Roy Ayers Ubiquity (2024)

UK import

2024 box set of five albums by vibraphonist Roy Ayers - sometimes known as the "Godfather of Acid Jazz" - released in the years 1975-1977. I almost didn't buy this set because I already had two of the five albums, but I wanted to hear Vibrations and this set was the cheapest way to pick up a (legitimate) copy. At $30 ($6 per album), it's a hard to pass up this shining set. I mean, everybody loves the sunshine, right?

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A TEAR TO A SMILE (1975)
10 tracks, 40 minutes

In which Ayers moves from his early '70s funky jazz to a funk-jazz-soul-R&B-disco mix while maintaining his bona fides as one of the best vibraphone players in the land. There's a new focus on vocal tracks that sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. There's some great grooves and performances to be had throughout. With this album, Ayers begins his slow transition from jazz player to conductor/producer/arranger as he inches toward the smoother, more commercial sound of his late '70s peak.

I love how he adds descriptors for each performer in the credits.

Reviews/ratings:

• Record World: "The feel flows throughout"
• CashBox: "a low keyed approach to funk, sprinkled ever so lightly with the essential life juices of jazz and rhythm and blues."
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: Did not chart
• Billboard Jazz: #8
• CashBox: #181
• Record World Jazz: #11

Tracks: I enjoy 2000 Black, Show Us A Feeling, The Old One Two (Move To Groove), and A Tear To A Smile. My current favorite cut is the ethereal ballad, Miles (Love's Silent Dawn). The only track that plays it safe is a cover of Earth, Wind & Fire's The Way Of The World, but just because it's safe doesn't mean it's not extrememly enjoyable. (And quite frankly, that song is just begging for jazz covers.) Ayers hits the vibes more on this album than a few of the subsiquent releases, especially on tracks like Ebony Blaze, Time And Space, That's The Way Of The World, Miles (Love's Silent Dawn), and the title track.

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MYSTIC VOYAGE (1975)
10 tracks, 43 minutes

Previously appeared on The CD Project. Note: the 7" version of Evolution is included in this box set as a bonus track.

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EVERYBODY LOVES THE SUNSHINE (1976)
10 tracks, 40 minutes

Previously appeared on The CD Project.

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VIBRATIONS (1976)
11 tracks, 42 minutes

Following up the success of Everybody Loves The Sunshine, so we've got more of the same. I'm not complaining. Rather than trying to reinvent himself, Ayers doubled down on the formula he had been refining all decade: warm vocals, sophisticated jazz harmonies, and irresistible funk grooves. This album also marks the beginning of a shift to utlizing disco/dance grooves on a few tracks. While not having the commercial success of Everybody Loves The Sunshine, Vibrations did quite well on a variety of charts.

Reviews/ratings:

• DownBeat (★½): "I've been known to walk out of restaurants for no other reason that stuff like this coming over the loudspeaker."
• Billboard: "elements of jazz and soul that fuse together for a varied array of mellow and upbeat compositions."
• CashBox: "Roy Ayers Ubiquity is a classy jazz/rock/funk aggregation that, on each album, gets better and better."
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #74
• Billboard R&B: #11
• Billboard Jazz: #8
• CashBox: #94
• CashBox Jazz: #4
• Record World Jazz: #4

Tracks that could have fit on Everybody Loves The Sunshine: Baby I Need Your Love, The Memory, Better Days, Searching, Vibrations, and Baby You Give Me A Feeling.

Tracks embracing the disco trends of the time: Domelo (Give It To Me), Come Out And Play, and Moving Grooving.

Too funky to fit neatly in either of the above categories: Higher and One Sweet Love To Remember.

Bonus track: 7" version of Domelo (Give It To Me)

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LIFELINE (1977)
10 tracks, 43 minutes

I bought this box set because I dig the albums Mystic Voyage and Everybody Loves The Sunshine and wanted more of the same. That's just what we're treated to here. (I also recommend the 2003 compilation, Virgin Ubiquity: Unreleased Recordings 1976-1981, which I recently discovered at my local library). To say I am pleased with this box set is an understatement.

Reviews/ratings:

• Billboard: "There are some subtly cooking gems on this set"
• CashBox: "shines with fresh vitality and as much variety as you'll hear pressed in vinyl"
• Record World: "Ayers has disco-fied his sound as never before and the results should reach a much wider audience."
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★
• The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide (1985): ★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #72
• Billboard R&B: #9
• Billboard Jazz: #8
• CashBox: #74
• CashBox Jazz: #3
• Record World Jazz: #1

Tracks: my favorites are This Side Of Sunshine, Gotta Find A Lover, Lifeline, and Sanctified Feeling.

