An Utter Classic
=============
Yet hardly known to those
who weren't fortunate enough to have run across it back in the late seventies
when the smooth jazz genre was in its ascendancy, though this isn't really
smooth jazz as we've come to know it ~ it's rather fresher and funkier. Produced,
recorded and even mixed by Larry Carlton at his own Room 335 studio in
Hollywood, this is, for me, the pinnacle of Gap Mangione's musical career. And
it's certainly not a Larry Carlton album with somebody else's name stuck on the
cover, you may be pleased to learn. In addition to Mr. Mangione on a variety of
keyboards (acoustic piano, ARP & Yamaha CS80 synthesizers & Fender
Rhodes electric piano), we find Robert "Pops" Popwell (one of Larry
Carlton's old pals from his days with the Crusaders), Mike Porcaro & Abe
Laboriel (bass), (the now sadly late) Jeff Porcaro, Ralph Humphrey (later of
Free Flight) & Peter Donald (drums & percussion), Joe Porcaro (congas
& percussion), Greg Mathieson (acoustic and Fender Rhodes electric piano)
and Dan Sawyer (sax & harmonica), plus strings and brass on selected
tracks. Oh yes, Larry Carlton, as you might expect, played all the guitars.
Mastering was undertaken by Bernie Grundman at A&M studios (and,
coincidentally, A&M is the label on which this was issued). It's a touch on
the bright side, but not disastrously so, and that touch of brightness is
what's helped this album maintain its power and freshness after all these years.
The opening track is unashamedly disco-ish (written, as it happens, by Larry
Carlton) but, after that, the album settles down into a decidedly more
sophisticated mood, not least the superbly bluesy Shh and King Snake, the
latter followed by the superb title track which features a long-ish brass intro
(trumpets, trombone and French horn) on which, with a good sound system, you
can almost see each of the players standing side by side. You can certainly
hear each of them breathing. This is a great album and I sincerely hope it
won't be too much longer before it's reissued on CD. Though it's always
difficult (I find) to get into an album several decades after its original
release, Suite Lady might just be an exception to that general rule, whilst if
you were there at the time, as they say, and like this particular genre of
music, it might just be an indispensable memento of 1978 when the UK music
scene was still pretty dire and people like me were looking across the pond for
more inspiring fare. Still and always, one of my top ten albums. ~ Julian
Stevens, Amazon.com.
A&M Records, SP-4694, 1978
Recorded and mixed at Room
335, Hollywood, California
Musicians:
Gap Mangione - Synthesizer
[ARP] (#A1,A4), Piano (#A2,A3,B1-B3), Fender Rhodes (#A2), Synthesizer [Yamaha
C S 80] (#B1), Arranger [Brass] (#B1,B3,B4)
Chuck Findley - Trumpet
(#A1,A2,B1-B4)
Bill Reichenbach, Jr. -
Trombone (#A1,A2,B1-B4)
Vincent De Rosa - French Horn
(#B3,B4)
Dan Sawyer - Tenor Saxophone,
Harmonica (#A4)
Greg Mathieson - Piano
[Acoustic] (#A1,A4), Fender Rhodes (#B2)
Larry Carlton - Guitar
(#A1-A4), Arranger [Brass] (#A1,A2,B1,B2), [Strings] (#A3,B2)
Robert "Pops"
Popwell - Bass (#A1,A2,B1)
Abraham Laboriel - Bass
(#A3,B3)
Mike Porcaro - Bass (#B2)
Jeff Porcaro - Drums
(#A1,A2,A4,B1,B2), Percussion (#A1,A2)
Peter Donald - Drums (#A3,B3)
Ralph Humphrey - Drums
[Opening Statement Only] (#B1)
Joe Porcaro - Congas
(#A1,A2,A4,B1), Percussion (#A1,A2,B1,B2)
Gerald Vinci - Concertmaster
(#A2,A3,B2)
Tracks:
A1. Mellow Out! {Greg
Mathieson} (5:36)
A2. I Don't Know {Larry
Carlton} (4:05)
A3. Shh {Greg Mathieson}
(5:54)
A4. You Can't Cry For Help
{Paul Bogush, Jr.} (3:32)
B1. Sister Jo {Gap Mangione}
/ Time Of The Season [Medley] {Rod Argent} (5:24)
B2. King Snake {Larry
Carlton} (6:32)
B3. Suite Lady {Gap Mangione}
(6:18)
B4. We Three [Scherzando]
{Gap Mangione} (2:28)
Total Time: 39:49
Credits:
Producer, Recording, Mixing -
Larry Carlton
Engineer [Second] - Steve
Carlton
Engineer [Strings] - John
Guess
Mastering - Bernie Grundman
[A&M Studios]
Coordinator [Strings] -
Gerald Vinci
Photography - Mark Hanauer,
Raul Vega
Art Direction - Roland Young
Design - Phil Shima
Management - Richard Burkhart
