A FUNKY THIDE OF SINGS

Right from the start, Billy Cobham's jazz fusion take was mainly funk inflected, so it's no surprise that with time he would play even funkier stuff than before. Now Billy is accompanied with a whole set of brass players, among them there's the famous Becker Brothers on board, so the keyboards and guitar that were in his debut an important part of the music, now they're simply another part of the big picture.

The music is rather accessible, but not yet mainstream jazz funk as you would have thought. The brass players support the main melodies and various solos throughout, and the tempo throughout is rather rapid, unlike the more tranquil and jazzier Crosswinds.

The first five tunes are all excellent straight-forward jazz funk tunes with all the aspects I mentioned before. The sixth track however, entitled wrongly 'A Funky Kind of Thing', is a 9 minute drum performance, ultra-boring if you're not fond of complete drum show-off. The last track though, called 'Moody Modes', introducing itself with Milcho Leviev's elegant keyboards, is by all means the best composition in this album, lasting 12 minutes, the trumpet playing is simply gorgeous and how the composition develops, it's incredible, probably one of Cobham's greatest arrangements.

Despite the last grandiose composition, the album overall is simply good brass-led jazz funk that is fun and all, but not the most rewarding of Cobham releases neither of fusion in general, actually, any of Cobham's previous efforts are better than this and so is the following one, Life & Times.

3 stars: solid album, still not repeating ol' formulas, but yet not quite there as some of Billy's other works. Get this after you've listened to the four previous albums, including the live Shabazz. If you're fond of jazz funk though, I highly recommend you this, this still has bite and originality.

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