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

Miles Davis - Pangaea (1975)

This is the second of two performances from February 1975 at the Osaka Festival Hall in Japan. This is the evening show; the Columbia release Agharta was the afternoon show. Pangaea is comprised either as a double LP or double CD of two tracks, "Zimbabwe" and "Gondwana." Each is divided into two parts. The band here is comprised of Sonny Fortune on saxophones, Pete Cosey (who also played synth) and Reggie Lucas on guitars, Michael Henderson on bass, Al Foster on drums, James Mtume on percussion, and Davis on trumpet and organ. The band, no doubt inspired by their amazing performance earlier in the day, comes out swinging, and I mean like Muhammad Ali, not Benny Goodman. This is a take-no-prisoners set. Davis seems to be pushing an agenda of "What the hell is melody and harmony? And bring on the funk -- and while you're at it, Pete, play the hell outta that guitar. More drums!" If there is anything that's consistent in this free-for-all, as everybody interacts with everyone else in an almighty dirty groove & roll while improv is at an all-time high, it's the rhythmic, or should we emphasize "polyrhythmic," invention. Mtume and Foster are monstrous in moving this murky jam session along ("Zimbabwe" is one set, and "Gondwana" is the second of the evening) some surreal lines. When Cosey's not ripping the pickups out of his guitar, he's adding his hands to various percussion instruments in the pursuit of the all-powerful Miles Davis' inflected voodoo funk. And while it's true that this set is as relentless as the Agharta issue, it's not quite as successful, though it's plenty satisfying. The reason is simple: the dynamic and dramatic tensions of the afternoon session could never have been replicated, they were based on all conditions being right. Here, while the moods and textures are carried and the flow is quite free, the dramatic tension is not as present; the mood is not quite so dark. And while the playing of certain individuals here may be better than it is on Agharta, the band's playing isn't quite at that level. That said, this is still an essential Miles Davis live record and will melt your mind just as easily as Agharta. People would complain on this tour that Davis played with his back to the audience a lot -- Lester Bangs went so far as to say he hated his guts for it. But if you were this focused on creating a noise so hideously beautiful from thin air, you might not have time to socialize either.

by Thom Jurek in All Music Guide

Styles:
Jazz-Rock
Jazz-Funk
Fusion

Tracks:
01 - Zimbabwe (41:18)
02 - Gondwana (46:50)

Line-up:
Miles Davis – electric trumpet with Wah Wah, organ
Sonny Fortune – soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, flute
Pete Cosey – electric guitar, Synthesizer, percussion
Reggie Lucas – electric guitar
Michael Henderson – electric bass
Al Foster – drums
James "Mtume" Forman – conga, percussion, water drum, rhythm box