. Church of Hype (5:39)
9. Healing Dream (3:46)
10. Macrocosm (5:57)
Personnel:
Disc one:
- John Goodsall / guitar
- Robin Lumley / keyboards
- Percy Jones / bass
- Kenwood Dennard / drums
- Morris Pert / percussion
Disc two:
- John Goodsall / guitar
- Percy Jones / bass
- Frank Katz / drums
Throughout the 1960s, he worked in jazz with pianist/composer Hasaan Ibn Ali and bassist Henry Grimes, and with the Bud Powell Trio at Birdland. He worked as part of the Alvin Ailey American Dance company on a tour of Asia. Later in the 1960s, he played with Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba; following this he studied composition under Heiner Stadler, Hy Gubenick, and classical guitar with Ralph Towner. In 1967 he founded his own ensemble, the Here and Now Company, with Sam Rivers, Karl Berger, Joe Farrell, and Robin Kenyatta.
In the 1970s, Arnold became one of the best-known jazz fusion drummers, playing with Return to Forever, Stan Getz, Archie Shepp, and Billy Harper in addition to releasing two of his own solo albums. Later in the 1970s he formed an ensemble called Colloquium III with Billy Hart and Freddie Waits. In the 1980s Arnold went on to teach at William Paterson College. He worked as a session musician, played with Kenny Burrell, and formed a trio with David Friedman and Anthony Cox.
Tribe by Horacee Arnold is a jazz album that is sure to impress any lover of the genre. The album features a diverse range of tracks that showcase Arnold's musical prowess and ability to blend different styles seamlessly.
The album begins with the upbeat and rhythmic "Tribal Dance," which sets the tone for the rest of the album. Arnold's drumming is the highlight of this track, as he keeps the beat steady and infectious throughout.
Other standout tracks on the album include "Kabala," which features some impressive saxophone work by Carlos Garnett, and "Desert Sunrise," which has a more mellow and contemplative feel.
Arnold's drumming is consistently impressive throughout the album, and the other musicians on the record all bring their own unique talents to the table. The result is a cohesive and enjoyable listening experience that is sure to please fans of jazz and beyond.
A very soulful batch of fusion tracks from drummer Horacee Arnold – here leading a group that includes reed talents Billy Harper and Joe Farrell, percussionist Ralph McDonald, guitarist Ralph Towner, and Dave Friedman on vibes and percussion. Tracks are long and spiralling, with a spiritual approach that goes quite out at times, but which also returns to a modal groove at others. Thanks to great playing by Harper and Farrell, the album's got a lot more soul than some others of the type at the time. Tracks include "The Actor", "Professor Moriarty", "Orchards of Engedi", "Tribe", and "Banyan Dance".
Track listing:
1 Tribe 10:15
2 Banyan Dance 7:33
3 Forest Games 2:26
4 Orchards Of Engedi 10:43
5 The Actor 6:55
6 Professor Moriarty 0:41
7 500 Miles High 9:13
Personnel:
Bass – George Mraz
Congas [Conga Drums], Percussion [Latin Percussion] – Ralph MacDonald
Drums, Slit Drum [Log Drums] – Horacee Arnold
Flute, Alto Flute, Soprano Saxophone – Joe Farrell
Tenor Saxophone – Billy Harper
Twelve-String Guitar – Ralph Towner
Vibraphone, Marimba, Xylophone, Percussion – David Friedman
The live 3-CD and Blu-ray set captures Corea’s 70th birthday celebration at the famed Blue Note Jazz Club in 2011, where he assembled a staggering lineup of musical friends and fellow-travelers – among them Herbie Hancock, Bobby McFerrin, Wynton Marsalis, John McLaughlin and Stanley Clarke – for a month-long residency featuring 10 different bands, including triumphal sets by his own Chick Corea Elektric Band and Return to Forever. All of it is captured brilliantly in the first feature-length documentary on Corea’s life, music and genius musical partners. The film takes you inside the heads and “hangs” of some of the greatest artists of our time – backstage and personal – and the CDs capture almost four hours of live recordings of every band.
