FunkFreak75 Recorded at Van Gelder Studios in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, on January 27-29, 1970, and then released to the public by CTI in May. This was Freddie's first album produced by Creed Taylor, thus announcing a new style and sound that would become Freddie's signature over the next decade (despite only working with Creed and Rudy for the next five years).

A1. "Red Clay" (12:05) Lenny White's muscular, more-rock-inspired drums are noticeable from the get-go as are Herbie Hancock's electric piano and Ron Carter's hyper-active electric bass. I love how Freddie and Joe both seem to feed off of the energy coming from Lenny and Ron, while Herbie tempers everybody with his smoothed out electric piano sound and play. I can see why everybody loves this song: great enthusiasm captured here! High marks for Ron's play alone (though when given a solo he's rather subdued and toned down)! And then there is the wonderfully-synchronized whole band staccato play in the last 90 seconds to finish. I would definitely call this a Jazz-Rock Fusion song. (23/25)

A2. "Delphia" (7:25) opening with that long-held discordant chord on the organ is genius--especially in light of the gorgeous, gospel-bluesy song that comes out of it. Freddie's trumpet play is so smooth--this despite the raw and raunchy organ play from Herbie. The bass and drums seem much more aligned with Freddie's mood and melody, but it is Herbie's dirty organ play that takes the song's simple "purity" out of the realms of guileless innocence and makes it rather suggestive and risqué--even winning over the horn players to the side of sin and temptation over the course of the song's seven minutes. Wow! What an honest though disturbing scene to have to witness! Like watching an innocent, unassuming young girl be seduced into giving up her virginity! The suggestive storytelling power of music! (Despite the fusion of innocence with lechery, this is not very fusion music.) (13.5/15)

B1. "Suite Sioux" (8:40) more relaxed and upbeat than the previous song, the song opens with a light conversation between Herbie's organ and Fender Rhodes and the two horn players until 1:10 when Freddie takes off into the first of two alternating bop motifs, the rhythm section beneath him seeming to be alternating between two (or three) very different lanes on the free way (or air currents over the Badlands). Whatever their instructions or motivations, the seemingly-random switches between the three motifs are quite radical: requiring quite a little skill and focus from the bass and drummer (deftly manifested by both Ron and Lenny). The soloists flying on the air currents above seem hardly to take notice, even when Ron and Lenny fly into unexpected wind gusts. At the six-minute mark we get the launch into a drum solo that is rather unusual for its loud and pronounced bass drum and then oddly subtle dénouement. The horns and Herbie come back to the motif of the opening "conversation" while Ron and Lenny hit an even more strangely different pattern beneath. Wow! What did I just hear?! Some intrepid (and extended) étude? Some kind of alchemical magic? Listening to Lenny White alone makes for a fascinating and mind-boggling experience. (18.25/20)

B2. "The Intrepid Fox" (10:40) sounds like music rooted very firmly in the hard bop jazz of the 1960s despite the free reign given to Herbie Hancock and his electric piano. Even Lenny sounds quite disciplined to constrain himself within the rigors of standard jazz practices here. (17.375/20)

Total time 38:50

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of highly diversified music that spans a spectrum from be-bop, hard bop and the new Jazz-Rock Fusion. In terms of adding to the J-R F lexicon, the opening title song is definitely the most fitting, but even "Delphia" and "Suite Sioux" express experimental elements that will go far to influence other artists dabbling in the medium. Definitely a landmark album for both Freddie and the rapid maturation of Jazz-Rock Fusion.