Bonus track: 12" version of Running Away, which peaked at #19 on Billboard's R&B chart and #14 on Billboard's dance chart

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Previously revisited for the blog:
Everybody Loves The Sunshine (1976)
Mystic Voyage (1975)

Donald Byrd - Stepping Into Tomorrow (1975)

Japanese import

MIZELL BROTHERS MONTH (APRIL 2026)

As the weather warms, I lately find myself drifting towards '70s jazz-funk albums such as Music Is My Sanctuary and the sort found on the Capitol Rare compilations. Then friend o' the blog Dirk Digglinator pointed out that many of those "summery" grooves I dig come from the writing and production of brothers Larry & Fonce Mizell who, in my vivid imagination, always wore sunglasses when seated at the studio's mixing console. And since we've already got high temperatures in the 90s here in San Antonio, let's get out the sunscreen and spin some Mizell Brothers discs while throwing some well-seasoned brisket in the smoker.

I don't know exactly what it is about this stuff that makes it summer music for me. Lots of tight, hypnotic, infectious, shimmering mid-tempo grooves featuring wah-wah pedals, silky keyboards, and basslines that refuse to sit still. Grooves are tight but never in a hurry. I can imagine I'm cutting through the morning fog into the sunshine as I drive my convertible along the coast. It all sounds the same yet it all sounds different. So what if DownBeat gave it a "tepid quasi-funk" label? We like what we like and judging by chart positions, I'm far from the only who enjoys these grooves.

There's not much playing from Byrd on this one; many tunes could just as easily been credited to saxophonist Gary Bartz. Then again, this album is all about feel, not blistering solos or virtuoso flexing. The occasional, wordless, high-flying whistle register vocals from Lorraine Kenner are impressive but often distracting. There I go nit-picking again. The vocals must not have bothered younger generations as the album became a sampling goldmine decades later, proving that sometimes a song’s true destiny is to be chopped up by DJs who weren’t even born when Byrd recorded the thing.

Reviews/ratings:

• Record World: "Byrd's best set yet"
• Billboard: "Producer Larry Mizell has himself in for additional points by contributing five tunes, so the LP really carries his imprimateur [sic]."
• DownBeat (no rating): "faceless tepid quasi-funk"
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #42
• Billboard Jazz: #2
• Billboard R&B: #7
• CashBox: #42
• Record World Jazz: #1

Tracks: Think Twice was released as a single and bubbled under the Hot 100 at #104. Shoulda charted higher but you already knew that. It's fantastic along with Makin' It and the mixed-meter Design A Nation. But really, you should just sit back and let this whole thing simmer as you catch some rays out back while minding the smoker. 😎

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None, other than the summer vibes mentioned above.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Love Byrd (1981)
A New Perspective (1964)

Return To Forever Featuring Chick Corea - No Mystery (1975)

German import

Generally regarded as Return To Forever's weakest (maybe I should say "least celebrated") album, this thing just kind of unevenly meanders with more of a jam band vibe than an album of composed tracks. Hummable melodies need not apply. I took a chance on a used CD and it didn't really pay off for me.

Nevertheless, the album won a Grammy in the category of Best Jazz Performance by a Group.

Reviews/ratings:

• Billboard: "remains one of the best examples of how jazz and rock cross polinate [sic] into a modern pop band."
• Record World: "[transcends] the limitations of categorical classification with musically innovative ingenuity and a collective flow"
• CashBox: "The textures are moods delineated on these tracks are striking"
• Stereo Review: "often swims about aimlessly in a sea of electronic gimmickry"
• DownBeat (★★★½): "the overall presentation is less than I have come to expect from talents like Clarke and Corea"
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #39
• Billboard Jazz: #7
• CashBox: #35
• Record World Jazz: #34

Tracks: I dig a few tracks, including Dayride and Sofistifunk. What was side two (tracks 6-9) is more of a prog-rock/jazz thing that I don't particularly care for.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Return To Forever (1975)

Chuck Mangione - Chase The Clouds Away (1975)

Mangione's first release on the A&M record label finds him safely treading water in his favorite pool: Latin-tinged instrumental pop/smooth jazz. Reedist Gerry Niewood brings his A game to the cuts on this album and brings some quality solos to some otherwise bland and/or over-orchestrated compositions. Maybe using the word "bland" is a bit much - the music here is perfectly agreeable, but there's only a couple of tracks that really grab my ear. As my dear friend Richard used to say, "good, not great."

