George Benson - The Other Side of Abbey Road (1970)

Just three weeks after the U.S. release of the Beatles' swan song, Abbey Road, Creed Taylor ushered George Benson into the studio to begin a remarkably successful pop-jazz translation of the record (complete with a parody of the famous cover, showing Benson with guitar crossing an Eastern urban street). It is a lyrical album, with a hint of the mystery and a lot of the cohesive concept of the Beatles' original despite the scrambled order of the tunes. Benson is given some room to stretch out on guitar, sometimes in a bluesy groove, and there are more samples of his honeyed vocals than ever before (oddly, his voice would not be heard again by record-buyers until he signed with Warner Bros.). Don Sebesky's arrangements roam freely from baroque strings to a full-throated big band, and Freddie Hubbard, Sonny Fortune, and Hubert Laws get some worthy solo space. Yet for all its diversity, the record fits together as a whole more tightly than any other George Benson project, thanks to his versatile talents and the miraculous overarching unity of the Beatles' songs. One wonders if the Fab Four liked it, too.

By Richard S. Ginell in All Music Guide

Style:
Crossover-Jazz
Jazz Pop
Guitar Jazz

Tracks:
01 - Golden Slumbers/ You Never Give Me Your Money (04:48)
02 - Because / Come Together (07:23)
03 - Oh! Darling (03:59)
04 - Here Comes the Sun / I Want You (She's So Heavy) (09:02)
05 - Something / Octopus's Garden / The End (06:23)

Line-up:
George Benson – guitar, vocal
Herbie Hancock - piano, organ, harpsichord
Ernie Hayes - piano
Bob James - piano
Ron Carter - Bass guitar
Gerry Jemmott - Bass guitar
Idris Muhammad - drums
Ed Shaughnessy - drums
Ray Barretto - percussion
Andy Gonzalez - percussion
Wayne Andre - trombone, euphonium
Don Ashworth - baritone saxophone
Sonny Fortune - alto saxophone
Jerome Richardson - tenor saxophone, clarinet, flute
Mel Davis - trumpet, flugelhorn
Bernie Glow - trumpet
Freddie Hubbard - trumpet
Marvin Stamm - trumpet
Phil Bodner - flute, oboe
Hubert Laws - flute
Raoul Poliakin - violin
Max Pollikoff - violin
George Ricci - cello
Emanuel Vardi - viola

Jaco Pastorius - Jaco Pastorius (1976)

It's impossible to hear Jaco Pastorious' debut album today as it sounded when it was first released in 1976. The opening track -- his transcription for fretless electric bass of the bebop standard "Donna Lee" -- was a manifesto of virtuosity; the next track, the funk-soul celebration "Come On, Come Over" was a poke in the eye to jazz snobs and a love letter to the R&B greats of the previous decade (two of whom, Sam & Dave, sing on that track); "Continuum" was a spacey, chorus-drenched look forward to the years he was about to spend playing with Weather Report. The program continues like that for three-quarters of an hour, each track heading off in a different direction -- each one a masterpiece that would have been a proud achievement for any musician. What made Jaco so exceptional was that he was responsible for all of them, and this was his debut album. Beyond his phenomenal bass technique and his surprisingly mature compositional chops (he was 24 when this album was released), there was the breathtaking audacity of his arrangements: "Okonkole Y Trompa" is scored for electric bass, French horn, and percussion, and "Speak Like a Child," which Pastorious composed in collaboration with pianist Herbie Hancock, features a string arrangement by Pastorious that merits serious attention in its own right. For a man with this sort of kaleidoscopic creativity to remain sane was perhaps too much to ask; his gradual descent into madness and eventual tragic death are now a familiar story, one which makes the bright promise of this glorious debut album all the more bittersweet. (This remastered reissue adds two tracks to the original program: alternate takes of "(Used to Be a) Cha Cha" and "6/4 Jam").

by Rick Anderson in All Music Guide

Styles:
Fusion
Post-Bop
Funk

Tracks:
01 - Donna Lee (02:27)
02 - Come on, Come Over (03:50)
03 - Continuum (04:31)
04 - Kuru/ Speak Like a Child (07:38)
05 - Portrait of Tracy (02:20)
06 - Opus Pocus (05:24)
07 - Okonloke Y Trompa (04:21)
08 - (Used to be a) Cha-Cha (08:52)
09 - Forgotten Love (02:12)

Line-up:
Jaco Pastorius - bass
Don Allas - percussion
Herbie Hancock - keyboards
Lenny White - drums
Narada Michael Waldon - drums (2)
Bobby Ecconomou - drums (4)
Othello Molineaux - steel drums
Leroy Williams - steel drums
Michael Brecker - tenor sax (2)
David Sanborn - alto sax (2)
Howard Johnson - baritone sax (2)
Peter Graves - trombone (2)
Sam and Dave - vocals (2)
Wayne Shorter - soprano sax (6)
Ron Tooley - trumpet (2)
Hubert Laws - flute (8)
Peter Ground - french horn (7)

Chick Corea - Inner Space (1966)

This double album reissues Chick Corea's first album as a leader, Tones for Joan's Bones, adding two previously unissued tracks from the same session plus a pair of performances from a Hubert Laws date of the period that feature Corea's piano and writing. With such players as Joe Farrell on tenor and flute, trumpeter Woody Shaw, bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Joe Chambers on this Corea date, the pianist performs five of his originals plus "This Is New" while The Laws cuts include Corea's "Windows." Throughout, this advanced hard bop music, which keeps an open attitude toward the avant-garde innovations of the period, is consistently stimulating. Even at this early stage, Chick Corea's playing is quite recognizable.

by Scott Yanow in All Music Guide

Styles:
Post-Bop

Tracks:
01 - Straight Up and Down (12:36)
02 - Litha (13:31)
03 - Inner Space (09:20)
04 - Windows (08:47)
05 - Guijira (12:20)
06 - Trio for Flute, Bassoon and Piano (05:07)

Line-up:
Chick Corea - piano, keyboards
Joe Farrell - flute, tenor saxophone, wind
Hubert Laws - flute
Karl Porter - bassoon, wind
Woody Shaw - trumpet
Grady Tate - drums
Joe Chambers - drums
Herbie Mann - percussion
Joel Dorn - percussion