Over the course of an artist's lifetime, especially one well into their fifth decade like Chick Corea, it's not uncommon to see a great musician look back and take stock of what he’s done and who he’s worked with, and that's exactly what Corea does on 2017's The Musician. To mark his 75th birthday in 2016, the lauded pianist played a six-week stint of shows at the Blue Note in New York city. During the event, he was joined by a bevy of guests including many longtime friends and collaborators like Herbie Hancock, Bobby McFerrin, Wynton Marsalis, John McLaughlin, Stanley Clarke, and others. The shows were filmed, recorded, and released in 2017 as part of The Musician four-disc album/video and documentary project. It's fascinating to hear Corea take this time-traveling odyssey through his career, and despite the epic nature of the six-week event, he never sounds anything less than engaged, always playing with his trademark intensity and playful spontaneity. His duets are particularly engaging; just listen to his enthralling interplay with singer Bobby McFerrin on "I've Got the World on a String" and "Spain" and you'll be captivated. Similarly compelling are his head-to-head sparrings with pianist Herbie Hancock on "Hot House," "Dolphin Dance," and "Cantaloupe Island." Elsewhere, Corea revisits one of his most popular ensembles, Return to Forever, with bassist Stanley Clarke, drummer Lenny White, and guitarist Frank Gambale. A pre-eminent fusion group, here they take an unexpected acoustic approach to several of their best-known tunes, "Captain Marvel" and "Light as a Feather." We also get a taste of Corea's trio with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Brian Blade, who deliver a nuanced version of "I Hear a Rhapsody." Other discs showcase equally compelling collaborations with luminaries like pianist Marcus Roberts and vibraphonist Gary Burton, and a reunion with his Elektrik Band featuring drummer Dave Weckl and bassist John Patitucci. We also get a thrilling homage to early Corea employer, jazz trumpet legend Miles Davis, with his From Miles band featuring trumpeter Wallace Roney, drummer Jack DeJohnette, and other Davis alum. Indeed, The Musician is a superb live document spotlighting Corea in settings that recall the best of his classic albums and proving how remarkably well both he and his music have aged.
Track listing/Band/Personnel:
1-1 Return To Forever– Captain Marvel
Bass – Stanley Clarke
Drums – Lenny White
Guitar – Frank Gambale
1-2 Return To Forever– Light As A Feather
Bass – Stanley Clarke
Drums – Lenny White
Guitar – Frank Gambale
1-3 Chick Corea, Gary Peacock, Brian Blade– I Hear A Rhapsody
1-4 Chick Corea, John McLauglin*, Kenny Garrett, John Patitucci, Brian Blade– Spirit Rides
1-5 Chick Corea, John McLauglin*, Kenny Garrett, John Patitucci, Brian Blade– Special Beings
1-6 Chick Corea, Bobby McFerrin– I've Got The World On A String
1-7 Chick Corea, Bobby McFerrin– Spain
2-1 Chick Corea, Gary Burton, Harlem String Quartet*– Overture
2-2 Chick Corea, Gary Burton, Harlem String Quartet*, Gayle Moran Corea– Your Eyes Speak To Me
2-3 Chick Corea, Wallace Roney, Gary Bartz, Eddie Gomez, Jack DeJohnette– If I Were A Bell
2-4 Chick Corea, Wallace Roney, Gary Bartz, Eddie Gomez, Jack DeJohnette– Nefertiti
2-5 Chick Corea, Concha Buika, Carles Benavent, Jorge Pardo, Niño Josele, Jeff Ballard– Zyryab
2-6 Chick Corea, Concha Buika, Carles Benavent, Jorge Pardo, Niño Josele, Jeff Ballard– Mi Nina Lola
3-1 Chick Corea, Marcus Roberts, Wynton Marsalis– CC's Birthday Blues
3-2 Chick Corea, Marcus Roberts– Caravan
3-3 Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock– Hot House
3-4 Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock– Dolphin Dance
3-5 Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock– Cantaloupe Island
3-6 The Chick Corea Elektric Band– Ritual
Bass – John Patitucci
Drums – Dave Weckl
Guitar – Frank Gambale
Saxophone – Eric Marienthal
3-7 The Chick Corea Elektric Band– Silver Temple
Bass – John Patitucci
Drums – Dave Weckl
Guitar – Frank Gambale
Saxophone – Eric Marienthal
Conceptually, The Mahavishnu Orchestra was largely a continuation of drummer Tony Williams’ jazz-rock band Lifetime, in which McLaughlin had played with bassist Jack Bruce. The Mahavishnu Orchestra continued in the Lifetime vein, playing raw and upbeat jazz rock with a predominantly rock dominating over jazz.