The liner notes (written by Mangione himself) state the album was recorded live to tape so there are an above-average number of clams from Mangione, but that's the nature of the beast. As a recovering trumpet player myself, I can recall participating in my fair share of clambakes.

The title track was nominated for two Grammy Awards:

1. Best Instrumental Composition (eventually losing to Images by Michel Legrand)
2. Best Pop Instrumental Performance (eventually losing to The Hustle by Van McCoy)

It also gained exposure when it was used by ABC during its coverage of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.

How big was Mangione in pop culture back then? Well, he was popular enough to not only have chart success with instrumental singles, he also appeared on TV in such classics as Playboy's Roller Disco & Pajama Party in 1979. And here's a clip with Chuck providing his own background music while onscreen with Tom Selleck in an episode of Magnum PI:

Starting in 1997 he was a recurring character on the animated show King Of The Hill. I noticed that Mangione's singles discography on Wikipedia is rather lacking, so I'm going to go ahead and spin this CD again while I start up a rudimentary singles history for the man. As my father used to bemoan, "I guess I gotta do everything myself."

Title	Year	Hot 100	AC	R&B
Hill Where The Lord Hides	1971	76	32
Chase The Clouds Away	1975	96
Bellavia	1976		49
Land Of Make Believe	1977	86
Feels So Good	1978	4	1
Children of Sanchez	1978		44
Bellavia (from Children of Sanchez album)	1979		41
Land Of Make Believe (Live)	1979		44
Give It All You Got	1980	18	1	32
Fun And Games	1980		49
Steppin' Out	1982			80

Plus, I respect Mangione's deep commitment to brown felt fedoras with a flat crown and colorful hatband.

Reviews/ratings:

• High Fidelity: "Altogether, a thoroughly enjoyable album."
• Stereo Review: "full of good music of the middle-of-the-road jazz variety"
• Billboard: "The music is very easy to appreciate."
• Record World: "Mangione's ability to lushly weave sounds to form special moods is at its height"
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #47
• Billboard Jazz: #6
• CashBox: #88
• CashBox Jazz: #33
• Record World Jazz: #5

Tracks: The title track is the cream of the crop and the only tune I had heard prior to finding this CD in a used bin. The first two tracks are also quite nice. The album ends with a lone vocal track, Soft, which is a nice ballad, but seems out of place here.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None with this particular album, but Mangione's death on July 22, 2025 certainly put me in a melancholy mood. His music has definitely played a role in my life since I first heard Feels So Good on my AM radio. My Feels So Good cassette was the first jazz album I ever purchased. The 1979 live album, An Evening of Magic: Live at the Hollywood Bowl, provided background music for me for decades as I tackled writing assignments in undergraduate and graduate schools (and possibly high school?). My very first year of teaching marching band in 1989, the main director of the high school band chose an arrangement of Mangione's Land Of Make Believe for the band to perform. That scenario repeated itself at a different school with different colleagues and different students in the late '90s. And, around 2002 or 2003, yet another band I taught worked up an all-Mangione halftime show, which not only included Land Of Make Believe, but also El Gato Triste and one other Mangione tune I can't recall.

And why hasn't the 1981 A&M album Tarantella ever been released on CD? 2008 Universal Studios fire maybe?

Previously revisited for the blog:
Everything For Love (2000)
Eyes Of The Veiled Temptress (1988)
Classics, Volume 6 (1987)
Journey To A Rainbow (1983)
Love Notes (1982)/Disguise (1984)/Save Tonight For Me (1986)
An Evening of Magic: Live at The Hollywood Bowl (1979)
Feels So Good (1977)
Land Of Make Believe (1973)

Various Artists - Soul Hits of the '70s: Didn't It Blow Your Mind, Vol. 18 (1995)

Volume 18 of a 20 volume Rhino series. I had no plans to collect all 20 CDs, but they keep appearing in used bins and I simply can't help myself so we'll have to wait and see where this leads. From what I can ascertain, the later volumes released in 1995 are getting harder to find which normally translates to higher price tags, so I'm lucky I happened across this one because I think it is one of the strongest in the series. Singles included on this volume charted 1975 - 1977, the years in which I developed a serious commitment to radio and music.

