Rokukai It's more of the same r&bish jazz from the pen of Donald Byrd and the production team of Larry and Fonce Mizell.

Individually, the material on this record is OK. Collectively, the songs have little spark. Of course the musicianship is outstanding, but there is little territory tread here that Byrd hadn't trode. The melodies aren't particularly memorable and there is a large amount of filler. Compared to Street Lady, Black Byrd, Places and Spaces, and even Caricatures this music is boring. The second side is dispensable--unless your dentist office wants it.

This is a two star record for me, but I'll bump it up half a star because "Think Twice" is an all time Byrd classic and another half a star because it's Donald Byrd teamed with the Mizell Brothers, the funkiest men in the room.

FunkFreak75 Recorded, once again, at Hollywood's Sound Factory under the production team of Larry and Fonce Mizell (Sky High) in November and December of 1974. Stepping into Tomorrow was released to the public in March of 1975.

A1. "Stepping Into Tomorrow" (5:11) such simplicity! Please, say it ain't so! Luckily, it's a great, very catchy groove, otherwise there's more similarity to the music of later HERB ALPERT (1981's Rise) and the Blackbyrds (due to the choral vocals)--which is fine if you're heading toward radio-friendly pop-oriented "Smooth Jazz." I like the keyboard experimentations being done by Larry Mizell and Jerry Peters--and the vocals are actually quite a bit better (recorded/engineered) than those on the Blackbyrds' albums. Whoever is doing those ultra-soprano vocalese above the rest has got some pipes! (Lorraine Kenner? Stephanie Spruill?) (8.875/10)

A2. "We're Together" (4:19) opening with an excellent and enticing "conversation" between Donald and Gary with piano, background female vocals, and background horns offering nice accents. I also like the scraping noise of the pick hitting the strings on the rhythm guitar. Unfortunately, the choir vocals end up occupying too much space: taking away from the instrumentalists. (8.875/10)

B1. "Think Twice" (6:10) more vocal smoothation, this time with Team Male alternating with Team Female over some very simple jazz-funk (though with another great bass line and some nice vocal melodies). Jerry Peter's bouncy piano and Gary Bartz's smooth sax are nice complements to both the vocals and Donald's trumpet. (8.75/10)

B2. "Rock And Roll Again" (6:09) smooth, smooth instrumental Soul music. Harkens back to the early 1960s in its simplicity. And there's that whistler dude James Carter who'll be so dominant on Side Two of the next album (Places and Spaces). Otherwise, this is really just a classic soul/DooWap tune on which the alto sax takes the place of the human voice. Donald must be feeling really nostalgic. (8.66667/10)

C2. "I Love The Girl" (3:53) piano and gentle percussion instruments open this before the band engages in some cinematic Burt Bacharach-like music behind James Carter's whistling. When Donald kicks in with his flugelhorn in the second minute it is over some loose funk in which laid back yet playful bass and steady drums amuse beneath Jerry's wildly-adventurous piano play. It's kind of shame that his piano is mixed so far back into the mix cuz it's really entertaining and interesting. (8.75/10)

C3. "You Are The World" (4:29) bongos, timbales, and two fast-strummed rhythm guitar chords repeated over and over precede the "you are the world" male choir pronouncements. Then the music travels into a funkier BARRY WHITE world with piano and wildly flailing wah-wah chord fast-strumming rhythm guitar. This is definitely early Disco. I don't dislike it; it feels so ready for radio! (Especially in Detroit town!) (9/10)

D2. "Design A Nation" (4:21) very pleasant Smooth Jazz with very relaxing vocal choir work, whispered female voice, smooth sax from Gary Bartz, and a great bass-led groove at its foundation. (9/10)

D3. "Makin' It" (3:49) a song with a little more zip and jazz in it despite the funk/R&B presentation. Jew's harp, piano, clavinet, and percussion are key components beneath Donald and Gary's horns. I like the lively spirit of those contribution to the foundation. (9/10)

The master of borrowing riffs and sounds from past masters has been caught: it's no longer working its magic as it once had. Is just my ears or has Chuck Rainey's bass playing (and volume) been curbed or downscaled from the levels and freedoms expressed on the previous album? I think this an unfortunate mistake on the part of both the composer, bandleader, and producers.

Total time: 39:21

B/four stars; an excellent album of simplified Jazz-Rock Fusion that finds portents of Disco, Jazz-Funk, and Smooth Jazz in its weaves.

Sean Trane Well in a way, this album title could be prophetic of Byrd’s overall artistic metamorphosis and evolution. From a standard jazz of the 50’s & 60’s, he had jumped on the JR/F bandwagon a little later than most, but he probably peaked much higher with the fantastic Ethiopian Knights, who is one of the wildest albums of that genre. With SIT, we find ourselves a few years down the line, and Byrd chose to keep advancing and by late 74, he’d gone to a wide-spectrummed fusion that encompasses mainly-instrumental jazz-rock, funk, soul-jazz and a few more jazzy-related styles. Indeed if a good deal of the tracks have vocals, they’re generally not intrusive or over-abundant and mixed relatively low in the overall scheme.

The album doesn’t really have a defined musical directions other than being “jazz” in the wider meaning of the term, and in some weird announces the future 80’s stuff, but in a positive manner. Looking at the line-up of the album, you won’t find much jazz musos, the vast majority of the participants probably gravitating in the soul-funk realm and you can hear it also in the songwriting… in its huge majority being from keyboardist Larry Mizell. The songs hover between JR/F (the title track, Makin’ It), soft MOR/soul-funk pieces (Nation, Together and the atrociously over-sweetish RnR Again ), to a frankly funky-jazz as the excellent Think Twice and You Are the World and the mainly soft-jazz I Love The Girl.

While SIT comes nowhere close to Ethiopian Knights‘ excellence, it is definitely worthy of the fusuionhead’s attention, because among the soul-funk stuff are hidden a few JR/F gems that you wouldn’t want to miss on.