PURE MUSIC

The third and final album from this stellar group of brass rock musicians.

1. "Weird Music No. 1" (5:38) as if trying to meld several style/traditions together at once--over a kind of Spanish foundation. Weird? Yes. Remarkable. Also yes. Great (and inventive) horn arrangements with the weird synth (and keyboard) work of Wally Yohn. I love the big horn build up around the four-minute mark before backing off for bass and tubular bells to fill beneath as more weird keyboard sounds gradually join in. Interesting. (8.875/10)

2. "Run Back To Mama" (3:11) a BLOOD SWEAT AND TEARS revival/update song. (8.75/10)

3. "Twinkles" (7:12) swirling piano arpeggi with beautifully melodic flugelhorn soloing over the top. bass and drums join in in the second minute. At the four minute mark everybody backs out so that the bass player, Dartanyan Brown, can have an extended solo all on his own. The others slowly rejoin in the fifth minute, at first in support but then merging into a variation of the song's original Alice Coltrane-like motif. (13.25/15)

4. "Bochawa" (5:47) uptempo blues-rock music with weird synth and support from the band of horns. Nice horn solos between two trumpets as the other trumpets accent and support from behind. The song builds and builds in intensity into the fourth minute before a very funky Hammond organ solo takes over the lead. The horn section gradually rejoin--at first as if far in the background, but then stepping closer and closer to the front. Pretty cool stuff! Did I mention how great the bass and drums are? It seems as if everybody is screaming at the top of their volume scales in the last minute. Great horns and solos over kind of standard musical foundation. (8.875/10)

5. "Love Is On The Way" (3:45) okay vocal song probably meant to be radio-friendly. (8.5/10)

6. "Close Up Tight" (7:36) built over a funk groove from the rhythm section that sounds as if it were lifted from CHICAGO's "Introduction" from their 1969 debut album, Chicago Transit Authority. Not up to the dynamic and enthusiastic standard set by the original. I love the experimental synth sound used by Wally Yohn in his extended solo in the fifth and sixth minutes: it may, in fact, have saved the song for me! (13.25/15)

Total time 33:39

This album sounds far more commercial and radio-oriented and far less Stephen Schwartz-like.

B/four stars; an excellent addition to any prog lover's music collection--especially if you love amazingly tight arrangements of top notch brass sections.