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SOUL, FUNK and JAZZ FUSION
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"…Shifting Gears…"
When Soul morphed into Funk
- which the old-world Jazz musicians then blended into Jazz Fusion - the berets
of Jazz purists fell to the floor in disgust and dismay - but the heart rates
of Dancers around the globe got with the groove and shouted
"Hallelujah!" I was one of those giddy groovers...
I've never been a Jazz
purist myself (can't stand that crap) but between 1973 and 1975 particularly -
Rock/Soul guys like me were looking for something new and Jazz Fusion/Funk
caught our attention. Quality musicians that stretched back as far as the late
Fifties like trumpeter Donald Byrd, multi-instrumentalist Herbie Hancock and
keyboardist Johnny Hammond (Smith) embraced the Funk and threw out absolutely
fabulous albums on labels like CTI, BSF, Kudo, Blue Note and Milestone.
Hammond's legendary
"Gears" album from 1975 (with superb Larry and Fonce Mizell songs and
Production) and it's 1976 follow-up "Forever Taurus" (with heavy Wade
and Ralph Marcus involvement) are from that ilk - and they've been cherished
Jazz-Funk-Fusion LPs for collectors since their release on Milestone Records in
the USA four decades ago. And that's where this amazing twofer/value for money
BGP CD comes in.
Here are the Cosmic Voyager
details...
UK released October 1992 – "Gears/Forever
Taurus" by JOHNNY HAMMOND on Ace/Beat Goes Public CDBGPD 037 (Barcode 029667273725)
offers 2LPs from 1975 and 1976 originally on Milestone Records Remastered onto 1CD (in 1992) that pans out as follows (74:22 minutes):
1. Tell Me What To Do [Side 1]
2. Los Conquistadores
Chocolates
3. Lost On 23rd Street
4. Fantasy [Side 2]
5. Shifting Gears
6. Can't We Smile
Tracks 1 to 6 are the album
"Gears" - released November 1975 in the USA on Milestone M-9062
7. Old Devil Moon [Side 1]
8. Countdown
9. Walk In Sunshine
10. Ghetto Samba
11. Cosmic Voyager [Side 2]
12. My Ship
13. Winds Of Change
14. Forever Taurus
Tracks 7 to 14 are the album
"Forever Taurus" - released 1976 in the USA on Milestone M-9068
"Tell Me What To
Do" has been featured on more Jazz Fusion/Rare Groove compilations than
you can shake a stick at - and hardly surprising - what a winner. Its vocal
set-up reminds me of Donald Byrd's masterpiece "Places And Spaces (also
from late 1975) - another Mizell Brothers involvement. These guys seemed to
funkify everyone and everything they touched - modernising their sound and
that's what you get with "Gears". The wind and Spanish jabbering that
begins "Los Conquistadores Chocolates" soon succumbs to frantic
drums, flute and bass - but when it hits about 2 minutes in - the strings and
vibes begin and the result is very special indeed. Side One ends with the
mellow "Lost On 23rd Street" - with those strange synth flourishes
behind that Stevie Wonder clavinet beat.
Side 2 opens with probably
everyone's fave - the funky "Fantasy" (co-written by Hammond and the
Mizell Brothers). Gorgeous guitar flicks mingle with strings and again those groove vocals while Chuck Rainey on Bass and Harvey Mason on Drums - punch
out that that amazing rhythm section. Slap bass opens "Shifting
Gears" - soon joined by wah-wah guitar and hip flute flourishes - it's
always been my poison on the album (can't resist that funky groove). It ends on
the mellow "Can't We Smile" where initial Crusaders-like piano morphs
into spacey keyboard warbles and Jean Luc-Ponty type violin soloing.
"Forever Taurus"
moved away from the Mizell brothers to the combo of Wade and Ralph Marcus along
with a raft of hugely accomplished sessionmen like Trumpeter Chuck Findley,
Saxophonist Jack Nimitz and Keyboard whizz Sonny Burke. Wade Marcus provided
tunes in the shape of "Countdown", "Ghetto Samba" and
"Winds Of Change" while Hammond stumped up "Walk In Sunshine",
"Cosmic Voyager" and "Forever Taurus". Hammond's
keyboard-funky covers of the standard "Old Devil Moon" and Gershwin's
"My Ship" rounded out proceedings very nicely indeed.
A pair of vinyl sweeties -
and its testament to their enduring appeal that even after 28 years in the
marketplace (2020) - this British-issued Ace/Beat Goes Public twofer CD stills sells for full
price and more...