FunkFreak75 Enlisting the support of a band of jazz's new guard: the younger up-and-comers who'd paid their dues in their 20s throughout the 1960s and were now ready to break out--to prove themselves as leaders and adventurists. Here Freddie and crew test the waters of the Latin-infused fusion of jazz with some rock and pop sounds à la Miles Davis, Tony Williams, and John McLaughlin. While the boys never get too far out of their hard bop and post-bop comfort zones, they do stretch themselves from time to time with unusually aggressive dynamics (for them) and the use of some electronic instruments and effects (particularly on Herbie Hancock's electric piano and George Benson's electric guitar). To my ears, their "busting out" is more akin to the musical explorations of the past five years done by the Don Ellis Orchestra--more like wearing black sunglasses with their standard, nondescript black suits and thin black ties.

The album was recorded in November 16 of 1970, released in January of the new year by CTI Records.

A. "Straight Life" (17:30) fast and dynamic with lots of energy being expressed, even in the individual solos, each taken in its proper turn, of course. Great virtuosity on display but played so tightly! (30.75/35)

B1. "Mr. Clean" (13:30) has a mod, late-Sixties party feel to it, played loose and lax--like they're really letting their hair down. Everybody is playing loose and kind of in their own melody lines, all at the same time, which is/was really unusual for this time. So weird to hear Ron Carter and Jack DeJohnette playing as if they couldn't care less about holding down the rhythm section, hearing George Benson and Freddie (and, to a lesser degree, Herbie) playing so loosely over, beside, and within each other's tracks. (Herbie gets on board with the fierce independent thing somewhere around the fourth or fifth minute.) This is awesome stuff! At the end of the seventh minute everybody dials it down a bit so that Herbie's electric piano solo can be heard. Respect! It does not, however, stop Richie Landrum, Ron Carter, or Jack DeJohnette from throwing Herbie a little shade. Could this solo been one of Eumir Deodato's big inspirations for his career in Jazz-Rock Fusion? George B. gets the next solo respect--for the eleventh minute. (Do I hear a little funk coming from the rhythm section?) Great song--especially for being so early in the J-R Fuse thing. (23/25)

B2. "Here's That Rainy Day" (5:10) solo plaintive trumpet--as Freddie does so well--opens this one before George Benson's chord support joins in and then, in the second minute, Ron Carter's bass. Despite the occasional sound of Jack's snare coils vibrating, the trio are the only ones represented on this one. (8.75/10)

Total Time: 36:24

B+/4.5 stars; though registering as a near-masterpiece to me, the critic looking for Jazz-Rock Fusion, I can see how this album could be appreciated by true jazz aficionado.

FunkFreak75 Recorded by Creed Taylor and Rudy Van Gelder in September of 1971 and released on October 12.

A1. "First Light" (11:00) nice two-chord vamp that take a minute or two to get into full gear. Once it does it becomes a very nice dance tune with some great trumpet play from Freddie. The second soloist to get a turn isn't up until the seventh minute: George Benson. If these two solos are any indication, the musicians on this album seem much more focused and driven to produce amazing music than on Freddie's last album, Straight Life. Both Freddie and George are much more dynamic, aggressive, and "show-offy" than they were on anything on Straight Life while the musicians playing in support seem to have their working orders very clearly charted out for them as they are all working very hard in support with very little flash or flourish shining through the soloists work. (Maybe a little from Jack DeJohnette, Airto, Phil Kraus, and one of the flutists.) Beautiful song! (18.75/20)

A2. "Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey" (8:12) Paul McCartney's song is taken down to the bare bones and bluesified melodically, Freddie only gives the first verse its due before taking it on his own flight. There is a significant contribution from some uncredited orchestral strings here. The two minute mark results in a significant shift into a blues/R&B-jazzed-up "Admiral Halsey" section. Jack and Ron are even caught trying to funk things up (Jack's more military than you'd probably want) but Ron, George, and electric piano player Richard Wyandis are excellent at funking things up--George even stepping up to play a very aggressive jazz-structured blues solo. At 5:40 everybody cuts out for Ron to show off his groove thang before flutes, Fender, and drums join in to take us to the final minute's return to the stripped down, bare bones opening motif (again, with strings/orchestra). Interesting! And, admittedly, adventurous. (13.5/15)