For the Mahavisnu Orchestra, McLaughlin assembled a truly multinational cast. McLaughlin’s first recruit was supposed to be American bassist Tony Levin, but after Levin declined the honour, Irishman Rick Laird (1941-2021) was chosen to lead the quartet. The drums were filled by the vigorous Panamanian Billy Cobham (b.1944), the keyboards by the Czechoslovakian Jan Hammer (b.1948) and, after Jean Luc Ponty’s entry into the band fell through due to visa problems, the violinist was the American Jerry Goodman (b.1949).
The Inner Mounting Flame is a sovereign combination of hard-rock-like crackling ferocity and jazz virtuosic agility. The album can be considered one of the first jazz-rock records that really rocks like a beast.
Indeed, the band’s rough rock sound is one of the album’s greatest strengths: although the music is full of almost superhuman performances, it still feels edgy and dangerous throughout. The album has not been polished to a sterile flawlessness, but the sound is jagged and the listener is constantly in a kind of fear that the musicians are really playing at the limits of their abilities and there is a possibility that the whole thing could crash to the rocks at any moment. Well, of course that never happens.
McLauglin’s compositions on The Inner Mounting Flame are relatively simple in structure, although the individual sections are challenging due to irregular time signatures, exotic scales and very fast tempos. The band’s unison riffing is also often very impressive to listen to.
And as impressive as the band as a whole is, it is the guitar hero himself, John McLaughlin, who is the main protagonist. McLaughlin’s super-fast guitar playing was something that had never been heard before. McLaughlin was like Jimi Hendrix to the power of two. Or maybe more like a combination of Hendrix and John Coltrane on saxophone. McLaughlin has often said that in his youth he was impressed by saxophones, not guitarists, who he felt in the 60s were nowhere near the skill of the best wind players. McLaughlin’s million-note-per-minute strumming on this album has inspired a huge number of guitarists from fusion jazz, prog and heavy metal. And not always with flattering results. But by this time it was a recent phenomenon, and McLaughlin’s playing, even on the fastest runs, is far more refined than that of almost any guitarist who followed in his footsteps.
One track on the album is ”Noonward Race”, driven by Cobham’s manic drumming. Bassist Rick Laird prevents the song from going completely off the rails by bringing a hypnotic bass groove to the table and letting the four (yep, this band has a solo drummer!) soloists rip it up really tasty. Goodman kicks off the solos with a nice earthy, gruff violin sound, then Hammer gets going with a really exciting, metallically resonant ring-modulated Fender Rhodes sound. One of the most interesting aspects of the album for me is Jan Hammer’s excitingly shrill keyboard sounds. There is still something futuristic, alien and fascinating about his sounds. After Hammer, McLaughlin plays another impressive and super-fast guitar solo, on top of which Cobham forges a solid drum solo. Whoah! No notes are spared in this song. The song is like an exploding volcano that destroys everything in its path. It’s really easy to imagine how impressive the song must have sounded in 1971.
Along with ”Noonward Race”, another key track on the album is ”The Dance Of Maya” which starts with ominous chords reminiscent of King Crimson and after a few minutes turns into irregularly paced blues-rock.
The album also has its quieter aspects, the best example of which is the mainly acoustic ”A Lotus on Irish Streams” which, although it too, moves forward at times with the lightning-fast note claps that McLaughlin creates from his acoustic guitar, and then again calms down to a more lyrical mood, especially with Hammer’s beautiful piano playing. Goodman’s violin also gets a nice space in the song.
