Brainstorm

Smile A While (1972). Brainstorm's debut offers an odd twist on jazz-rock, throwing in bits of Canterbury and Frank Zappa, as well as the Dutch band Supersister. The record starts off with the explosive energy of the instrumental "Das Schwein Trugt," a fast piece of complex prog-jazz. "Zwick Zwick" follows, beginning at an only slightly slower pace, with some wild flutes and clarinets over a choppy rhythm, and then halfway through the guitar, bass, and organ rip into the mix to add a furious energy to the piece. Though the album is mostly instrumental, a couple tracks offer quirky song structures, the very short "Watch Time Flow By" and a couple short sections in the long title track, while "Snakeskin Tango" has someone moaning in anguish and the middle section of "Bosco Biati Weiss Alles" contains strange wordless vocal drones…

It's often been said that if an R&B act didn't have a lot of dancefloor appeal in the late '70s, it could forget about being commercially successful. That isn't necessarily true; Frankie Beverly's Maze, just to give one example, was never a dancefloor favorite – and yet, all of its late-'70s albums went gold. Nonetheless, having disco appeal certainly didn't hurt. When Brainstorm's second album, Journey to the Light, failed to sell, some people reasoned that it was due to a shortage of up-tempo material. So with its third and final album, Funky Entertainment, the Detroit band decided to go for maximum disco appeal and make up-tempo songs a top priority.

Chico Freeman & Brainstorm - Sweet Explosion (1990) {In + Out Records 7010-2}
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© 1990 In+Out Records | 7010-2
Jazz / Post Bop / Progressive Jazz

A collection of some of the best numbers played by Brainstorm when the band made its highly successful debut at London's Ronnie Scott s Club! One of the most innovative and engaged small groups in contemporary improvised music. Brainstorm presents 74 electrifying minutes of inspired and wide-ranging music. As Ed Hazel has observed, Chico Freeman's style combines the energy and wide leaps of John Coltrane's later work with a classic conception of form and a strong sense of swing.