Chicapah This, the third solo album from Billy Cobham in less than two years, shows the gifted drummer taking his music even further back into his jazz roots and continuing to distance himself from the rock mentality that so influenced the first and, to a lesser extent, the second LP. It's just as well because I don't think he could have ever matched the genius of "Spectrum." (As it is, all of his subsequent albums ended up being compared to that masterpiece, anyway.) But "Total Eclipse" still entertains, mainly because of the caliber of fine musicians that contribute their admirable skills to the project. As he did on "Crosswinds," Billy opens the album with a suite of different musical ideas strung together. This one is called "Solarization" and the opening segment of the same title has a rousing, frantic beginning featuring a tight horn section with sizzling electric guitar. Guitarist John Abercrombie will never fill Tommy Bolin's sizable shoes in Cobham's band but he turns in a pretty fierce lead here that is hard to overlook. "Second Phase" is basically some avant garde solo acoustic piano noodlings from Milcho Leviev that lead directly into "Crescent Sun," a smooth contemporary jazz number that features Glenn Ferris playing some excellent trombone. "Voyage" is a return to the earlier frenetic pace as Randy Brecker's trumpet, Billy's hot drumming and John's guitar take turns trying to top each other. "Solarization - Recapitulation" is a brief return to the original theme. Taken as a whole the entire suite is exciting in places but not particularly memorable when all is said and done.

"Lunarputians" reveals what really happened to Billy Cobham. He, like many others in that era, was seduced by the FUNK. This tune is pure James Brown in its feel from the get-go and it never lets up for a moment. I call it complex soul music and Ferris' expressive trombone gives it a real kick in the tail. One of the things I really enjoy about Cobham's music is his ability to create remarkable melodies and "Total Eclipse" has the best one on this album. It's standard MOR urban jazz but it has an infectious "walking" groove that will get your foot tapping in time. Leviev throws down an exemplary acoustic piano ride then, after a clever horn section breakdown, Mike Brecker steps up and delivers a searing soprano sax lead. Abercrombie's guitar solo gets a little too intense for the welfare of this tune toward the end, however, and he siphons off some of the momentum. I appreciate the lightning tempo of "Bandits" but it sounds like something Billy and bassist Alex Blake came up with one session when the other musicians were AWOL because, other than some small contributions from John, it's just the rhythm section running wild. Blake plays a lot like Stanley Clarke (except that he doesn't generate the cool tone that Stanley does) and Cobham takes a few bars for himself, showing that he is, indeed, a drummer foremost.

"Moon Germs" is basically a dance song that allows guest guitarist Cornell Dupree to add his veteran two cents worth before letting Mike Brecker clear the room with a blistering tenor sax solo. I'm not a huge fan of John Abercrombie's style and I'll tell you why. Here his brittle tone borders on annoying and there's really no excuse for it. 'Nuff said. "The Moon Ain't Made of Green Cheese" is next and it's a welcome but too brief change of mood in which Cobham performs on acoustic piano accompanied by Randy Brecker's delicate horn. Very nice piece. "Sea of Tranquility" is a brave, adventurous tune with an involved, intricate modern jazz melody that allows Mike, Milcho and John to stretch out a bit and fully demonstrate their individual virtuosity. A spacey intro on the Rhodes electric piano sets you up for a short flourish from the horn section followed by a four-minute drum solo on the closer, "Last Frontier." Billy's lone chording on the acoustic piano takes things out on a serene note.

While there's actually nothing to complain about, there's also very little to go totally nuts over, either. Many of the numbers are glorified jams and, while there's nothing inherently wrong with that approach at all, it makes it much less fusion-ish in nature. Billy's lightning quick hands and feet are still as amazing as they ever were with Mahavishnu Orchestra but I get the sense that he was beginning to deplete his storehouse of song ideas about that time and bringing in the best players he could find was a smart alternative. It's good music, to be sure, but in the jazz world an album has to be extraordinary to rise above the fray. This one doesn't.

FunkFreak75 Drummer extraordinaire's third solo album since leaving the Mahavishnu scene. Is this one even better than Spectrum or Crosswinds?

1. "Solarization: Solarization/Second Phase/Crescent Sun/Voyage/Solarization-Recapitulation" (11:10) Wow! Billy's drumming! John Abercrobie's guitar solo (in "Solarization")! Milcho Leviev's piano playing (in "Second Phase")! The smooth pool-side jazz of "Crescent Sun"! The band's unity at the breakneck speeds of "Voyage" (as well as Randy Brecker's trumpet play). A great J-R Fuse epic. (19/20)

2. "Lunarputians" (2:33) great little funk ditty with Alex Blake's bass and the clavinet leading the way with the horns, guitar, and keys following in suit. Sounds Herbie/Billy Cosby-ish. (9.333/10)