Apart from the quieter moments mentioned above, I still miss a bit more subtlety and polish in The Inner Mounting Flame’s compositions. On the other hand, the energetic and fiery jazz-rock of the album, with its virtuoso playing, is a truly moving experience to listen to from time to time.
The Inner Mounting Flame was a strong start for The Mahavishnu Orchestra and the band immediately established themselves as the most popular jazz rock band of the 70s with the only real challengers in terms of popularity being Weather Report and Return To Forever. The band also inspired numerous rock bands, and the likes of Yes and King Crimson have acknowledged their debt to The Mahavishnu Orchestra’s furious jazz-rock.
One is struck by the grandiose reach of the quintet that dared to call itself an orchestra. Pieces like "Meeting of the Spirits" and the fragile, acoustic "A Lotus on Irish Streams" are like classically-inspired suites in miniature. But it was numbers like "Noonward Race", "Vital Transformation" and especially "Awakening", fueled by Cobham’s smoldering intensity on the kit and McLaughlin’s raging, distortion-soaked guitar lines, that really grabbed rock crowds. More ethereal pieces like "The Dance of Maya", with its odd time signatures and arpeggios, and the haunting "You Know, You Know", a drum feature for Cobham, helped to create a kind of mystique about the Mahavishnu Orchestra that was wholly unprecedented for its time.
This is the album that made John McLaughlin a semi-household name, a furious, high-energy, yet rigorously conceived meeting of virtuosos that, for all intents and purposes, defined the fusion of jazz and rock a year after Miles Davis' Bitches Brew breakthrough. It also inadvertently led to the derogatory connotation of the word fusion, for it paved the way for an army of imitators, many of whose excesses and commercial panderings devalued the entire movement. Though much was made of the influence of jazz-influenced improvisation in the Mahavishnu band, it is the rock element that predominates, stemming directly from the electronic innovations of Jimi Hendrix. The improvisations, particularly McLaughlin's post-Hendrix machine-gun assaults on double-necked electric guitar and Jerry Goodman's flights on electric violin, owe more to the freakouts that had been circulating in progressive rock circles than to jazz, based as they often are on ostinatos on one chord. These still sound genuinely thrilling today on CD, as McLaughlin and Goodman battle Jan Hammer's keyboards, Rick Laird's bass, and especially Billy Cobham's hard-charging drums, whose jazz-trained technique pushed the envelope for all rock drummers. What doesn't date so well are the composed medium- and high-velocity unison passages that are played in such tight lockstep that they can't breathe. There is also time out for quieter, reflective numbers that are drenched in studied spirituality ("A Lotus on Irish Streams") or irony ("You Know You Know"); McLaughlin was to do better in that department with less-driven colleagues elsewhere in his career. Aimed with absolute precision at young rock fans, this record was wildly popular in its day, and it may have been the cause of more blown-out home amplifiers than any other record this side of Deep Purple.
Track listing:
1. Meeting Of The Spirits 6:50
2. Dawn 5:15
3. The Noonward Race 6:27
4. A Lotus On Irish Streams 5:41
5. Vital Transformation 6:14
6. The Dance Of Maya 7:15
7. You Know You Know 5:06
8. Awakening 3:30
Personnel:
John McLaughlin – guitar
Rick Laird – bass
Billy Cobham – drums, percussion
Jan Hammer – keyboards, organ
Jerry Goodman – violin
In 1974, drummer and composer Horacee Arnold assembled a stellar cast of players for Tales of the Exonerated Flea, his second Columbia album. Following on the heels of 1973's acclaimed Tribe, Tales was recorded at the height of the jazz-rock fusion era. Arnold's vision was a wide-ranging one and he recruited players form all over the jazz world, from stalwarts like bassist George Mraz and flutist Art Webb, to vanguardists like Sonny Fortune, to hardcore fusion players like Weather Report's master percussionist Dom Um Romao, the Mahavishnu Orchestra's bassist Rick Laird, and keyboardist Jan Hammer. As if this weren't enough, Arnold even reached into ECM's roster and signed up their two iconoclastic guitarists Ralph Towner and John Abercrombie.
