Who better to initiate the rebirth of Impulse! Records than Henry Butler? After all, the first time the label was given a new life in 1986, their first recording was Flyin' Around, his debut album as a leader. Viper's Drag is a collaboration between the pianist/composer with in-demand trumpeter and arranger Steven Bernstein (Sexmob, MTO Orchestra), surrounded by an all-star cast including drummer Herlin Riley, bassist Reggie Veal, saxophonists Michael Blake, Peter Apfelbaum, and Erik Lawrence, violinist Charlie Burnham, clarinetist Doug Wieselman, trombonist Curtis Fowlkes, and guitarist Matthew Munisteri. The set features readings of Fats Waller and Jelly Roll Morton tunes, three Butler originals, and two other classic pre-War numbers…
Michael Crétu's attempt at fusing everything from easy listening sex music and hip-hop rhythms to centuries-old Gregorian chants couldn't have been more designed to tweak the nose of high art, a joyously crass stab straight at a mainstream, do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars. The result is something that shouldn't exist, but in its own way results in as much of a cultural scramble and explosion as anything Public Enemy were doing around the same time, crossing over the Euro-disco and new age spheres with style…
Michael Crétu's attempt at fusing everything from easy listening sex music and hip-hop rhythms to centuries-old Gregorian chants couldn't have been more designed to tweak the nose of high art, a joyously crass stab straight at a mainstream, do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars. The result is something that shouldn't exist, but in its own way results in as much of a cultural scramble and explosion as anything Public Enemy were doing around the same time, crossing over the Euro-disco and new age spheres with style…
South African expatriate Jonathan Butler isn't really a jazz artist, but his laid-back, slightly jazz-tinged approach to R&B/pop has earned the singer/guitarist/songwriter/producer a lot of supporters in the urban contemporary, adult contemporary, quiet storm, and smooth jazz/NAC markets. Butler has enjoyed a following since the late '70s, although he reached his commercial peak in the late '80s, and he continues to tour and record in the 21st century. Born in Cape Town, South Africa in October 1961, Butler was only a child when he started singing and playing acoustic guitar. Butler, who was the youngest of about 12 children, absorbed a variety of music when he was a kid. He was an admirer of South African stars like singer Miriam Makeba, but he was also hip to the American soul and jazz artists who lived thousands of miles away in the United States.
Chicago bluesman Eddie Burks was born September 17, 1931, on a plantation outside Greenwood, MS - the 14th and youngest child of sharecroppers, his childhood was marked by tragedy, most notably his brother's lynching at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan. Burks discovered the music of Robert Johnson and Sonny Boy Williamson as a prepubescent, and began playing harmonica even before he relocated to the Windy City in 1946; there he worked at a steel mill while singing gospel as a member of the Greater Harvest Baptist Choir, famed for also launching the careers of Mahalia Jackson and Sam Cooke…
Edward Ka-Spel is a singer, songwriter and musician. He is probably best known as the lead singer, songwriter and co-founder (with Phil “The Silverman” Knight) of the prolific underground band The Legendary Pink Dots.
Virus, from the Bielefeld area in Westphalia, were the best and most famous local progressive group there in the early seventies. In 1970, they won the well-known competition in the Recklinghausen Vestlandhalle - still under their old name of Man’s World. The first prize: Recordings for their first own LP, under the direction of sound magician Conny Plank. That LP, “Revelation”, was released in 1971 and is partly reminiscent of the early Pink Floyd, e.g. in the final part of “Endless game”. On the CD edition on Garden of Delights, the two songs of the first Virus 7” single have been added as bonus tracks. The second and final Virus LP, 'Thoughts', was recorded with a different line-up, again under the direction of Conny Plank, and it was released on the legendary Pilz label at the end of 1971…
From the ashes of Swedish hard rockers The Gypsy Sons Of Magic, Black Bonzo rose again as an art prog band by adding depth to their sound through the use of mellotron, piano and Hammond organ. The intense drumming, the intricate guitar work, the firm but steady bass lines, the complex song structures, the overall pomp and their vocalist (who sounds like David Byron resurrected) all spell Uriah Heep, big time. Their album, "Lady of the Light" (2004) is filled with 70s pomp reminiscent of A.C.T. mixed in with early Kansas and a bit of Queen. The classy arrangements and harmonies, the heavy organ, the impressive guitar work and the Byron-like vocals may sound all too familiar to Uriah Heep fans, but these guys do what they do extremely well, with just enough personal touches to remind you they're not the Uriah Heep.