Tracks, with Billboard chart peaks:

1. Give It What You Got - B.T. Express (1975, #40 pop, #5 R&B)
   If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The group's 1974 single Do It ('Til You're Satisfied)" topped the R&B chart in 1974 so this is more of the same as far as groove, style, and lyrical content are concerned. Not quite as successful on the pop chart this time around, though.
2. Wake Up Everybody (Part 1) - Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes (1975, #12 pop, #1 R&B, #34 AC) 
   Typical Philly Soul greatness from Teddy Pendergrass and company. Sadly, the lyrics continue to be relevant half a century after they were written.
3. Sweet Thing - Rufus feat. Chaka Khan (1975, #5 pop, #1 R&B)
   I listen to something this good and can't help from hollering, “@#$%&, Chaka! Sing that $#%!”
4. I'll Be Good To You - The Brothers Johnson (1976, #3 pop, #1 R&B)
   George & Louis Johnson teaming up with producer Quincy Jones made for several excellent collaborations. This was the first.
5. Kiss And Say Goodbye - The Manhattans (1976, #1 pop, #1 R&B, #12 AC)
   Recorded in Philadelphia with MFSB as the backing band, this is a fantastic slow jam. I love this song from the spoken intro to the smooth ever-so-slightly-out-of-tune doo-wop harmonies. A simple break up song, but oh so well done. Pleading, soulful vocals over an insistent, pulsing string hook. After a Barry White-ish spoken word bass voice intro, we're treated to a beautifully subtle, falsetto voice that grows in intensity for the next 3 minutes.
6. You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine - Lou Rawls (1976, #2 pop, #1 R&B, #4 disco, #1 AC)
   Lou Rawls and Gamble & Huff? Gimme! What a voice and what a soulful pair of writer/producers.
7. Who'd She Coo? - Ohio Players (1976, #18 pop, #1 R&B)
   A play on the suggestive euphemism "hoochie coo," but when you've got a funk groove this good, lyrics are practically superfluous.
8. You Are My Starship - Norman Connors (1976, #27 pop, #4 R&B)
   Drummer/producer Connors sure could put together a solid group of musicians for his jazz/R&B albums. This one features vocals by Michael Henderson and a soprano sax solo by Gary Bartz. It was the biggest solo hit from Connors but is one of my least favorites cut from him. Go figure.
9. Dazz - Brick (1976, #3 pop, #1 R&B, #7 disco)
   Dazz is supposedly a combination of disco and jazz. I'm not sure that's what it is, but we're treated to mean flute solo.
10. Tryin' To Love Two - William Bell (1976, #10 pop, #1 R&B, #25 AC)
    This didn't get much airplay in west Texas so I don't recall hearing it as a child. That's my loss because this thing is fantastically smooth. I finally heard it about 15 years ago - better late than never.
11. I Wanna Get Next To You - Rose Royce (1976, #10 pop, #3 R&B, #9 AC)
    We're treated to another fantastic slow jam, this time from the mind of Norman Whitfield. I once included this one and Kiss And Say Goodbye (track 5) in a playlist I titled "The Greatest Slow Jam Mix Ever:
    
12. Best Of My Love - The Emotions (1977, #1 pop, #1 R&B, #11 disco)
    Written and produced by musical genius Maurice White. The bass line is awesome in its simplicity. Great groove throughout. The single deservedly won the Grammy award for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Hearing most of these songs while riding around Odessa, Texas through the AM radio in my mother's yellow station wagon (a Ford Country Sedan, maybe?). Particular favorites at the time were Kiss And Say Goodbye, You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine, and Best Of My Love. Other personal faves of 1976 can be found here: Counting down the Top 76 of '76

Previously revisited for the blog:

Volume 5	Volume 13
Volume 6	Volume 14
Volume 12	Volume 15

Chick Corea - Return To Forever (1975)

Note: the CD I listened to was 1987 reissue.

"Return To Forever" became the name Chick Corea gave to a series of three different bands during the '70s. The name was coined with the title of this album, released in 1972 in some countries but not until 1975 in the US. In the meantime, the group (in various incarnations) released four albums on the Polydor label. Regardless of release history, this album is considered by many to be a fusion classic - Corea embraced what he experienced during the Bitches Brew sessions and took the improvisational music in a more Latin-influenced direction.

Much like my experience with Bitches Brew, I was introduced to this album at a time when I was either too young or too bullheaded to understand it, i.e., sometime during my undergrad years. However, there's no denying the appeal of the album closer, La Fiesta, which I first heard when I was in high school through a Maynard Ferguson cover on his Chameleon album. Once I finally matured into the music, I enjoyed it a lot more, particularly the tracks Crystal Silence and the aforementioned La Fiesta. Corea gets writing credit on all tracks, but with this sort of first-take improvisation, there's a lot of collaboration and interplay between the musicians. Particularly noteworthy is the work of Stanley Clarke, just 20 years old at the time of recording.