The end result is one of the most fascinating, soulful and truly successful albums of the entire genre. What one hears in listening to Tales of the Exonerated Flea is a cast of players who are seeking to open up both rock and jazz to new modes of expression. There are no sterile chops or elongated knotty passages that serve neither rhythm nor harmony. What's happening here is real fusion, of style, language, color, rhythm, harmonic and melodic concepts as well as dynamics. An intense examples is "Sing Nightjar" with its intricate melody and fine, provocative solos by Towner on 12-string and Hammer.
The initial funky Latin groove of "Benzele Windows" that is introduced to fiery effect by Romao is quickly underscored by Webb's brilliant flute work and added to by Abercormbie and Fortune playing in tandem. When Hammer's electric piano enters the fray, moving in counterpoint with Arnold's lightning rhythmnatism, the piece becomes a startling orgy of rhythm and complexity before the shimmering dark funk of Laird, Hammer, and Arnold creates a dark funky groove for Fortune's soprano solo. The title cut uses a striated, extended and tensely convoluted bop line to introduce a burning Latin flavored stomp undergirding a modal line in the head.
The chugging rhythmic invention at the heart of "Chinnereth II" belies a rather delicate if involved melody line before the tune becomes a joyful song with many parts and choruses. In all, Tales of the Exonerated Flea is a fusion record of the very best kind, it's full of soul, restless adventure, high-wire soloing and dirty grooves. Reissued on CD by Rock and Groove in 2004, it should be explored by everyone interested in the development of jazz-rock.
A lost fusion classic from the early 70s – one of the only records cut under the leadership of drummer Horacee Arnold, but a heck of a great little set with a soaringly righteous sound! The style here is plenty full-on, but a bit less rock-leaning than some of the other Columbia fusion of the period – thanks to a spacious vision on Arnold's part, and the inclusion of a fair bit of sounds from world music. Players on the set include Art Webb on flute, Sonny Fortune on soprano sax, John Abercrombie on guitar, David Friedman on vibes and marimba, Dom Um Romao on percussion, and Jan Hammer on moog and electric piano – and although there's a fair bit of guitar in the mix, the other acoustic elements are kept nice and high too – for a blend that's almost like some of the best Brazilian fusion from later years, touched by a slightly funkier sound! Tracks really stretch out nicely, allowing for plenty of solo space as they roll on, in a way that's almost a cross between Strata East and some of the more familiar mainstream fusion modes of the time. Very hip stuff, with titles that include "Benzele Windows", "Tales Of The Exonerated Flea", "Euroaquilo Silence", "Puppet Of The Seasons", "Sing Night Jar", and "Delicate Evasions".
Track listing:
1 - Puppett of the Seasons 4:30
2 - Sing Nightjar 11:07
3 - Benzélé Windows - 6:53
4 - Tales of the Exonerated Flea 3:43
5 - Delicate Evasions 4:28
6 - Chinnereth II 8:05
7 - Euroaquilo Silence - 5:41
8 - Timios - 6:22 [Bonus track]
Personnel:
Horacee Arnold - Drums, Percussion, Timpani [Tymps]
Jan Hammer - Synthesizer [Moog], Electric Piano, Piano
John Abercrombie - Electric Guitar
Art Webb - Flute, Flute [Alto]
Sonny Fortune - Soprano Saxophone, Flute
Ralph Towner - Twelve-String Guitar
David Friedman - Vibraphone, Marimba [Bass]
Rick Laird, Clint Huston, George Mraz - Bass
Dom Um Romao - Percussion
Dave Johnson - Percussion, Congas
This is Weather Report's sixth studio album and the first to feature bass player Jaco Pastorius, who appears on two tracks, one of which was his own composition "Barbary Coast." The back cover photo shows Pastorius, Chester Thompson, and Alex Acuña with the band, although bass player Alphonso Johnson played on the majority of the record's tracks. The album draws heavily from African influences and its style could be described as "world fusion". The second track, "Cannon Ball", is a tribute to saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, Zawinul's employer for several years during the 1960s. Adderley died a few months before Black Market was recorded.