B1. "Moment To Moment" (5:40) late night bareness on this Henry Mancini-Johnny Mercer composition with vibes, bass, and Fender Rhodes supporting Freddie's plaintive trumpet play. Orchestral support from flutes/winds, harp, horns, and, later, strings. The two-motif sides to the song do not work so well for me. (8.75/10)

B2. "Yesterday's Dreams" (3:55) like a cover of a classic 1960s movie theme, Freddie dons his muter for his trumpet play. Composer Don Sebesky's strings and orchestral enrichment are very heavy on this one, it sounds a lot like the lush music Bob James will soon be making, only still founded in the rich textures and seriousness of the 1960s. Beautiful. (9/10)

B3. "Lonely Town" (6:55) another late night majestic tune that sounds like something from Frank Sinatra's best Ava Gardner Period music (except for the dulcet sounds of the Fender Rhodes). Great support from some masterfully arranged and recorded orchestra instruments. At 2:52 there is a sudden and pronounced shift into a more James Bond soundtrack theme and style, with bass, drums, Fender, and trumpet all stepping up to their microphones and the orchestra being pushed back into the background. Cool! though I do love the lush opening better. (13.375/15) Total time

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of creative and adventurous jazz-rock fusion that is often on the smooth cinematic side (due, perhaps, to the lush orchestral arrangements).

FunkFreak75 Though Freddie had been collaborating for a couple of years with a group of musicians who dabbled with/ circulated on the fringes of the burgeoning Jazz-Rock "Fusion" scene--including Airto Moreira, Ron Carter, Ray Barretto, Jack DeJohnette, Hubert Laws, and, to a lesser degree, George Benson. Freddie's attempts at allowing more rock and electric elements into his stage and studio performances seemed hindered by his own allegiance to (and enjoyment of) more recent trends in jazz--like "hard bop" and "cool jazz." One problem was his relative aversion/avoidance to Latin influences like Afro-Cuban rumba and Brazilian bassa nova--two forms of popular jazz that had had huge influence in American music in the 1960s.Well, this album sees Freddie finally getting his foot in the door--thanks in no small part to his employment of Billy Cobham, Airto Moreira, and Ray Barretto--the former two of whom had been students/musicians with Miles and Carlos Santana and Joe Zawinul's Weather Report (Airto), the latter who had crossed over with the likes of Herbie Mann and Edgar Winter. This is the first album of Freddie's that I feel he has finally figured out how to fuse some of rock 'n' roll's innovations into his jazz music.

1. "Povo" (12:33) after an introductory extract from some man's speech the band enters, settling immediately into a somewhat funky laid-back groove for the solos of George Benson, Freddie, Hubert Laws, and Keith Jarrett (electric piano). A very pretty, engaging, and well-constructed grooving piece that I enjoy from start to finish despite its standard format of turn-taking alternating singular solos over the rhythm section. It's a good thing the basic rhythm track is so good. (22.75/25)

2. "In a Mist" (7:04) sounds like an old-time classic jazz piece with small acoustic combo and some side action big band horns. No infusion of rock (or anything else) here. Keith Jarrett's piano sounds to me like Thelonius Monk. I'm really not interested in old-time jazz, just Jazz-Rock Fusion. (12.75/15)

"Naturally" (5:53) (only available on the CD release) opens up sounding like the late-night musings of a band playing for the thinning crowd of mellowing lounge drinkers. Freddie steps it up a notch with the second verse--the rest of the all-acoustic band keeping up. Hubert Laws gets the second solo on one of his flutes, during which the horn section begins to show itself with gentle accents. Guitarist George Benson is next with his jazz guitar (sans vocal mirroring)--for which the horns and winds combine to provide some dreamy, gentle support. I'm not really into this song cuz I'm looking for Jazz-Rock Fusion, not jazz.(8.5/10)

