Tarif Arif

Arif Mardin's second solo effort assembles a veritable who's who of funk and jazz greats, but Journey is no ego-stroking vanity project. A richly cinematic fusion suite appointed with all the texture and detail one would expect from a producer of Mardin's stature, it effortlessly melds the street-smart groove of blaxploitation-era soul with the cerebral expansiveness of jazz. Despite a roster of heavy-hitters including vibist Gary Burton, saxophonists Joe Farrell and Seldon Powell, flutist Hubert Laws, pianist Richard Tee, and drummers Steve Gadd and Bernard Purdie, Journey never buckles under the collective weight of its talent – Mardin's production yields an end result greater than the sum of the music's individual parts, forging a tight, cohesive sound more suggestive of a veteran studio crew than a collection of all-star soloists.