The band formerly known as Teen Suicide has a fresh outlook on life. Their new album might be the best thing frontman Sam Ray has made so far.
This is an excellent collection of jazz and fusion numbers featuring the wholesome, peerless vocals of Maysa Leak and group newcomer Mark Anthoni. With gritty, urban rhythms and painstaking arrangements, Leak's radiant vocals ring with invitation. The lyrical content is upright and substantive. All the songs have an aggressive backbeat regardless of their tempo, providing an unobstructed platform for these artistic musicians to express their chic brand of music. Group leader Jean-Paul "Bluey" Maunick's vision of intertwine various genres of music (bebop, soul, classical, dance, etc.) into one incomparable sound is exemplary.
An original-art 1' x 2' tour poster designed exclusively for these sets by Dennis Loren (who created album covers, concert posters, and print ads for Jimi Hendrix, Muddy Waters, Paul McCartney, The Velvet Underground, Rick James and many others) comes in each box, as does a luxurious LP-sized 28-page booklet featuring extensive liner notes by Richie Unterberger, rare photos, memorabilia and a reproduction of the original LP artwork in 12 inch; format. For sound, look and luxury, these sets have it all…so have at it! It must have been a blast (not just a blast from the past) for the designers at Culture Factory USA to work on these new Jefferson Airplane reissues. Not only are these seminal albums of the psychedelic era, but these painstaking reproductions celebrate the band s groundbreaking graphics and feats in elaborately configured packaging.
Right from the stop-start bass groove that opens "The Emperor," it's immediately clear that Ethiopian Knights is more indebted to funk – not just funky jazz, but the straight-up James Brown/Sly Stone variety – than any previous Donald Byrd project. And, like a true funk band, Byrd and his group work the same driving, polyrhythmic grooves over and over, making rhythm the focal point of the music…