The prolific and always entertaining Ramsey Lewis.This track is one of my favorite from his collaborations with the legendary fusionist,Charles Stepney.It has all the best elements from their work,lush orchestral textures,rock steady soul jazz,and the siren calls of Miss Minnie Riperton.It sounds like this recording was done during the same sessions as Minnie's incredible solo album,Come To My Garden.In fact,the record contains a version of "Les Fluer" that has the same istrumentation, except Ramsey plays the lead vocal melody in his typical style.
This piece is almost like some kind of lost soundtrack work,impressionistic in a spiritual way,like a cosmic gospel.Travelling the silver thread of consciousness back to the source...An Eternal Journey indeed,and a must for fans of spooky jazz and 60's soundtracks.
11 Feb 03 ·delicado: Nice track, and a great album, which is also available on a cheap CD, 'Maiden Voyage and more' (the 'more' consists of four tracks from his excellent 'Mother Nature's Son' LP, also produced by Stepney)
I came to Callier's music via arranger/producer Charles Stepney and delicado's recommendation of a Stepney-produced Ramsey Lewis track -- "Julia".
Well, Callier's "Ordinary Joe" (produced by Stepney) is a great track which I listen to over and over.
Of all the tracks I've recommended, this is probably the only one I would recommend by virtue of lyrical content alone: "Now politicians all try to speech you / Mad color watchers all try to teach you / Very few will really try to reach you / If you're lost in a stack / That's OK, come on back." Great stuff.
Thankfully the musical content is also very good. Kind of a pop-jazz style tightly arranged from Stepney. I say tightly, but it never really comes across that way. It really has a pretty breezy and organic sound.
Also, look for an earlier version on Callier's "First Light" which is a bit more mellow, but at least as good as the Stepney-produced version. Maybe better in some ways...
from Occasional Rain (Cadet), available on CD (Universal)
16 Jul 03 ·konsu: Brilliant! I love his What Color Is Love LP too.
I've got 5 or 6 Dot Ashby albums, and this is by far my favorite song of hers.
It's breathtaking, no mistake. The bass and drums are steeped in funk, yet keep it mellow. A flute (?) section keeps it nice and light. Its all held together by 'Dorothy's harp' her playing is perfect, sprwaling rich deep soundscapes.
I can't emphisise how perfect this song is. If you've hard any version of 'Windmills...' I'm sure you can imagine a harp suitung it well.
I belive Cadet have recently reissued the 3 albums Ashby did with them (Afro Harping, The Rubiayat of Dorothy Ashby, and Dorothy's Harp), but they can still be hard to get hold of. An excellent quality copy from an original LP can be found on Dusty Fingers Vol.1, also on vynil.
A cool portion of that underated genre, easy soul. Bradford's vocals (a less roaring Shirley Bassey is the nearest comparison I can think of) complement the light arrangement perfectly. Fits in with that whole John Schroeder Orchestra vibe. Sometimes you just want a lovely vocalist singing a nice song.
from the single My Love�s A Monster (Cadet 5602)