The shifts in Weather Report's personnel come fast and furious now, with Narada Michael Walden and Chester Thompson as the drummers, Alex Acuna and Don Alias at the percussion table, and Alphonso Johnson giving way to the mighty, martyred Jaco Pastorius. It is interesting to hear Pastorius expanding the bass role only incrementally over what the more funk-oriented Johnson was doing at this early point -- that is, until "Barbary Coast," where suddenly Jaco leaps athletically forward into the spotlight. Joe Zawinul or just Zawinul, as he preferred to be billed -- contributed all of side one's compositions, mostly Third World-flavored workouts except for "Cannon Ball," a touching tribute to his ex-boss Cannonball Adderley (who had died the year before). Shorter, Pastorius, and Johnson split the remainder of the tracks, with Shorter now set in a long-limbed compositional mode for electric bands that would serve him into the 1990s. While it goes without saying that most Weather Report albums are transition albums, this diverse record is even more transient than most, paving the way for WR's most popular period while retaining the old sense of adventure.
Changing personnel marked each of Weather Report’s first five albums, and Black Market carried forth that tradition, with Chester Thompson, Narada Michael Walden, Alex Acuña, and Jaco Pastorius all making their Weather Report recording debuts.
Asked about the changes in a March 1976 article, Zawinul said, “We’re always happy with the group, because if we’re not happy, we change it. There are a lot of musicians out there in the world. All the people who have played with us are great mother-fucking musicians. They have fantastic skills. But sometimes they’re going in one direction and we’re going in another one, so we have to make a change. Changing musicians gives us fresh blood, new ideas.”
In that article, Shorter and Zawinul said it didn’t really matter who played what–it was the end result that counted. “You can enjoy a symphony orchestra without knowing everybody’s name,” Shorter said. “You don’t have to know who the concertmaster is to know that the string section is incredible.” Zawinul added, “I’ve been playing our new album [Black Market] for some other musicians, and even some of them can’t always tell who’s playing what, or what instruments are being used at a given time. I like that. I like that a lot. Why should people know? We’re not a bunch of individual musicians. We’re a group.”
The personnel for Black Market took shape over the course of 1975, following the release of Weather Report’s previous album, Tale Spinnin’. Early in the year the problematic drum chair was filled by Thompson, who was recommended by Johnson. “Alphonso was in the band,” Thompson recalled, “and we had already played together in a couple of situations, and he urged me to come down and jam, so I guess it was kind of an informal audition, just free playing. And it was one of those bands that just clicked. I was not at all nervous. I knew they’d had several drummers in the year before. I had a large and pretty wide experience. I’d been interested in playing lots of different kinds of music. I’d been in experimental kinds of bands, and in technically demanding kinds of bands — [Frank] Zappa’s was the most technically demanding … I’d had a lot of chance to play jazz; by the time I was 15, I was playing in really good jazz groups. I played funk, too, probably an equal amount, having grown up in the ’60s, with early James Brown and Motown going on.”
“Al Johnson had been on Mysterious Traveller, Tale Spinnin’, and part of Black Market when he told us he wanted to quit,” Zawinul recalled in 1984. “He wanted to form a band with George Duke where he was the co-leader, rather than just a sideman. We felt that everybody should do what they wanted to do, and by that time I had already met Jaco [Pastorius]. Jaco had sent me a tape of his band, and I was really impressed with the way he played; but I wasn’t sure if he could really play funk. [Drummer] Tony Williams had played with him, and assured us that Jaco could play anything. Jaco was a great Cannonball Adderley fan, and I had written a song called ‘Cannon Ball,’ so I said to myself, ‘it might be a good idea, just for the fun of it, to have Jaco play on that tune and audition him at the same time.’ We flew him in, he played on the tune, he wrote a song for Black Market, and the rest is history!”
