Idris Muhammad - Power Of Soul (1974)

Blurb from the back CD insert:

A frequent drummer on some of the most visible Kudu sessions, Idris Muhammad was finally signed to the label as a recording artist, and marked his album debut with the sensational POWER OF SOUL. With Bob James writing the charts, and Grover Washington, Jr. providing some exquisite contributions on the saxophone, the album made quite a splash at the time, and quickly established Idris as a force to contend with on the music scene.

That hyperbolic statement is, I believe, intentionally vague and misleading as this was not the drummer's first album, but rather his "album debut" on the Kudu label. He had previously released two albums on the Prestige label.

Nevertheless, this is a good - albeit brief - instrumental album put together with a whole lot of recognizable names from the smooth jazz genre. Recorded at Van Gelder Studios and engineered by Rudy Van Gelder, the album was produced by Creed Taylor, and the pieces were arranged and conducted by Bob James. If you're a fan of Taylor, James, or Grover Washington, Jr., this is an album worth checking out.

2002 reissue liner notes by Didier Deutsch who, in 1974 at the time of this album's release, was publicity director at CTI records.

Idris Muhammad - drums
Grover Washington, Jr. - soprano & tenor saxophones
Bob James - keyboards
Gary King - bass
Joe Beck - guitar
Ralph MacDonald - percussion
Randy Brecker - trumpet & flugelhorn

Ratings/reviews:

• Downbeat (★★★): "quite good"
• Billboard: "a real blockbuster"
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★
• The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide (1985): ★★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: Did not chart
• Billboard Jazz: #15
• Record World Jazz: #9

Tracks: Only four tracks, and three of those four I had heard previously on other recordings prior to purchasing this CD.

1. Power Of Soul - a cover of a Jimi Hendrix tune, a.k.a. Power To Love. A tune which is much harder than the remaining tunes. Beck delivers a scorching solo, but is ultimately upstaged by Washington.
2. Piece of Mind - a midtempo Bob James original. Silky smooth with tasty work from Washington, Brecker, and, of course, James.
3. The Saddest Thing - this track, written by Joe Beck, was rerecorded for the 1975 Beck album and retitled Star Fire. So relaxing and calm with a restrained string arrangement, this is my favorite track on the album.
4. Loran's Dance - a Grover Washington, Jr. tune which the saxophonist later recorded on his 1978 album, Reed Seed.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
You Ain't No Friend Of Mine! (1978)

Minnie Riperton - Stay In Love/Minnie (1977/1979)

Note: the CD I listened to was the 2004 UK reissue.

Many years ago while visiting a fantastic record store in Chicago, I purchased a similar Riperton Twofer (Perfect Angel/Adventures in Paradise) disc and it gets a lot of spins around here. One of those many, many spins led to the ordering of this similar CD. If a little bit is good, more is better, right? And while it's not quite as good as the earlier stuff, there's still nothing to skip among these two albums and they make great companions to the earlier disc. Since I first received this disc, I normally listen to both discs in succession and it usually makes for a wonderful afternoon of soul, R&B, soft rock, and in the case of the later albums, disco. Both compilations are highly recommended.

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STAY IN LOVE (1977)

Subtitled "A Romantic Fantasy Set to Music," this album was produced by disco legend Freddie Perren. I dig the disco feel throughout but the critics didn't care for it because of the critical bias against disco at the time.

Press of the time:

• Stereo Review: "Riperton's singing is, as usual, just fine - it's the rest you'll have to block out."
• High Fidelity: "Aretha she ain't, but Minnie she is - and that's a plus"
• Billboard: "uncluttered and easy to listen to."
• CashBox: "unquestionably an album for romantics"
• Record World: "not so much a concept album as one given over to a particular subject and outlook - the many sides of love"

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #71
• Billboard R&B: #19
• CashBox: #81

Tracks: Three singles were released: Wouldn't Matter Where You Are, Young Willing And Able, and Stick Together (#57 R&B, #23 dance), a collaboration with Stevie Wonder using the pseudonym El Toro Negro. I think the best cut is Young Willing And Able, followed closely by Gettin' Ready For Your Love, Stick Together, But as I wrote earlier, don't skip any tracks.

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MINNIE (1979)

This was Riperton's first album on the Capitol label and the last to be released during her lifetime. This is the better of the two albums included on this CD.

Press of the time:

• Stereo Review: Best of the Month
• High Fidelity: "too ornate and cure to be convincing, despite a fine set of pipes"
• CashBox: "it is the warmth and vitality she conveys via her singing approach, along with her striking compositions, that truly merit attention"
• Record World: "she has a way with ballad material that makes a song all her own"
• Billboard: "may be this singer's strongest work on disk to date."

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #29
• Billboard R&B: #5
• CashBox: #43
• Rolling Stone: #37

Tracks: Two singles were released: Memory Lane (#16 R&B) and Lover And Friend (#20 R&B). Those two songs are also the first two tracks on the album and it's a heckuva way to open a LP. Such great, timeless grooves. I also enjoy the bossa feel of Never Existed Before, the highly danceable tunes Love Hurts and I'm A Woman, plus the disco funk of Dancin' & Actin' Crazy. The album closes with a cover of The Doors' Light My Fire and José Feliciano drops by the studio to help out.

