Saving Beck

While electric guitarist Holdsworth retains his signature ultra-legato, speed demon sound, he has added a couple of new wrinkles to this date. He's attempting to play some legitimate jazz standards, a couple of Joe Henderson tunes, and other sidebar items. He's also working with the synthaxe, a synthesizer controller, on three cuts. The most revelatory moments of the date come from the acoustic sounding digital piano of Gordon Beck, a true master whose be-bop chops and inventive solo work cements the legitimate jazz aesthetic into the fiber of this music. Electric bass guitarist Gary Willis (of Tribal Tech) and drummer Kirk Covington work pretty well together, and swing, albeit in a more rock/R&B orientation…

The saving grace behind Everybody Up is the excellent "Don't Say Goodbye". Slow funk, sensual funk jam…backed by the wonderful guitarist/vocalist Sugarfoot and his excellent scat guitar delivery. The surrounding jams for the record boast nice funk, almost a return to form, and Everybody Up would serve as the last Ohio Players album to retain their signature vibe somewhat. The tunes here are still mostly forgettable, you would be buying the album primarily because you are a fan of the group and their history. The guys seem to be dipping into a Cameo bag a bit in 1979, but, the one trait that has always set them apart was Sugarfoot's guitar playing, and solid background ensemble vocals.

Even before the first KuschelRock album, Kuschelrock was named as a weekly nightly music program for HR3 radio station (HR3 broadcasts from Frankfurt, Germany), the author and host of this project was Thomas Koschwitz, who is considered to be the co-author of a number of albums in Kazle … After Sony Music patented the right to release a series of albums called "KuschelRock", the HR3 radio station can no longer air this night music show … And now Sony Music regularly releases every year on the album …