Track listing:
1. "Black Market" Joe Zawinul 6:28
2. "Cannon Ball" Zawinul 4:36
3. "Gibraltar" Zawinul 8:16
4. "Elegant People" Wayne Shorter 5:03
5. "Three Clowns" Shorter 3:31
6. "Barbary Coast" Jaco Pastorius 3:19
7. "Herandnu" Alphonso Johnson 6:36
Personnel:
Joe Zawinul – Yamaha Grand Piano, Rhodes Electric Piano, 2 × ARP 2600, Oberheim Polyphonic Synthesizer, orchestration
Wayne Shorter – Selmer soprano and tenor saxophones, Computone Lyricon
Alphonso Johnson – electric bass
Jaco Pastorius – electric fretless bass (tracks 2 & 6)
Narada Michael Walden – drums (tracks 1–2)
Chester Thompson – drums (tracks 1, 3–7)
Alex Acuña – congas, percussion (tracks 2–5, 7)
Don Alias – percussion (tracks 1 & 6)
The album encompasses a large spectrum of musical styles, while its lyrics often feature satirical or humorous commentary on American society and politics. It addresses themes of individualism, free will, censorship, the music industry and human sexuality, while criticizing government and religion, and satirizing Catholicism and Scientology. Joe's Garage is noted for its use of xenochrony, a recording technique that takes musical material (in this instance, guitar solos by Zappa from older live recordings) and overdubs them onto different, unrelated material. All solos on the album are xenochronous except for "Crew Slut" and "Watermelon in Easter Hay", a signature song that Zappa described as the best song on the album, and according to his son Dweezil, the best guitar solo his father ever played.
Joe’s Garage initially received mixed to positive reviews, with critics praising its innovative and original music, but criticizing the scatological, sexual and profane nature of the lyrics. Since its original release, the album has been reappraised as one of Zappa's best works.
After being released from his contractual obligations with Warner Bros. Records, Frank Zappa formed Zappa Records, a label distributed at that time by Phonogram Inc. He released the successful double album Sheik Yerbouti (1979, recorded 8/1977-2/1978), and began working on a series of songs for a follow-up album.: The songs "Joe's Garage" and "Catholic Girls" were recorded with the intention that Zappa would release them as a single. Throughout the development of Joe's Garage, Zappa's band recorded lengthy jams which Zappa later formed into the album.: The album also continued the development of xenochrony, a technique Zappa also featured on One Size Fits All (1975), in which aspects of older live recordings were utilized to create new compositions by overdubbing them onto studio recordings, or alternatively, selecting a previously recorded solo and allowing drummer Vinnie Colaiuta to improvise a new drum performance, interacting with the previously recorded piece.
Midway through recording the new album, Zappa decided that the songs connected coherently and wrote a story, changing the new album into a rock opera. Joe's Garage was the final album Zappa recorded at a commercial studio. Zappa's own studio, the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen, built as an addition to Zappa's home, and completed in late 1979, was used to record and mix all of his subsequent releases.
The lyrical themes of Joe's Garage involve individualism, sexuality, and the danger of large government. The album is narrated by a government employee identifying himself as The Central Scrutinizer, who delivers a cautionary tale about Joe, a typical adolescent male who forms a band as the government prepares to criminalize music. The Central Scrutinizer explains that music leads to a "slippery slope" of drug use, disease, unusual sexual practices, prison, and eventually, insanity. According to Scott Schinder and Andy Schwartz, Zappa's narrative of censorship reflected the censorship of music during the Iranian Revolution of 1979, where rock music was made illegal.
The title track is noted as having an autobiographical aspect, as the character of Larry (as performed by Zappa himself) sings that the band plays the same song repeatedly because "it sounded good to me". In real life, Zappa said he wrote and played music for himself, his sole intended audience. The song also takes lyrical inspiration from bands playing in bars like The Mothers of Invention once had, and shady record deals Zappa had experienced in the past. In "Joe's Garage", Joe finds that the music industry is "not everything it is cracked up to be". The song refers to a number of music fads, including new wave, heavy metal, disco and glitter rock, and is critical of the music industry of the late 1970s.
"Catholic Girls" is critical of the Catholic Church, and satirizes "the hypocrisy of the myth of the good Catholic girl." While Zappa was in favor of the sexual revolution, he regarded himself as a pioneer in publicly discussing honesty about sexual intercourse, stating
"American sexual attitudes are controlled as a necessary tool of business and government in order to perpetuate themselves. Unless people begin to see through that, to see past it to what sex is really all about, they're always going to have the same neurotic attitudes. It's very neatly packaged. It all works hand-in-hand with the churches and political leaders at the point where elections are coming up."