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Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
Perfect Angel/Adventures in Paradise (1974/1975)

Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True (1977)

Note: the CD I listened to was the 1993 Rykodisc reissue with 9 bonus tracks.

I normally don't look for Elvis Costello CDs, but I was pursuing the used bins of my local store and I spotted this Rykodisc version - complete with trademarked green jewel box - of Costello's acclaimed debut and the collector in me just couldn't resist. It's a great first release to be sure (in 2022 it ranked at #64 in Rolling Stone's list of "The 100 Best Debut Albums of All Time"), but I still think his best album is Trust.

Recorded on a shoestring budget, the album was produced by Nick Lowe and used three members of the band Clover as the backing musicians in the studio. Arrangements are impatient, hooks are everywhere, tempos are almost always upbeat, and the clever lyrics are examples of teenage angst set to rock beats. And Costello's late-'70s reboot of the "angry young man" was unleashed.

In The Village Voice's annual 'Pazz & Jop' critic's list, this album placed at #2 for 1977.

Press of the time:

• Stereo Review: "the work of someone who comes as close to being the Compleat Rock Star as anyone within recent memory - driven, funny, and totally original"
• CashBox: "demonstrates great promise"
• Record World: "One of the brightest and freshest new talents to emerge from England this year"
• Billboard: "Costello does a lot with the basic four/four, guitar and drum format"
• Robert Christgau (B+): "I like the nerdy way this guy comes on, I'm fascinated by his lyrics, and I approve of his rock and roll orientation"
• NME: "an album often of intense brilliance"
• Rolling Stone: "has only begun to surprise us"
• Trouser Press: "Elvis Costello has produced a classic in his first try"
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Indie & New Wave (1998): ★★★★

The album is listed in the 2005 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, calling it "a heady combination of punk and quality songcraft."

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #32
• CashBox: #33

Tracks, ranked in order of personal preference:

1. Alison
2. Less Than Zero
3. Watching The Detectives (not included in the UK album, but released as a single in October 1977, then added to the US release as the last track on side one; it appears as track 13 on this CD. This song was the only single to even catch a whiff of the US Billboard charts, bubbling under the Hot 100 at 108)
4. Welcome To The Working Week
5. (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes
6. Pay It Back
7. Sneaky Feelings
8. Waiting For The End Of The World
9. Miracle Man
10. Mystery Dance
11. Blame It On Cain
12. No Dancing
13. I'm Not Angry

(If you don't agree with my ranking, second and third opinions available over at Billboard and the EC Fan Forum.)

Bonus tracks: These 9 tracks receive some explanation in the CD's liner notes, which all boils down to "these songs are in a radically different style" than the songs included in the album. Most tracks are called "pre-professional" recordings, which I believe to be a way to gloss over the fact they are demos. Still, because of the DIY ethos of the time, the demos aren't too bad, just different - most skew towards country. Good of Costello to recognize what should fit on the album.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None. I was but 11 years old at the time of this album's release and was listening exclusively to AM Top 40 radio at the time and nobody in my immediate circle was listening to the emerging New Wave sounds being imported. I probably didn't hear a track from this album until 1983ish.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Painted From Memory (1998)
Spike (1989)
Imperial Bedroom (1982)
Trust (1981)

Grant Green - Idle Moments (1965)

Note: the CD I listened to was the 1999 Rudy Van Gelder Edition which includes two bonus tracks.

Simply put, this is the album that made me a full-fledged fan of Grant Green. It is widely regarded as one of Green’s finest recordings and features an exceptional lineup. The album - particularly the 15-minute title track - is striking for its expressive restraint and the ease with which band members take their cues from one another.

Green - guitar
Joe Henderson - tenor saxophone
Bobby Hutcherson - vibes
Duke Pearson - piano
Bob Cranshaw - bass
Al Harewood - drums

Original liner notes written by Duke Pearson; 2004 reissue liner notes by Bob Blumenthal.

Reviews/ratings:

• Stereo Review: Recording of Special Merit
• Billboard: ★★★★
• DownBeat (★★★★): "Not only are all the performances of high order, but the entire undertaking also has a cohesion, a unity of approach that is quite a delight."
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000): ★★★★
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★★½
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★★

Listed at #12 on uDiscover's list of The 50 Greatest Blue Note Albums, calling the album "arguably the St. Louis fretboard maestro’s magnum opus."

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: As mentioned above, the star here is the title track which might be the most laid back piece Blue Note ever released. The whole dang album gets it done in only 4 tracks and is nothing short of fantastic.

