THE BILLY COBHAM - GEORGE DUKE BAND: "LIVE" ON TOUR IN EUROPE

4.5 Stars! This is one of the more controversial Fusion live albums out there. Although I find this to be quite enjoyable. For starters, the lineup on here is incredible with Billy & George who have formed their own superstar Jazz Fusion band with two other monster musicians featuring one of my favourite Bass players of all time Alphonse Johnson & John Scofield on Guitar. They make this fantastic album, with some memorable compositions such as the opener Hip Pockets which is one of the strongest songs on the album IMO. The most noticeable topic of this band is that they seem to form a Frank Zappa kind of humour along with some very good musicianship. I find this album to be interesting that some listen at find weak or mediocre. The album cover though is what really brings this down into a dystopian desert with stormy skies and some disaster has happened with a city scape and two large hands with heads is what we can see.

Some of the other compositions on here are quite commercial but do have an edge when it comes to the soloing and especially the great drumming from Billy Cobham who really drives the album. Space Lady is a bit of a letdown for me as it just doesn't seem to really go anywhere with fills being played and a spoken word. The other Vocal tracks are catchy and melodic which fits with the funky nature of the album.

This would definitely be up there with some of the best Live Jazz Funk albums but it just lacks in some small areas that meander but would recommend for those who love Funk with there Fusion.

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