ORANGE FUZE

Dijon's funk culture historian returns with another album flowing from his true best love: 1970s Funk Jazz and R&B--peppered with a little Frank Zappa and George Clinton zaniness, of course. Line-up / Musicians: - Cherry Pob / vocals - Captain Cosmic (Arnaud Bukwald) / vocals, guitars, keyboards, composition, arrangements

1. "highs and lows" (2:02) long-time favorite collaborator Cherry Pob is back and in her best CHAKA KHAN voice for this late-70s-like Pop-R&B tune. Too bad they didn't extend it into a full song. (4.5/5)

2. "reborn" (2:41) bursts out of a little funk-jazz intro into a full-on jazz/R&B vocal with multiple tracks from Cherry Pob supported by Captain Cosmic's great funk-jazz-R&B instrumentation--and then joined by the Captain himself on the vocals. Love the horn section accents. (9.25/10)

3. "purple garlic" (1:52) funk organ, drums, bass, clavinet, horn banks, with synth horns and live horns (sax) soloing over the top. A little sample of the JBs, anyone? (4.625/5)

4. "knock out" (3:11) a little Betty Davis attitude! Nice lead guitar work, Maggot Brain! (8.75/10)

5. "revolution" (1:49) son of Kool & The Gang, Gil Scot-Heron, and Chic, here's Arnaud at his most nostalgic! (4.375/5)

6. "casus belli" (3:11) very engaging smooth jazz opening that leaves you salivating for what is possible--for what might come--and then the Captain delivers a sexy Euro-African-accented narration vocal as if we're watching some Black Sexploitation film from the mid-Seventies. Cherry Pob's eerie vocalise gives a Get Out! feel to the song. Awesome! (9.25/10)

7. "sunbath" (2:07) smooth jazzy Disco-R&B of the Minnie Ripperton/Randy Crawford/Chaka Khan vein. (5/5)

8. "the Groovy show" (1:27) Expanded/jazzed up Billy Preston "Outta Space" clavinet opening turns jazz funky with horns. (4.375/5)

9. "dynamite" (3:32) funk rhythm track with great funk rhythm guitar, clavinet, saxophone and horn section. Then comes the raunchy fuzz guitar, Afro scream, flutes, and Talk Box. Also, outstanding percussion throughout this song. More like this, please! (9.5/10)

10. "rebirth" (0:40) brief but awesome synth/keyboard piece. (5/5)

11. "city child" (4:04) Arnaud's Sly Stone/Gil Scot-Heron voice reaches for some Barry White sexiness. Big Switch at 1:40 to some Chic/Jamiroquoi. Great to be back in the late 1970s! At 3:05 there is another shift into some funk jazz with clavinet and trumpet before moving back to some Sly Stone style for the finish. Awesome blend and recap of the best of the groovy years. (9.75/10)

12. "cheeba" (1:37) a little jazz funk with some Reggae flavor. Again, awesome blend. (4.5/5)

13. "butterflies" (1:38) Arnaud has that rare gift of being able to melt the legs of the listener with only two words of his uber-sexy singing voice. Here it's just Arnaud with his Fender Rhodes. (4.375/5)

14. "phoenix" (3:46) beautiful Smooth Jazz chords with fretless bass and Steve Gadd-like drum perfection. Surprisingly, this is "only" an instrumental: sometimes it surprises me that Arnaud and/or Cherry aren't don't occupy every second of every album with their AMAZING voices. (8.875/10)

Total Time 33:37

It seems a bit unfair to assign this album a "progressive rock" categorization (even Jazz-Rock Fusion), but there is no hesitation that this is a GREAT album of pop-funk-R&B-jazz fusion from a major sound magician, master of many instruments, and true and devoted student of the 1970s funk scene.

A-/five stars; a masterpiece of modern retro-Jazz-Funk/R&B. Definitely HIGHLY recommended to all lovers of the Funk!