LIFE & TIMES

3.5 stars. After Cobham's debut "Spectrum" he made two records with John Abercrombie on guitar that were more in the Jazz realm. I do not have his next one from 1975 called "The Funky Thide Of Things" but Abercrombie is replaced by John Scofield on guitar, but the Brecker brothers returned. That is where Billy goes more into a funk direction. "Life & Times" is another change as the Breckers are not on this one, and while we do get some bass clarinet the blasting horns are gone.

So a change in the dynamics for sure and it's so cool to hear Doug Rauch from SANTANA on bass and George Duke back on keyboards. Of course there was that spin off band THE BILLY COBHAM/ GEORGE DUKE BAND that released an album in 1976 with Alphonso Johnson on bass and John Scofield on guitar. Released the same year as "Life & Times" by the way. While there are aspects of this record that I like better than "Total Eclipse" I just feel that overall it's a step down so the 3.5 star rating. It's been given 4 stars by the previous reviewer who knows way more than I do about Jazz so there's that.

Hit and miss for me, it just doesn't feel like a 4 star record in my music world. I'm thankful for the energy on this one though with several tracks bringing the heat.

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