After picking up a Roy Ayers Ubiquity CD a couple of years back, I happily dove down a rabbit hole of mid-'70s disco/funk/jazz from artists like Ayers, Gary Bartz, Donald Byrd, Herbie Hancock, Weldon Irvine, etc. This CD was purchased somewhere in the rabbit hole and it certainly delivers.
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It goes down easy and can be listened to casually, but active listening certainly pays dividends for the listener. There's a lot of textures and electronic manipulation of acoustic instruments to go along with the hypnotic grooves.
This public radio guy recently named it the second best smooth jazz album of all time.
Album chart peaks:
- US Billboard Top 200: #85
- Billboard Jazz: #2
- Billboard R&B: #27
- CashBox: #58
Reviews/ratings:
- Billboard: "a first-rate effort by an artist filled with expression and emotion"
- CashBox: "has an unnerving sense of security and wholeness"
- High Fidelity: "vivid color and a wide range of rhythms and shifting accents"
- Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide (1985): ★★
- The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★
Tracks: All seven tracks are great, but my favorite is Summer Days. Now that I write that, it strikes me that this whole album is perfect for summer listening. The funkiest groove is found in Voodoo Woman and the trippiest tune is Shadows. There's a calm take on the Horace Silver standard, Peace, with a beautiful piano solo from Lonnie Liston Smith and vocals from his brother, Donald.
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None
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