CHARLES EARLAND – BACK TALK!
A pivotal album in the development of the use of the Hammond
organ in jazz – and Charles Earland's first exposure to a large audience!
During the 60s, Charles was bumping around the Philly scene quite a bit – and
recorded some small group indie sides that first gave a glimpse of his unique
sound on the organ. But with this record, Earland really broke out wide – and
hit a huge audience that made him one of the most in-demand players of the
early 70s! The Earland touch is summed up perfectly here – a really fluid
approach to the keys that shakes loose the clunkier styles of older Hammond
players, and goes for a tightened-up groove that puts equal emphasis on rhythm
and melodic improvisation – in a way that's always made Charles' records some
of the best jazz dancers to come out of Prestige. Earland has an amazing way of
completely transforming a tune – taking a familiar melody, but riffing on it
extensively – slowly expanding it through almost modal progressions – until the
tune opens up into a long extended jazzy groove! Proof of this is the album's
sublime 11 minute version of "More Today Than Yesterday" – a solid
stepper that never gets old – and other tunes include "Black Talk",
"The Mighty Burner", "Here Comes Charlie", and
"Aquarius". Oh, and players include Virgil Jones, Houston Person,
Melvin Sparks, and Idris Muhammed – an all-star lineup, but tightly guided by
Charles as if they were his own working group!
~ Dusty Groove
MACEO PARKER – US
A killer-diller bit of essential funk – the only full album
cut by Maceo with James Brown production! The set's got Maceo coming back
strongly into the JB fold, with a fierce array of funky cuts that kick it every
bit as hard as the best JBs work of the time. No surprise, the JBs are working
with Maceo on the arrangements and backing – letting his funky horn take the
lead, but coming up on their own with the impeccably tight rhythms that have
forever made them the blueprint for funk forever! Features the great tracks
"Soul Power 74" and "Parrty", which you may have on compilations,
but also the great album tracks "I Can Play For (Just You and Me)"
and "Soul of a Black Man", a 10 minute long, slow soul groove, with
vocals by James Brown. ~ Dusty Groove
THE OHIO PLAYERS – OBSERVATIONS IN TIME
Wild! This early Ohio Players album is a masterpiece of 60s
soul, and has a great group sound unlike any of their Westbound albums. The
band is tight and funky, but in a sort of deep soul 60s way, with arrangements
and playing that have a hard edge, and with nice guitar rhythm tracks. There's
a lot of originals, like "Bad Bargain", "Lonely Street",
and "Street Party", plus very cool covers of cuts like
"Summertime" and "Mother In Law". Great trippy cover, too.
Also includes 'Here Today & Gone Tomorrow", "Stop Lying To
Yourself", "Over The Rainbow", "Find Someone To
Love","Cold Cold World" and "The Man That I Am". ~ Dusty Groove
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