Corea - electric piano
Joe Farrell - flutes, soprano saxophone
Flora Purim - vocal, percussion
Stanley Clarke - electric bass, double bass
Airto Moreira - drums, percussion

Liner notes from the 1975 ECM US release by Corea.

Reviews/ratings:

• Billboard: "Without exception, this is probably one of the finest jazz LP's in many years."
• Record World: "ensemble jazz at its finest"
• CashBox: "the music of times to come."
• Stereo Review: "out of nearly forty-seven minutes, this album contains about a half-hour of good music, which is more than one can say for any of the group's subsequent efforts on Polydor."
• 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 200: Did not chart
• Billboard Jazz: #8
• CashBox: #171
• Record World Jazz: #18

Tracks: Like the reviewer from Stereo Review, I could do without the vocal tracks. However, I could also listen to Crystal Silence on repeat for 30 minutes. And have.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None. When my college classmates listened to fusion from the 1970's, it was usually either this group's Romantic Warrior album from 1976 or Heavy Weather by Weather Report (1977). Being young and foolish, I mistakenly believed that if a record hadn't been released in the past year or two, it wasn't worth listening to. As I've aged, I've obviously moved past that mindset. 😉

The Manhattan Transfer (1975)

Note: this release was originally purchased as an LP, later replaced by a CD.

Man-oh-man I love this group's vocals and tight harmonies, but this album lacks some focus. Then again, that could be said of most of their albums prior to 1985's Vocalese. There's a little bit of vocalese on this album, along with jazz, pop, doo-wop, disco, and some NOLA funk. It's hit-or-miss so I don't pull this one from the shelves very often, but when I do, it brings back good memories of my life in the early to mid-'80s.

Press of the time:

• CashBox: "Every cut is pure joy as you journey through this musical treat."
• Record World: "especially attractive"
• Billboard: "Some of the finest singing heard in a long while and one of the few records that lives up to its advance hype."
• High Fidelity: "Talent this good and chemistry this hot always rise to the top."
• Stereo Review: "This is a silky salon job that will probably be most appreciated by the 'in' group in pop social circles."
• Rolling Stone: "Of this album's 12 selections, only four seem worthy of more than one audition." (Spoiler: those 4 tracks, in descending order, are 1) Clap Your Hands, 2) Blue Champagne, 3) Operator, and 4) That Cat Is High. I respectfully disagree.) 

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #33
• CashBox: #45

Tracks:

1. Tuxedo Junction - cover of a 1939 Erskine Hawkins and His Orchestra tune, fairly faithful to the Glenn Miller version, complete with big band backing.
2. Sweet Talking Guy - cover of a 1966 tune by The Chiffons.
3. Operator - cover of a 1959 tune by The Friendly Brothers, peaked on the Hot 100 at #22. One of the best tracks on the album; gospelish with a tasty sax solo from Michael Brecker.
4. Candy - cover of a popular 1944 standard
5. Gloria - cover of a 1954 tune by The Cadillacs. Yawner with a organ part that sounds like it was lifted straight from a sitcom funeral scene.
6. Clap Your Hands - original by Ira Newborn & The Manhattan Transfer. This disco-lite pop ditty was issued as a single, but did not chart.
7. That Cat Is High - cover of a 1938 tune by The Ink Spots. Swinging big band tune and a drunkard certainly delivers.
8. You Can Depend On Me - cover of a 1931 Louis Armstrong tune.
9. Blue Champagne - cover of a 1941 Jimmy Dorsey #1 hit. A beautiful ballad, well done.  
10. Java Jive - cover of a 1940 tune by The Ink Spots. Another one of the better album cuts, just the quartet with subtle guitar accompaniment. 
11. Occapella - cover of a 1970 Lee Dorsey tune. Slow funk tune written by Allen Toussaint and the only thing that could make it better would be The Meters as a backing band. Ironically, the tune is not performed a capella. Don't mean it ain't good, though.
12. Heart's Desire - cover of a 1958 tune by The Avalons.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I discovered the group with the purchase of their '79 album, Extensions, but never delved into the back catalog. Then my good friend Scott came home from summer drama camp in 1982 all abuzz about the group and this 1975 album (I'm guessing it was popular with the college drama kids he idolized). I listened to Scott's copy of the album (he was particularly fond of track 3, Operator) and eventually picked up my own.

