Joe 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.

Fifty five minutes of straight ahead jazz with a nice variety of tunes that allows the band plenty of opportunity to demonstrate their improvisational skills. The program includes seven jazz standards plus Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely". For each tune Joe Beck delivers innovative interpretations with clear articulate linear and chordal solos. No electronic modification of the guitar sound (which guitarists, including Beck himself, often used in the 1980's). Here the sound is clean in the tradition of Tal Farlow. Support from Jay Leonhart and the incomparable Grady Tate is superlative. Recorded sound is excellent. Recommended for fans of the guitar-bass-drums trio sound or for people who just like straight ahead jazz in it's purest form. If you are not familiar with Joe Beck and want to add some of his music to your jazz collection, this CD is a good place to start.

Joe Beck has had a long career, though he remains an artist deserving of wider recognition. These 2005 sessions are a relaxing affair that will delight fans of Brazilian jazz. Joined by bassist Ira Coleman and drummer Thierry Arpino (who is known for his work with violinist Jean-Luc Ponty), Beck's fluid electric guitar (while sometimes overdubbing an acoustic rhythm line) makes the most of each selection, playing a heavy dose of popular tunes by Antonio Carlos Jobim and his own tasty originals. Highlights among the Jobim compositions include the bittersweet "O Grande Amor" and the easygoing "Felicidade." Harmonica player Gregoire Maret is added for the leader's gentle bossa nova "And Here's to You" and Jobim's bittersweet "Falando De Amor."

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.