3. "Total Eclipse" (5:59) building like a great soundtrack tune for a 1970s Black Exploitation film. The deep piano chord play with opposing flutes and rhythm guitar accent strums is awesome--as are the horn accents and soli--both banked and individual--especially Michael Brecker's brief soprano sax solo in the third minute. John Abercrombie's incendiary guitar solo near the end is on a par with anything Johnny Mac, Al Di, Bill Connors, or Larry Coryell were doing at this time. This is a film that I'd want to see if only for the way the soundtrack would get my blood pumping and my hips rockin'! (9.333/10)

4. "Bandits" (2:30) a weird little cruisin' jam with flashy solos from Alex Blake and John Abercrombie. (4.375/5)

5. "Moon Germs" (4:54) great arrangement of tightly-orchestrated instruments over which Billy's drumming seems to not fit very well! Weird! The rest of the band feels so synched up, but Billy's sound and style is just not clicking with the rest. Cornell Dupree's rock-wah-wah-ed guitar solo is weird, but the horns are so tight, so awesome. (8.875/10)

6. "The Moon Ain't Made Of Green Cheese" (0:58) Billy on piano with Randy Brecker on flugelhorn. Nothing so very special--unless you've never heard Miles Davis or Louis Armstrong. (4.25/5)

7. "Sea Of Tranquility" (10:44) gentle piano arpeggi of odd chords are soon joined by timpani and gongs before drums and bass are slowly faded in at the end of the first minute. Piano continues as the first lead instrument with some synth to offset it. Horns and electric guitar jump in to also add accents and opposition while the bass and drums just cruise along. In the fourth minute Michael Brecker is given ample room to shine on his tenor sax while Milcho Leviev adds Fender Rhodes to his assortment of accompaniments. Billy's drumming accents pick up as we move along into the fifth minute. Then Milcho's wah-wah-ed Fender takes a turn in the lead while John Abercrombie's rhythm guitar starts to sound as if it is itching more and more for some lead time. Nice percussion work whoever is doing it! Billy's drumming here sounds more like that which Lenny White will become known for over the next couple of years. John's guitar finally gets his turn in the spotlight but only as an adversary to Milcho's Fender. Eventually, Milcho backs off and John soars in a Coryell way. Meanwhile that rhythm section remains so constant and fine tuned! I don't get the fadeout at 8:30, leaving a void that is filled by echoed Fender Rhodes flourishes and large gong/cymbal and timpani play--plus Alex Blake's bowed bass. Thenat 10:20 the band kicks back in with a recharged mission to finish the song with the full crew. I must say: that was an odd ending to an otherwise-amazing song. (18.5/20)

8. "Last Frontier" (5:22) Billy on a solo drum and percussion mission. Impressive? Yes. Necessary? Not really. (We all know how good you are, Billy.) "Gratuitous" one other appropriately labeled this piece. I know it's a drummer's album but I do kind of hate to see the star of the show tooting his own horn at the very end to the exclusion of all of his other collaborators. Kind of a slap in the face to the others, don't you think? But, it's his album, his prerogative. The quiet--wait for it! Wait for it--piano solo at the very end helps salvage a little face. (8.75/10)

Total Time: 44:10

This album feels much more accessible to me that Billy's more-acclaimed Spectrum.

A/five stars; a masterpiece of peak era Jazz-Rock Fusion. Essential to any prog lover's music collection.

Sean Trane Third Billy Cobham solo album after the generally over-appreciated Spectrum and the generally under-rated Crosswinds, Total Eclipse is an excellent follow-up, well worthy of its two predecessors. Again released on the Atlantic label, produced by the excellent Ken Scott (who'd just broke Supertramp in the major leagues the previous year) and accompanied with a striking drawn artwork, TE features the same usual suspects you'd expect on his early solo albums, minus George Duke. The album opens on a four-part 12-mins suite called Solarization, a wild and full-blown prog JR/F piece that clearly has its roots in the Mahavishnu mould (especially the opening movement) and has plenty of mood and climate changes to please Yes fans. The Mahavishnu- ian title track is another highlight in an album that holds no weak spots, despite its slightly weaker exit (on the flipside), while the ultra-funky Bandits provide a welcome break before flipping the wax over.

The flipside is also quite fine, opening on the very brassy Moon Germs (hey, the Brecker Brothers won't let you under-use their presence), but Abercrombie's fiery guitar quickly steals the show. The much-quieter Green Cheese presents itself a new-agey intro to the lengthy, lunar and excellent Sea Of Tranquility, with a good horn section and more reflective Rhodes sections separating more frenetic sections. Of course coming from a drummer, you can't escape the usual (almost mandatory, dare I say) drum solo, which indeed fills the closing Last Frontier.

Just as essential as its two predecessors, Total Eclipse is anything but that on this brilliant JR/F music, I always preferred Cobham's solo albums to say William's or Clarke's solo albums, but with Spectrum to Eclpse, Billy ranks with the top of the genre in terms od solo career