3. "The Godfather (from the Paramount Motion Picture The Godfather)" (7:21) solo trumpet opens this one with a jazzy rendering of the well-known movie theme. Bassist Ron Carter gets the next shot--also tout seul--then pianist Keith Jarrett joins in and Ron steps into the support role as Billy Cobham's soft jazz drums (mostly brush and cymbal work) joins. Freddie returns to the lead as a bank clarinets add their support from the wings, later the horn banks. Keith Jarrett gets a nice solo in the sixth minute. Finishes off with a repeat of the solo trumpet opening. (8.5/10)

4. "Sky Dive" (7:40) a return to the world of electricity with a smooth, Latin-flavored song. Nice solos from Freddie (a really long one!), George Benson, Hubert Laws, and Keith Jarrett (again on electric piano) as well as really nice work from all of the support staff--especially Billy Cobham as well as some really smooth arrangements for horns and winds from Don Sebesky. (13.5/15)

Total time: 34:38

B/four stars; a very nice jazz album with a couple of fine Jazz-Rock Fusion songs (one funk-lite, the other Latin-lite).

FunkFreak75 A new genre of "Quiet Storm" radio shows was increasing the listeners' exposure to "Jazz Lite" music like this. Despite the fact that Freddie had left Creed Taylor and CTI Records in 1974 (or perhaps because of their separation), Creed's label decided to throw together an album of previously-unreleased songs from recording sessions Freddie had had with Creed and Rudy Van Gelder dating back as far as 1971. (September 16, 1971, for "Polar AC," April 12, 1972 for "People Make the World Go Round" and "Betcha By Golly, Wow," October 4 & 5, 1972 for "Naturally," and October 5 and/or 23, 1973 for "Son of Sky Dive.") Hence, Polar AC was released on April 18, 1975.

Since 1969, the veteran trumpeter had been somewhat fickle about getting on board the jazz-rock fusion train. Here we have a collection of songs that are representative of a large span of Freddie's early dabbles, parading a virtual who's who of proven Jazz musicians who had also proven quite willing and curious to experiment with these new sound palettes and song dynamics. I originally purchased this album precisely because of the large number of collaborating artists listed on the album's credits (I had been getting hugely into Bob James, the Laws brothers, and Ron Carter during this period), but also due to the fact that Freddy was covering two of my all-time favorite soul/R&B songs, both made famous by The Stylistics: "People Make the World Go Round" and "Bethca By Golly, Wow." With his rendition of the former, Freddie made the best version of the song I've ever heard: here, on Polar AC.

1. "Polar AC" (6:57) a Cedar Walton tune covered with the help of Jack DeJohnette on drums. (13.125/15)

2. "People Make the World Go Round" (5:50) Lenny White is the drummer on this one. A personal favorite. (10/10)

3. "Betcha By Golly, Wow" (8:09) a good song that actually gets better when Freddie starts to take liberties with the melody lines. (13.5/15)

4. "Naturally" (5:52) a Cannonball Adderly song helped out by Billy Cobham. The song even sounds like a nostalgic look back into the post-My Favorite Things 1960s. Even Hubert Laws' flute feels so Sixties. Pleasant and melodic with very solid traditional jazz play (and sounds) from Freddie's supporting musicians. (8.875/10)

5. "Son of Sky Dive" (13:20) a reconditioning of the title song from one of Freddie's first attempts to foray into the Jazz-Rock Fusion idiom--a more latin rhythm form released in 1972 on which he used a lineup that included Billy Cobham, Airto Moreira, Ray Barretto, Ron Carter, Keith Jarrett, Hubert Laws, and George Benson. This one's better. Lenny White was pretty good, too. Sounds and plays out like "Love Connection Version 1." I absolutely LOVE Lenny White's drum play as well as Ron Carter's bass and keyboard support from George Gables. This is great modern-day jazz without collapsing into the quagmire of an abyss of "Smooth Jazz." (27.5/30)

A-/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of jazz-rock fusion.