A few years later, I moved from the university dorm into a local 3 bedroom house for my junior and senior years of college. Music majors had long rented the property and it was one of those places where as one guy graduated and moved out, another music major renter was on deck, ready to rent the open room. In any case, at some point before I moved in, someone much more talented than I had used the cover art of this album as inspiration for a painting on the living room wall:

The above photo was taken around February 1988 at one of the numerous parties that took place at our house (see also). Your humble blogger is in the center of two good friends. I was 21 at the time, so sobriety at the time the photo was taken is highly doubtful. But what a nice wall painting, huh? This is the only pic I could find of it; doubt it's still on the wall. Actually, I'd be surprised if the house is still standing.

Previously revisited for the blog:

An Acapella Christmas (2006)	Vocalese (1985)
Man-Tora! Live In Tokyo (1996)	Bop Doo-Wopp (1984)
Tonin' (1994)	Bodies and Souls (1983)
The Christmas Album (1992)	Mecca For Moderns (1981)
The Offbeat of Avenues (1991)	Extensions (1979)
Brasil (1987)

Roberta Flack - Original Album Series (2012)

A repackaged reissue that includes five of Flack's first seven albums released on the Atlantic label, 1969-1977. The two albums not included in this set are Chapter Two (1970) and Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway (1972). Despite those omissions, getting five great albums for $18.87 makes for a fantastic deal and at least one happy customer. Probably more than one, actually - these albums were at home on the R&B, pop, and jazz charts. Beautiful music from a beautiful soul.

The box set takes the listener through the evolution of Flack's sound during the decade. Headphones recommended. Also recommended, the episode of American Masters dedicated to Flack's career.

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FIRST TAKE (1969)
8 tracks, 46 minutes

A wonderful introduction to a wonderful talent. The album is a compilation of slow-burning tracks - most are about 6 minutes in length. The music is intentionally sparse and unrushed. There's space to hear all the notes. Lots of perfectly arranged ballads performed by Flack alongside names like Ron Carter on bass and John Pizzarelli on guitar.

Liner notes by Les McCann.

Press of the time:

• Record World: "a new great taking her bittersweet time"
• High Fidelity: "For lonely winter's eves"
• Billboard: "Her soft, sustained vocal style gently skirts the lyrics and hypnotizes with its creamy evenness."
• Rolling Stone: "You feel the world differently after listening to it"
• Stereo Review: "Run to your nearest record outlet and buy not one, but two, maybe three"

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #1
• Billboard R&B: #1
• Billboard Jazz: #3
• CashBox: #1
• Record World Jazz: #15

In 2017, it was ranked at #148 on Pitchfork's list of the 200 Best Albums of the 1960s.

Tracks: The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face was a massive hit in 1972 once Clint Eastwood used it in his movie Play Misty For Me. That spurred the single to Grammy Awards for Record of the Year as well as Song of the Year. Billboard ranked it as the number one Hot 100 single of the year for 1972. To be honest, I didn't think much of it when I was a tot - too boring! I wanna dance! - but I started warming up to it in the '80s when I bought Volume 6 of the Atlantic Rhythm and Blues 1947-1974 set. Now I'm all in. It's the best tune on the album, followed closely by the other 7 tracks.

The single released in 1969 was the album opener, an upbeat take on Compared To What, which, oddly, is unlike any other track on the album (but I still dig!). As far as the other tracks, I'm hard-pressed to decide which is the most powerful: Angelitos Negros, I Told Jesus, Tryin' Times (that acoustic bass line!), or Ballad Of The Sad Young Men.

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QUIET FIRE (1971)
8 tracks, 42 minutes

More of the same. And that's a good thing. Mostly carefully selected covers plus one Flack original, all performed by a great supporting cast (full playing and writing credits here).

Press of the time:

• Billboard: "The title spells out the flavor and feel of this easy and yet sometimes penetrating commercial package."
• Record World: "ever-quiet, ever-exciting"
• Rolling Stone: "an exercise in lifeless sophistication and dramatic understatement carried to its unfortunate extreme: emptiness"
• Stereo Review: "Roberta Flack is a special kind of multi-talented musician, but her appeal is wide"

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #18
• Billboard R&B: #4
• Billboard Jazz: #5
• CashBox: #20
• Record World Jazz: #1

Tracks: The single released from this album was a cover of Will You Love Me Tomorrow which only managed to peak at #76 pop and #38 R&B. As one might expect, the tempo is slowed considerably and is performed by only Flack on piano and Ron Carter on bass floating above the occasional string arrangement. The better pieces to my ear are the original Go Up Moses and Flack's take on Bridge Over Troubled Water.

