Mellow Beck

This 1975 Kudu album by Joe Beck was never reissued on CD in the United States but available only as a Japanese import on the King label. Beck is a masterpiece of mid-'70s funky jazz and fusion. Beck retired in 1971 to be a dairy farmer. He returned to make this album his opus. Featuring David Sanborn, Don Grolnick, Will Lee, and Chris Parker, all of the album's six tracks were recorded in two days. Overdubs were done in another day and the minimal strings added by Don Sebesky were added on a third day. "Star Fire" opens the set and features the interplay of Beck's riffing and lead fills with Sanborn's timely, rhythmic legato phrasing, and the communication level is high and the groove level even higher. On "Texas Ann," another Beck original, Sanborn hits the blues stride from the jump, but Beck comes in adding the funk underneath Grolnick's keyboard while never losing his Albert Collins' feel. On "Red Eye," Beck's two- and three-chord funk vamps inform the verse while Sebesky's unobtrusive strings provide a gorgeous backdrop for Sanborn, who stays in the mellow pocket until the refrains, when he cuts loose in his best Maceo Parker. The deep funk of Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin's "Café Black Rose" showcases the band's commitment to groove jazz with a razor's edge.

This swinging session focuses on a dozen standards from the vast Duke Ellington songbook. Bassist Jay Leonhart sings along with his bass a la Slam Stewart to open "In a Mellotone" and "C Jam Blues." A loping "Azure" features Joe Beck's brash guitar contrasting with Gary Burton's bluesy vibes. Burton and Leonhart's smoking duo version of "Take the 'A' Train" and a soft pretty take of "Isfahan" (omitting Beck) are the top tracks of the date. A pleasant, if not essential CD.

In April 1988, Beck entered the studio in Los Angeles to record an album with producer Nigel Godrich. The album, Mutations, was originally intended to be released as a "parenthetical" album on indie label Bong Load Custom Recordings. Beck later decided to release it on DGC Records.

Dr. Lonnie Smith - Boogaloo To Beck (2003) {Scufflin' Records CD-8481}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 488 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 182 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 322 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2003 Scufflin' Records | CD-8481
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Post Bop / Organ

On this tribute, the songs of Beck serve as a starting point from which Dr. Lonnie Smith and his ensemble launch soulful interpretations. The groove runs deep, and Smith’s animated motions can have you boogaloo-ing at your seat in minutes. The organist’s spontaneous tirades turn loose the reins for a wild ride.

Joe Beck and Ali Ryerson have been working as a team for more than four years, playing concerts and other gigs under the name Duo. This is their second album, and, with the name Django, one would assume it is in honor of guitarist Django Reinhardt. Instead, the set is dedicated to the members of the Modern Jazz Quartet, who pioneered chamber jazz, the style that dominates this session with flautist Ryerson. John Lewis' "Django" is one of the tunes on the agenda that they play within the chamber style. Ryerson's passion for Brazilian music is documented on her six albums for Concord Jazz. She gets to show her mastery of this tempo on "Carioca Blue" and "O Barquinho." Jazz veteran Joe Beck, one of the first to mix jazz and rock guitar, uses an alto guitar which he invented. It provides a strong harmonically mellow and rhythmic cushion upon which Ryerson carries the melody line with her expressive, buoyant flute.

“In the whole of pop, he’s the only man I can think of that has unnatural powers, who really knows what will hit and what won’t. He hardly misses. Under pressure, he wins out every time.” Nick Cohn

Heaven knows, the Scotsman born Donovan Leitch was ripe for ridicule, even when he was hitting the charts with regularity. He was the ultimate flower child, and his airier pronouncements made cynics want to tighten up those love beads around his neck. Listening to Troubadour, however, it's striking how versatile, melodic, and agreeable most of his material sounds decades after "Mellow Yellow" has faded into a jaundiced yellow. Clearly under the sway of Bob Dylan early on in his career, Donovan nevertheless was capable of directing his reverence into something as enchanting as "Catch the Wind." Amping up as the '60s progressed, he assembled a series of psychedelic-pop classics, including "Season of the Witch," the "Hey Jude"-like sing-along "Atlantis," and the uncharacteristically driving "Hurdy Gurdy Man" (the latter features three-quarters of what was to become Led Zeppelin providing stellar support). This two-disc anthology may be more Donovan than some desire, but the booklet, seven previously unreleased tracks, and expansive perspective it provides makes it a more-than-worthy overview for those who take their paisley folk-rock with a beatific smile.