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

Excellent lineup on this one as Cobham has 3 Americans with him as he toured across Europe. George Duke on keyboards of course played with Zappa as well as Jean-Luc Ponty. Alfonso Johnson on bass is probably best known for his work on those 3 classic WEATHER REPORT albums. John Scofield on lead guitar has quite a long solo career and put out an album with Pat Metheny.This recording is from the "Montreaux Jazz Festival" from 1976. Man that is one of the freakiest album covers i've ever seen !

"Hip Pockets" is a Cobham composition and a good one. Check out the funky bass lines from Johnson here. Of course Cobham is restrained for the most part. This isn't MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA after all. I like the guitar throughout. Liquid keys as it calms 2 minutes in. It gets funky again as Billy kicks in with those drum fills. Some atmosphere 4 1/2 minutes in as it settles again. Nice guitar work here. Back to the funk. "Ivory Tattoo" is Scofield's lone song. Nice guitar intro as drums join in. Soon keys and bass arrive as well. I like the synths on this one that come and go early.The guitar is outstanding. Duke shines on piano after 3 minutes. "Space Lady" opens with Duke telling a story as he offers up the background music too. More talking than music. Not a fan.

"Almustafa The Beloved" is Johnson's only composition. It also opens with a narration this time by guest Jon Lucien. Drums then come in with guitar and bass. Nice. Vocals 2 minutes in from Johnson and Duke. They really add to the song by the way. The drumming and guitar work is outstanding. "Do What Cha Wanna" is Duke's fault. I mean song. Man this is like Motown music. Yikes ! Enough said. "Frankenstein Goes To The Disco" is experimental with Cobham on the drum synthesizers. Difficult to listen to this for over 7 minutes without twitching and blinking a lot. "Sweet Wine" is better once it gets going. Some chapman stick from Johnson too. "Juicy" is the only Duke track I like.The guitar is incredible as Cobham pounds away. I like the keyboard work as well. Billy really stars in this one though.

I hate to give this less then 4 stars but it really is a mixed bag for me. Very much hit and miss. So 3 stars it is.