Masahiko Satoh - All-in All-out (1979)

This unkown gem - that will amaze casual listeners and still conquer regular ones - stars both Masahiko Sato's talent in displaying a wide varriety of tones and fusion scales and Dave Liebman's fierce and intense saxophone playing. Sometimes "All-in, All-Out" recalls Weather Report's edgy style of abstract fusion, and Sato's work here serves that purpose very well,which means, painting soundscapes simultaneously dreamy and cerebral. "Sapajou Walk" begins like an orchestrated blues lament, but by the time we reach "Fallout", the last track, we realize that this is not just a pop-oriented jazz thing, but a trip to something much deeper. This is truly great stuff, so check it out.
By Miguel Patrício in Improvised Solo

Styles:
Fusion
Progressive Jazz

Tracks:
01 - Sapajou Walk (06:17)
02 - Grama Grass (07:35)
03 - Salamander (06:26)
04 - Moth Ball (04:25)
05 - Thus The Song Passed Out Of Their Mind (07:11)
06 - Fallout (08:18)

Line-up:
Masahiko Satoh - acoustic piano, Rhodes piano, Korg synthesizer, percussion
Dave Liebman - soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, alto flute
Ryo Kawasaki - electric bass guitar
Francisco Centeno - electric bass
Harvey Mason - drums
Rubens Bassini - percussion
Randy Brecker - trumpet
Tom Malone - trombone
Dave Taylor - bass trombone

Grover Washington Jr. - Mister Magic (1974)

For anyone who enjoys taking bites from the now forbidden fruits of jazz, smooth jazz has probably crossed your palate once or twice. Just as rock music fans treat adult contemporary with certain disdain, so do jazz fans in regards to smooth. It is certainly easy to see why. The arrangements are flooded with lush pop undertones and probably even worse; the music lacks jazz's guttural attack. Smooth jazz self-destructed in a storm of cheesy synth and repetitive drum machine beats during the '80s... remember some of David Sanborn's later records-1988's Close-up-or the horrid comatose of Kenny G?
Before all this smooth had been an interesting and driven alternative to fusion. Once the sugar coating is stripped away, the chops are often solid. What we have forgotten is smooth featured some killer players who would be great regardless of their chosen genre. With that idea in mind, we as jazz fans need to revaluate some of these records. There is no better representative than the late Grover Washington, Jr.'s 1974 masterpiece, Mister Magic.
The first record for anyone looking to hear a positive example of smooth is all here. Fused an R&B groove that is produced and arranged by future smooth mogul pianist Bob James, Mister Magic was a spotlight for one jazz's great sax players. Washington absolutely breathed a fluid and caressingly powerful style that was unique to him. Since the style called for easy playing, he could sit back and let the chops glide like water flowing down a river. His melodies and tone are always first rate, but there was a certain magic, if you will, to what this record has said about its artist. Many of the smooth players relied on the direct approach to playing and soloing, but Washington allowed his himself room to open up, and this where his music has the most to offer to the rest of jazz fans. Sure the polish is on there, but the solos are not afraid to take flight either.
The title track harnesses the chrome plated polish of this genre's sound and lets in the tasty bits. It starts out with a funk groove-did someone say Head Hunters?-and slowly builds into some finely gnarled solos by Grover and guitarist Eric Gale. It was a crossover hit that grooved the light rock AM crowd of the '70s and is still a great spin today.
This record is a lighter approach for those who are not willing to check the harder edged sounds that are deliciously spread over Steely Dan's records, but these jazzites don't need rock mixes. If you are still thinking I might be crazy, just think back to the 1980 hit with Bill Withers, "Just the Two of Us," on Washington's Winelight. Godammit, you want to blow it off as easy listening light rock, but that solo is mind blowing. There is a lot more where that came from. Just open up and let the light fluffy background groove fly away and you will be rewarded for your time with Grover Washington because he was truly one of the best we had.
by Trevor McLaren in All About Jazz

Styles:
Crossover Jazz
Soul Jazz

Tracks:
01 - Earth Tones (12:23)
02 - Passion Flower (05:36)
03 - Mister Magic (09:01)
04 - Black Frost (06:06)

Line-up:
Grover Washington, Jr. - saxophone, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone
Phil Bodner - baritone saxophone
Jon Faddis, Marvin Stamm - trumpet, flugelhorn
Randy Brecker - trumpet
Wayne Andre - trombone
Tony Studd - bass trombone
Bob James - piano, electric piano, keyboards
Harvey Mason, Sr. - drums
Ralph MacDonald - percussion
Eric Gale - guitar
Harry Glickman, Joseph Malin, Harold Kohon, David Nadien, Matthew Raimondi, Max Ellen, Paul Gershman, Harry Lookofsky - violin
The Manny Vardi Strings, Al Brown - viola
Charles McCracken, Alan Shulman - cello

Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters (1973)

Head Hunters was a pivotal point in Herbie Hancock's career, bringing him into the vanguard of jazz fusion. Hancock had pushed avant-garde boundaries on his own albums and with Miles Davis, but he had never devoted himself to the groove as he did on Head Hunters. Drawing heavily from Sly Stone, Curtis Mayfield, and James Brown, Hancock developed deeply funky, even gritty, rhythms over which he soloed on electric synthesizers, bringing the instrument to the forefront in jazz. It had all of the sensibilities of jazz, particularly in the way it wound off into long improvisations, but its rhythms were firmly planted in funk, soul, and R&B, giving it a mass appeal that made it the biggest-selling jazz album of all time (a record which was later broken). Jazz purists, of course, decried the experiments at the time, but Head Hunters still sounds fresh and vital decades after its initial release, and its genre-bending proved vastly influential on not only jazz, but funk, soul, and hip-hop.
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine at All Music Guide.

Styles:
Jazz-Funk
Funk
Fusion
Modal Music
Hard Bop
Post-Bop

Tracks:
01 Chameleon
02 Watermelon Man
03 Sly
04 Vein Melter

Line-up:
Herbie Hancock - electric piano / clavinet / synthesizers
Bennie Maupin - soprano and tenor saxophones / saxello / bass clarinet / alto flute
Paul Jackson - electric bass / marimbula
Harvey Mason - drums
Bill Summers - congas / shekere / balafon / agogo / cabasa / hindewho / tambourine / log drum / surdo / gankogui / beer bottle