This view inspired the lyrical content of "Crew Slut", in which Mary, Joe's girlfriend, falls into the groupie lifestyle, going on to participate in a wet T-shirt contest in the following track, "Fembot in a Wet T-Shirt".
"Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?" was written in the summer of 1978. Zappa's road manager, Phil Kaufman, alleged, that the song was written after Kaufman had asked that very question; within the context of the album's storyline, it is sung by Joe after he receives a sexually transmitted disease from Lucille, "a girl, who works at the Jack in the Box". The Central Scrutinizer continues to express the hypothesis that "girls, music, disease, heartbreak all go together."Halfway through the album's libretto, Zappa expressed the belief that governments believe that people are inherently criminals, and continue to invent laws, which gives states the legal grounds to arrest people, leading to the fictional criminalization of music which occurs towards the end of the album's storyline.
"A Token of My Extreme" satirizes Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard, as well as new age beliefs and the sexual revolution.: It describes an insincere religion, which co-operates with a "malevolent totalitarian regime." "Stick It Out" contains lyrical references to Zappa's songs "What Kind Of Girl", "Bwana Dik", "Sofa No. 2", and "Dancin' Fool". "Dong Work For Yuda" was written as a tribute to Zappa's bodyguard, John Smothers, and features Terry Bozzio imitating Smothers' dialect and speech. "Keep It Greasy" is a lyrical tribute to anal sex. Following Joe's imprisonment and release, the libretto describes a dystopian future, accompanied musically by long guitar solos, which Joe imagines in his head. The penultimate song, "Packard Goose", criticizes rock journalism, and features a philosophical monolog delivered by the character Mary, who had been absent since the first act.: In the epilogue song "A Little Green Rosetta," Joe gives up music, returns to sanity, hocks his imaginary guitar and gets "a good job" at the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen Facility (a self-reference to Zappa's own personal studio). The Central Scrutinizer sings the last song on the album in his "regular voice", and joins in a long musical number with most of the other people that worked with Zappa around 1979.
Track listing:
Disc 1
01. "The Central Scrutinizer" 3:27
02. "Joe's Garage" 6:10
03. "Catholic Girls" 4:26
04. "Crew Slut" 5:51
05. "Fembot in a Wet T-Shirt" 5:26
06. "On the Bus" 4:18
07. "Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?" 2:35
08. "Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up" 5:43
09. "Scrutinizer Postlude" 1:35
10. "A Token of My Extreme" 5:28
11. "Stick It Out" 4:33
12. "Sy Borg" 8:50
Disc 2
1. "Dong Work for Yuda" 5:03
2. "Keep It Greasey" 8:22
3. "Outside Now" 5:52
4. "He Used to Cut the Grass" 8:34
5. "Packard Goose" 11:38
6. "Watermelon in Easter Hay" 9:09
7. "A Little Green Rosetta" 8:15
Personnel:
Frank Zappa – lead guitar, vocals
Warren Cuccurullo – rhythm guitar, vocals
Denny Walley – slide guitar, vocals
Ike Willis – lead vocals
Peter Wolf – keyboards
Tommy Mars – keyboards (Act 1)
Arthur Barrow – bass guitar, guitar (on "Joe's Garage"), vocals
Patrick O'Hearn – bass guitar on "Outside Now" and "He Used to Cut the Grass"
Ed Mann – percussion, vocals
Vinnie Colaiuta – drums, combustible vapors, optometric abandon
Jeff (Jeff Hollie) – tenor sax (all tracks Act 1)
Marginal Chagrin (Earle Dumler) – baritone sax (all tracks Act 1)
Stumuk (Bill Nugent) – bass sax (all tracks Act 1)
Dale Bozzio – vocals (all tracks Act 1)
Al Malkin – vocals (all tracks Act 1)
Craig Steward – harmonica (all tracks Act 1)
