You were warned. A couple of months back, posting about Roy Ayers Ubiquity's 1975 album Mystic Voyage, I wrote, "This album has sent me down a '70s jazz/funk/soul rabbit hole so if you like this sorta thing, watch this space." So I picked up other recordings by Ayers plus other musicians in the same vein including Gary Bartz, Gene Dunlap, Donald Byrd, James Mason, Idris Muhammad, etc. So, while in quarantine, I've been a dancin' fool enjoying this good stuff.
There's not much of Ayers's vibraphone playing here, no matter. I probably wasn't ready for this in '76 but if someone had handed me a copy in '79 or '80, it would certainly have been appreciated as evidenced by repeated listenings. There's so much groove here, scratching me right where I itch. Good during any season, but I can see where this might become a summer album for me - it's just got a that feel to it.
I obviously dig it, but let's check out what some Amazon reviewers think:
- "no one is sleeping here."
- "I would put him as the Co-Godfather of Acid Jazz. Right next to Sun Ra."
- "I still play it today and will play it at my funeral"
- "Diese scheibe sorgt auf jeden Fall für gute Laune."
Press of the time:
- Billboard: "straddles the line between jazz, r&b and Latin"
- CashBox: "a unique taste of progressive jazz/R&B"
- Record World: "bridge the gap between jazz/rock and disco"
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| One of these things is not like the others |
Album chart peaks:
- US Billboard Top 200: #51
- Billboard Jazz: #6
- Billboard R&B: #10
- CashBox: #52
- CashBox Jazz: #2
Tracks: My favorite of the ten tracks here is The Golden Rod. Other highlights are Hey Uh-What You Say Come On, The Third Eye, It Ain't Your Sign It's Your Mind, and the title track. Can't find anything that isn't worth your time, though.
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None, but check back next summer.
Previously revisited for the blog:
Mystic Voyage (1975)
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