Bonus tracks: Alternate versions of Jean De Fleur and Django.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Not long after I fell down the Blue Note rabbit hole, I purchased this CD along with Midnight Blue and listened to nothing else during the evening hours for what seems like the whole of August 2021.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Talkin' About (1965)
Feelin' The Spirit (1963)
Green Street (1961)
Sunday Mornin'/Grantstand/Grant's First Stand/Green Blues

Patrice Rushen - Watch Out! (1987)

Three women I wish I'd paid more attention to during the 1980s:

1. Angela Bofill
2. Brenda Russell
3. Patrice Rushen

Rushen is an accomplished pianist but I think ofttimes record management pushed her towards pop/R&B chart success. The record executive in this particular case is Clive Davis as this was Rushen's only album for Arista after leaving the Elektra label. The versatile Rushen is difficult to categorize and her current wikipedia entry calls her a jazz pianist and R&B singer, so let's just go with that. This 1987 album is firmly in the R&B camp. I'm not a huge fan of late '80s R&B production tropes, but there's some good stuff here regardless of trend-chasing synth sounds and drum programming.

Ratings/reviews:

• Billboard: "fails to coalesce into a uniformly strong showcase"
• CashBox: "a smooth, sensual collection of sophisticated R&B/pop crossover"
• R&B Report: "a winner"
• Philadelphia Inquirer (★★★): Rushen has developed into a formidable, versatile talent."
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #77
• Billboard R&B: #19
• CashBox: #60
• Rolling Stone: #45

Tracks: Three singles were released: Watch Out (#9 R&B, #22 dance), Anything Can Happen (#51 R&B), and Come Back To Me (#65 R&B, #37 dance). Those are three of my favorites here, along with All My Love and Tender Lovin'. There are tunes that try to capitalize on successes of mid-'80s Pointer Sisters (Breakin' All The Rules), Whitney Houston (Somewhere), New Edition (the aforementioned Anything Can Happen), and Prince (Burnin'). There's filler, but there's no track that will have you reaching for the skip button.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None, but I'll continue to pick up any CDs I see from the three artists listed above.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Signature (1997)

Fattburger - Sizzlin' (2003)

The uncredited blurb on the back insert claims this is "The definitive Smooth Jazz Supergroup at the top of their game!" I'm not sure about all that, but I will say this album is very easy to listen to. I wish I had found it back when it was released in 2003 as it would have fit in with the music I often listened to when I was working on my first graduate degree which was a lot of Chris Botti and Down to The Bone.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: Did not chart
• Billboard Contemporary Jazz: #16

Tracks: Like I mentioned earlier, it all goes down smooth and easy. At various times, tracks echo back to music from Najee, Spyro Gyra, Tom Scott, Rippingtons, and George Benson. I'm not saying that it's all derivative, I'm saying that the group was hitting to all fields on this one.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
The Best Of Fattburger (1992)

Wynton Marsalis - Marsalis Standard Time, Vol. 2: Intimacy Calling (1991)

The supposed second entry in Wynton's six volume 'Standard Time' series. For reasons unknown (to be honest, I didn't care to research), Volume 2 was released after the third volume in the series. In any case, as the subtitle "Intimacy Calling" suggests, this is a romantic listen and - although not all ballads - perfect for nighttime listening. But that model on the cover looks uncomfortable in that pose, don't ya think?

Complete credits and liner notes available at the Wynton Marsalis website.

Ratings/reviews:

• Billboard: "delicately and lovingly delivered"
• DownBeat (★★★★): "there's plenty to like about this record"
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000):★★★
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★½
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #112
• Billboard Jazz: #1

Tracks:

1. When It's Sleepy Time Down South (1931) ✔
2. You Don't Know What Love Is (1941)
3. Indelible And Nocturnal (1991 Marsalis original)
4. I'll Remember April (1941)
5. Embraceable You (1930) ✔
6. Crepuscule With Nellie (1957)
7. What Is This Thing Called Love (1929)
8. The End Of A Love Affair (1951)
9. East Of The Sun (West Of The Moon) (1934) ✔
10. Lover (1932) ✔
11. Yesterdays (1933)
12. Bourbon Street Parade (1949) ✔

If you're using this album as a mood-setter for adult activities, you might want to skip the last track unless you plan on a victorious exit march from the bedroom to the kitchen à la NOLA second-lining. But you be you.

Exclusive CD longbox photo courtesy of
Dirk Digglinator of the Hambonian Archives.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None, but around the time this album was released I was snapping up Marsalis CDs fairly frequently so it wouldn't surprise me if I bought this one at some point in '91. And yes, Volume 3 will eventually appear in this space. Stay tuned.

Previously revisited for the blog:

Two Men with the Blues (2008)	Baroque Music for Trumpets (1988)
Standards & Ballads (2008)	Portrait of Wynton Marsalis (1988)
Live at The Village Vanguard (1999)	Marsalis Standard Time, Vol. 1 (1987)
Marsalis Plays Monk (1999)	Carnaval (1987)
In Gabriel's Garden (1996)	J Mood (1986)
Joe Cool's Blues (1995)	Black Codes (1985)
Baroque Duet (1992)	Baroque Music for Trumpet (1984)
Uptown Ruler (1991)	Hot House Flowers (1984)
Tune In Tomorrow (1990)	Trumpet Concertos (1983)
Crescent City Christmas Card (1989)