Various Artists - The Atlantic Family Live at Montreux (1978)

This album is a real oddity, but that's part of what makes the session really interesting and worthwhile. Originally released as a double LP, this album was never rereleased, so consequently this is an album rip. Recorded at the 1977 Montreux Jazz Festival, this album is a session of all the artists at the festival that were signed to Atlantic Records at the time. It's essentially a funk jam session with the horn players playing backgrounds and contributing extended solos over classic and original charts. The album notes refer to this idea as "the universal rhythm section," an idea that ascribes the rhythm section as the foundation of the band in jazz and blues. The album opens with "Bahia (Na Baixa Do Sapateiro)" (credited on other albums as Baía), a tune penned by Brazilian composer Ary Barroso in the 1930s famous for other tunes like "Brazil." "Bahia" is a great showcase for the horns, which present a very rhythmic interpretation of the melody, and for the guitars, which interject soloistic lines at the ends of phrases. Randy and Michael Brecker currently signed to Atlantic with their funk outfit The Brecker Brother play extended solos over the heavily funky interpretation of a Brazilian classic. "Jadoo" is an original penned by German saxophonist Klaus Doldinger, who at the time was leader of Passport, a German fusion group. "Jadoo" relies on heavily accented unison lines in the woodwinds with the Doldinger showing off his command of the altissimo range of his horn. Herbie Mann delivers a memorable solo on flute as does guitarist Jim Mullen. My personal favorite on the album is "Everything Must Change," the only vocal track on the album. The track is a slow ballad with lead vocals being traded between Average White Band vocalist Hamish Stuart and Ben E. King. "Everything Must Change" is a great example of how suspensions and extended harmony can create the perfect balance of tension and release in a song. This track captures the conception of the album most of any track, as the rhythm section is really the driving rhythmic, harmonic force upon which everything is based exemplified by the rock solid bass line and the sweeping lines on the Fender Rhodes. "McEwan's Export" is a track written by Average White Band guitarist Alan Gorrie and recalls the aesthetic quality of their album Soul Searching released the previous year in 1976. This track is the kind of jam tune that made Average White Band famous. "One to One" is a very slimmed-down track with Average White Band only accompanied with a few soloists. The tune is a solo vehicle for tune author David Newman and fellow saxophonist Klaus Doldinger. "Pick Up the Pieces" closes the album and is probably the biggest highlight of the album showcasing not only the conception of the album, but also giving the horn players a great vehicle for some incredible solos. While the tune is well-known by most people, the arranged horn sections that are inserted between solos give the tune a new vitality and a sense of identity. "Pick Up the Pieces" has the most strictly "jazz" solos presented by Don Ellis, Herbie Mann, and the Breckers. This album is a testament to the stark contrast of records released in the late 70s to the current times. The environment of that time period ripe for jazz-funk crossovers and artists willing to take the leap create an interesting albeit odd product that should be rereleased in a digital format.

Chase - Pure Music (1974)

The last album before his death in a tragic plane accident, Pure Music shows the band moving in a very different direction than previous albums with an emphasis on instrumental rather than vocal material. The only two vocals on the album are "Run Back to Mama" and "Love is on the Way," and frankly this is some of the weaker material on the album. While Chase had used a lot of outside writers on past albums, the instrumental material on Pure Music is penned entirely by its leader. The album opens with "Weird Song #1," a tune based on a groove in 9/4 with various superimpositions. By 1974 Chase had more fully embraced electronic aspects in his music, which "Weird Song #1" is a great example. In addition to featuring a Chase "electric trumpet" solo (that's how it's credited on the album), the track also has an other-wordly synth solo by new band member Wally Yohn. "Run Back to Mama" was written by Chase and Jim Peterik, the vocalist of Ides of March fame ("Vehicle") brought in by the label who was never a full-time member of the group. This track is a very straight-ahead tune with a driving bass line and the cascading trumpet lines Chase was known for. "Twinkles" is an unusual track on the album, as it was not common that Chase had ballads on his albums, let alone those that were acoustic. "Twinkles" shows Chase's ability on the flugelhorn and the sensitivity to lyricism that the listener wouldn't get from his typical forays in the stratosphere of the upper register of the trumpet. What's interesting about this track compared to the rest of his repertoire is that the opening of the tune features a bass ostinato upon which everything is layered; this is not so different as having a groove be the basis for a tune. "Bochawa" is a great full energy tune that is named for the soloists it features. "Bo stands for "BoReebie," a nickname for Jerry Van Blair, one of the strongest jazz soloists in the band. "Cha" stands for Chase, and "Wa" stands for Wally Yohn. What's interesting is that while this tune was used in tour before the recording of this album, its new band trumpeter Jay Sollenberger that is featured, not Jerry Van Blair. "Bochawa" has a great 12/8 funk groove that is a perfect showcase for Chase's lead playing and high note work as well as Wally Yohn's virtuosity on the organ. At the close of the tune, the listener will also hear a short solo by John Emma, a young guitarist from Illinois that showed a lot of promise as a jazz player before his life was tragically cut short by the plane crash that also killed Bill Chase, Wally Yohn, and Walter Clark. "Love Is on the Way" is another one of the commercially-oriented tunes on the band, but is the stronger one compared to "Run Back to Mama." The track starts out with a groove in the electric piano and a rhythmic accompaniment on guiro that builds to include the harmonized vocals and the famous Chase horn lines. "Close Up Tight," my personal favorite, closes the album and is a tour de force of the Chase sound and concept. This track begins with a motif that is stated in the synth and is transferred to the trumpets as it climbs two octaves to rest on Chase's high G (Concert F). However, after this motif the drums enter playing a swing rhythm on the hi-hat. This beat is slower than what might be present in a bebop tune, but what's important is that this is not a rock beat. Chase always sought to play music that was both the best of jazz and the best of rock, and "Close Up Tight" is a perfect example of this conception. In the original liner notes it reads, "'This is 1974. The music I make must be today. . . . It's got to be a reflection of the times and the world we live in, or to me it just doesn't make it.'" While it's no longer 1974, Chase's music is still in my opinion a pinnacle of the genre of jazz-rock.