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KILLING ME SOFTLY (1973)
8 tracks, 41 minutes

In which Roberta Flack becomes a full-fledged soft rock icon. Heck, with this release, CashBox magazine declared Flack "THE top female artist of the decade." And this album certainly helps that argument. For the most part, Flack's arrangements are slightly more uptempo and fuller than the earlier two albums in this set.

The album's title track won three 1974 Grammy Awards: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female. The album itself was nominated for the Album of the Year award, losing to Innervisions. 

Press of the time:

• CashBox: "a total masterpiece"
• Record World: "Ms. Flack's finest recording to date."
• Billboard: "delicate, introspective work."
• Rolling Stone: "It's too calculated, too restrained for my taste...but god knows it has its appeal."
• High Fidelity: "my favorite Roberta Flack so far."
• Stereo Review: "the Ella Fitzgerald of the Seventies."

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #3
• Billboard R&B: #2
• CashBox: #1
• Record World Jazz: #1

Tracks: While the title cut is an undeniable classic, my favorite tunes here are the upbeat No Tears (In The End) and gospelish track, River. Leonard Cohen's Suzanne is mesmerizing with an almost sadistic, driving high-hat figure. The cover of Janis Ian's Jesse (#30 pop, #19 R&B) is quite tasteful.

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FEEL LIKE MAKIN' LOVE (1975)
9 tracks, 47 minutes

Flack starts producing her own records and things just get better and better. I'll simply say this is my favorite album included in this box set.

Press of the time:

• CashBox: "No doubt that this is top 10 material"
• Record World: "The Flack feel flows as it mellows the soul through her flawless synthesis of sounds."
• Rolling Stone: "Flack's least satisfactory album to date"
• Billboard: "this set should mark her as one of the landmark performers of the '70s"
• Stereo Review: "the combined effect of her lustrous technique and superior material is downright stunning"

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #24
• Billboard R&B: #5
• Billboard Jazz: #11
• CashBox: #17

Tracks: I can't decide if the title track is my all-time Flack cut (the only other single in the running is Where Is The Love with Donny Hathaway), but needless to say, it's the best thing on this album. Also good is the lead track, Feelin' That Glow (#76 pop, #25 R&B). In fact, there's not a stinker to be found and that includes a Stevie Wonder tune which morphs into fusionish instrumental piece, I Can See The Sun In Late September.

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BLUE LIGHTS IN THE BASEMENT (1977)
10 tracks, 41 minutes

By 1977, Flack's sound had changed quite about since her 1969 debut and the style that once got her attention from the jazz crowd had developed into 3 or 4 minute pop stylings aimed at the adult contemporary folks. As someone who considers himself a member of both populations, that sort of movement is fine with me. The problem here isn't Flack or the other performers, it's a lack of quality material, which is often uninteresting or oddly arranged. I like it fine; it just doesn't hold up to its predecessor.

Press of the time:

• Stereo Review: "very disappointing"
• CashBox: "Flack is in her element here and sounds as good as ever."
• Billboard: "lacking the drama of her previous hits"
• Record World: "she has lost none of her vocal magic"
• Rolling Stone: "contains no surprises, but it's a very satisfying record."

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #8
• Billboard R&B: #5
• CashBox: #11

Tracks: The lead track, Why Don't You Move In With Me, is a straight-up disco tune and a dang catchy one, at that. But then comes the hit duet with Donny Hathaway, The Closer I Get To You (#1 R&B, #2 pop, #3 AC) and I'm immediately swept back to 6th grade trying to come to terms with suddenly wanting to be around girls. That song is the best cut on this album, but I also dig This Time I'll Be Sweeter, 25th of Last December, and After You, presented as a well-sequenced three-fer in the middle of the disc.

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Personal Memory Associated with these CDs: None apart from hearing the singles on the radio during my youth.

Ralph Towner & Gary Burton - Matchbook (1975)

I wish I could remember where I got the recommendation for this CD so that I could thank them or give them proper credit because this thing is fantastic.* One of the most quiet, relaxing CDs I've come across in the past few years. The music here could almost be termed "folk-jazz-classical fusion" without being New Agey. The duo performs works that are peaceful but always hold one's interest. Towner's acoustic guitars play perfectly off Burton's vibes on these nine tracks. A line from a feature on Burton in the November 20, 1975 issue of DownBeat magazine simply describes the album as "a friendly exchange of ideas with guitarist Ralph Towner, an instrumentalist whose style bears many surprising similarities to Gary’s" and that's a great analogy - more like a conversation between the two.

