Funk on Life

Life And Times is a much over looked album from the master of funky fusion percussion. It starts off with a Mahavishu Orchestra inspired track "Life and Times" with all intense and wild fluid guitar lines and some complex drumming, but it gets better. John Scofield though is not John McLaughlin but he has his moments to shine, especially his acoustic work. "Siesta" is a beautifully laid back piece with some nice bass clarinet playing juxtaposed with piano and is an apex of the albums strength, along with "Song for a friend" parts 1 and 2, which are very similar, but become a good combination of tunes and worth the extra inclusion. "East Bay" is a cool piece of jazzy funk with just a bit of sleaziness added for good measure. Good album, worth stealing if you can get your hands on it.

Johnny Hammond - Gears (1975) {2014 Japan Rare Groove Funk Best Collection 1000 UCCO-90336}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 216 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 79 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 185 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1975, 2014 Milestone / Fantasy / Universal Music Japan | UCCO-90336
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Funk Jazz / Organ

Reissue with the latest remastering. Amazing stuff! Johnny "Hammond" Smith began his career as a simple soul jazz organist – but by the time of this album, he'd teamed up with the mighty Larry Mizell, the genius arranger/producer who'd breathed new life into the careers of Donald Byrd and Bobbi Humphrey. Mizell works with Hammond in the same way he does with other jazz artists – by taking a groove that works best with their solo style, and slowly layering other instrumentation and effects on top of it, so that when the solo kicks in, it's supported on waves and waves of funky sounds and soulful grooves.

The Crusaders are an American music group popular in the early 1970s known for their amalgamated jazz, pop, and soul sound. Since 1961, more than forty albums have been credited to the group (some live and compilations), 19 of which were recorded under the name "The Jazz Crusaders" (1961–1970).

Off the Wall was a massive success, spawning four Top Ten hits (two of them number ones), but nothing could have prepared Michael Jackson for Thriller. Nobody could have prepared anybody for the success of Thriller, since the magnitude of its success was simply unimaginable – an album that sold 40 million copies in its initial chart run, with seven of its nine tracks reaching the Top Ten (for the record, the terrific "Baby Be Mine" and the pretty good ballad "The Lady in My Life" are not like the others). This was a record that had something for everybody, building on the basic blueprint of Off the Wall by adding harder funk, hard rock, softer ballads, and smoother soul – expanding the approach to have something for every audience.