Rating:
Genre:
Jazz
Release Date: 08/11/2009
Run Time: 42:48
Quincy Jones had jazz fans wondering when he released his killer
Gula Matari album in 1970. That set, with gorgeous reading of
Paul Simon's
"Bridge Over Troubled Water" with a lead vocal by none other than
Valerie Simpson, pointed quite solidly into the direction
Jones was traveling: unabashedly toward pop, but with his own trademark taste, and sophistication at the forefront of his journey. Its follow-up,
Smackwater Jack, marked
Jones, along with
Phil Ramone and
Ray Brown in the producer's chair, and knocked purist jazz fans on their heads with its killer meld of pop tunes, television and film themes, pop vocals, and big-band charts. The personnel list is a who's- who of jazzers including
Monty Alexander,
Jim Hall,
Pete Christlieb,
Joe Beck,
Bobby Scott,
Ernie Royal,
Freddie Hubbard,
Jerome Richardson,
Ray Brown,
Jaki Byard,
Toots Thielemans, and many others. But it also hosted the talents of new school players who dug pop and soul, such as
Grady Tate,
Bob James,
Joe Sample,
Chuck Rainey,
Paul Humphries,
Eric Gale, and others. And yes,
Simpson was back on this session in an epic reading of
Marvin Gaye's
"What's Goin' On,'" that featured
Carol Kaye and
Harry Lookofsky on soulful, psychedelic jazz strings and a smoking harmonica solo by
Thielemans. The title cut, of course, is a reading of the
Gerry Goffin and
Carole King number, done in a taut, funky soul style with
Rainey's bassline popping and bubbling under the entire mix and
James' Rhodes and
Thielemans' harmonica leading the back until the funky breaks by
Tate, and some tough street guitar by
Arthur Adams host an enormous backing chorus and a "mysterious" uncredited male lead vocal. Other highlights include a rocking version of the television theme from
Ironside, and
"Hikky-Burr," the now infamous theme from the
Bill Cosby Show with a guest vocal from
Bill. The version of
Vince Guaraldi's
"Cast Your Fate to the Wind" is one of the loveliest tracks here, and sets in stone a gorgeous model for the meld of complex jazz harmonics and a lithe pop melody. The album's final cut is a
Jones original that sums up the theme of the entire album. Entitled
"Guitar Blues Odyssey: From Roots to Fruits," it travels the path of
Robert Johnson and
Skip James through to
Jimi Hendrix and
Eric Clapton with stops along the way at
Charlie Christian,
Wes Montgomery, and
Grant Green. Guitarists
Beck,
Hall, and
Gale, as well as
Freddie Robinson, all do their best mimicking on this lovely, musical, labyrinthine montage that moves back and forth across musical history. It works like a charm with
Brown's upright and
Rainey's Fender (electric) bass work (alternately), and the beatcraft of
Tate. This set has provided some key samples for rappers and electronic music producers over the years -- and there's plenty more to steal -- but as an album, it is one of
Q's true masterpieces, recorded during an era when he could do no wrong, and when he was expanding not only his musical palette, but ours.
~Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
;)
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