Recorded in Germany on July 26 & 27, 1974, when Towner was 34 years of age and Burton was 31.

Also the first ECM CD I've ever purchased that was packaged in a bi-fold cardboard slip cover instead of a proper jewel case. This 2019 reissue is part of the ECM Touchstones releases.

Reviews/ratings:

• Billboard: "a pure delight"
• Walrus!: "This is fine modern, improvisational chamber music."
• DownBeat (★★★★★): "coerce[s] so much rapt, meditational attention from the listener that one has no choice but to be strongly affected."
• High Fidelity: "This is an album for making love, for making peace."
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★★
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★★
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000): ★★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: did not chart
• Billboard Jazz: #35
• Record World Jazz: #34

Tracks: It's all beautiful so don't skip anything. My top picks today are Icarus, Aurora, the serene album opener Drifting Petals, along with the two covers: Some Other Time from the musical On The Town and Charles Mingus's Goodbye Pork Pie Hat. The latter of those two concludes the album and leaves you wanting more.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Gary Burton Quintet - Whiz Kids (1987)
Ralph Towner - Solo Concert (1980)

*I believe it was from some random, online list of jazz albums that also included Paul Desmond's 1962 album Desmond Blue, but I've long since forgotten which website. Of course, Desmond Blue will appear in this space at a later date.

Various Artists - Tribal Rites Of The New Saturday Night: Brooklyn Disco 1974-5 (2023)

EU import

From the back CD insert of this compilation from Ace Records:

In 1975, writer Nik Cohn investigated the burgeoning discotheque scene in Brooklyn for New York magazine; two years later, his feature would be filmed as Saturday Night Fever. These are the records Cohn heard in those dark dance dens - irresistible R&B and soul, disco, before it was disco.

Click the magazine cover below to read Cohn's (fictional) article from the June 7, 1976 issue of New York magazine:

Wisely, in addition to copping the article's title, the CD cover utilizes the magazine's illustration by James McMullan.

This compilation hearkens back to a time when DJs went out and found the music to play; dancers went out and found the clubs. In the early seventies, the disco was the venue and not a genre of music. It's always a pleasure to discover new-to-me disco music, perhaps the most joyous music ever produced. Pairs well with Super Rare Disco, Volumes One and Two.

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

Tracks with peak positions on the Billboard dance chart (to be fair, some of the tracks here weren't released as singles or were b-sides. Plus, Billboard first published a dance chart in the issue dated October 26, 1974; some tracks were released prior to that date):

Song	Artist	Year	Dance
Helplessly	Moment Of Truth	1975	3
After You've Had Your Fling (Get Down To the Real Thing)	The Intrepids	1975	-
Welcome To The Club	Blue Magic	1974	-
I Can't Move No Mountains	Margie Joseph	1975	-
Supernatural Thing (Pt. 1)	Ben E King	1975	-
Mellow Me	Faith Hope & Charity	1975	18
Georgia's After Hours	Richard "Popcorn" Wylie	1975	-
Date With The Rain	Eddie Kendricks	1972	-
Just As Long As We're Together (In My Life There Will Never Be Another)	Gloria Scott	1974	14
Wendy Is Gone	Ronnie McNeir	1974	-
Got To Get You Back	Sons Of Robin Stone	1973	-
Night Of The Wolf (Tema Del Lupo)	Ivano Fossati	1973	-
Good Things Don't Last Forever	Ecstacy, Passion & Pain	1974	-
Tell Me What You Want	Jimmy Ruffin	1974	5
Keep It Up	Betty Everett	1975	-
Free & Easy	Satyr	1975	-
Each Morning I Wake Up	The Major Harris Boogie Blues Band	1974	14
It's The Same Old Story	Act I	1974	-
You Can't Hide Love	Creative Source	1973	-
The Whole Damn World Is Going Crazy	John Gary Williams	1974	-
If That's The Way You Feel (Then Let's Fall In Love)	White Heat	1975	-
Wake Up Everybody	Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes	1975	-

According to my ear, the two tunes with which I was familiar prior to this CD purchase were Jimmy Ruffin's Tell Me What You Want as well as the final cut, Wake Up Everybody. While it's all very good and a great way to spend 76 minutes, my top picks today are I Can't Move No Mountains, Date With The Rain, Just As Long As We're Together, Good Things Don't Last Forever, If That's The Way You Feel, and the high energy instrumental, Night Of The Wolf. The set also includes a cover of Earth Wind & Fire's You Can't Hide Love that I wish I'd heard years ago.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None