FunkFreak75 The Hungarian-born guitar virtuoso tries his hand at Bob James' style of smooth jazz-rock fusion. (While Gabor had played with Bob before, this was his first album using Bob as his producer.)

A1. "Hungarian Rhapsody #2" (6:52) music that is very much pre-Disco. The sound engineering is surprisingly weak--almost thin, with everything mixed so quietly, the background instruments (horns, drums, percussion) sounding as if they are way far in the distant background. These sound discrepancies are distracting enough (as is Louis Johnson's up-front bass play) as to leave me working very hard just give minimal attention to Gabor's guitar play--which is also detracted by coming from a plug-in acoustic guitar (the early models of which I found quite irritating for their artificial sound). (13.125/15)

A2. "Time" (5:38) dreamy Disney electric piano arpeggi open this before gorgeous blues-jazzy guitar enters bringing with it Fender Rhodes piano and bare-bones bass and drum accompaniment. At 1:20 there is a slight shift in key and motif, leading to a brief, slightly more dynamic "chorus." Gabor's melody in the verses is quite beautiful, even seductive. Bob James gets some solo time in the third minute on his electric piano while Harvey Mason and Louis Johnson support with some nice little touches and nuances. The closing vamp is the best part because it unleashes all of the musicians to add a little bit more to their performances--including Gabor. (9/10)

A3. "Transylvania Boogie" (5:31) clavinet, bass, drums, and percussion establish a funky-smooth motif over which Eric Gale adds his own unique guitar sound and style. Gabor inserts his sparsely-populated melody with his lead guitar sounding like a cross between George Benson and Earl Klugh. Not quite spooky enough to qualify as vampire music (though it does have its sexy/seductive elements), I must remember that Gabor is a native of the country that houses Transylvania. Tom Scott's solo on his electronic saxophone (the Lyricon) is nice--and then bookended by some horn section accents from he and John Faddis and George Bohanon. The song fades out before anything truly interesting can mount, but, c'est la vie! (8.875/10)

B1. "Ziggidy Zag" (5:58) strummed electric jazz guitar chord sequence is soon joined by mid-funky bass and drum lines and then blasts from the band's thin horn section. The motif that takes over in the second minute is very Bob James-like, as is Gabor's Earl Klugh-sounding solo style--at least for the first 30-seconds of his performance: after that his sound and style begin to take some distinctive characteristics. Bob James gets the second solo on his Fender Rhodes. I really like Louis Johnson's bass performance as well as the conga play of Idris Muhammad and Harvey Mason's drumming (though this latter is recorded rather poorly). "Distant" clavinet, Eric Gale guitar, and occasional "distant" horn blasts continute to pepper and fill the background through to the end. Nice tune. (8.875/10)

B2. "Macho" (9:13) after a protracted piano and percussion intro, the band establishes an okay attempt at a Latin pseudo-Chick Corea songscape--one that eventually succeeds in delivering on the promise of the tension residing in its impassioned "White Rabbit"/"Bolero"-like chord progression. Great performances all around--especially from Harvey Mason, Louis Johnson, and Bob "Chick" James as well as Ralph MacDonald and Idris . One of my favorite songs on the album--one of the true J-R Fusion tunes here. (18/20)

B3. "Poetry Man" (4:28) a highly-charged, almost-erotic rendition of Phoebe Snow's iconic radio hit. Great arrangement and recording. (9.25/10)

Total time:37:40

I will also discount my rating of this album for its lack of original compositions (two covers, one Bob James song, one Harvey Mason song, and only two songs by the title artist--which happen to be the two best Jazz-Rock Fusion songs on the album); it is my opinion that the pressure to perform listener-friendly/recognizable covers of pop hits is one of the things that took the wind out of the sails of the Jazz-Rock Fusion movement--directed it onto the detour paths of Adult Contemporary, Smooth Jazz, and Yacht Rock.

An excellent collection of pre-Smooth/Adult Contemporary Jazz-Rock Fusion. Definitely recommended.

js Although Gabor Szabo was one of the first jazz artists in the mid 60s to play what we now call ‘fusion’, his name has just about disappeared into obscurity, which is a real shame. Gabor was a top notch guitarist and innovator combining different elements in his music and joining with Chico Hamilton to make some of the very first jazz fusion albums. Unfortunately, Gabor had long running problems with drugs and alcohol, which is why his life ended at a fairly young age, and also possibly why he is not honored and remembered as much as he should be. His life just ended too soon for him to make a lasting impression on the jazz world. Although he made many excellent albums in the 60s and early 70s, by the time 1976 rolled around, he was being pressured by the disco fad to come up with something more commercial, which led to this very well made, but also very commercial album, “Night Flight”.

In 1976, fellow jazz guitarist George Benson came out with his hugely successful album, “Breezin”. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Gabor‘s “Night Flight” soon followed. Obviously Gabor and the people around him thought they might have a chance to come up with a similar success following the Benson formula of orchestrated art pop with a touch of disco and plenty of tasty guitar solos to go around. Those CTI/Don Sebesky arranged lush orchestrated pop jazz records of the time were probably an influence as well. “Night Flight” is not a cheap hastily arranged album at all. A lot of work went into the arrangements, orchestrations and production of this album. It really has a nice full sound, but the music is fairly commercial and not what the average Gabor fan is looking for.

There is one killer track on here, the very funky “Baby Rattle Snake”. This would be a great cut for that DJ looking for something that no one else has. The rest of the album is okay, but not particularly remember-able. On the plus side, all through the album Szabo lays down an endless stream of guitar solos with a mix of bop swing and RnB rhythmic punch.

Sean Trane Another classic Szabo album for the legendary Impulse! label, The Sorcerer was recorded over two nights in the spring of 77 at the Boston Jazz Workshop with his then-group. Including fellow Hungarian-exiled bassist Louis Kabok, the band also featured drummer Morrell, percussionist Hal Gordon and surprisingly another guitarist/banjoist Jimmy Stewart. The general feel is a light upbeat guitar-oriented jazz with some hints of rock and Latin influences here and there, but some Indian-raga as well, but except for two tracks, I wouldn’t call the album Indo-jazz fusion per se. BTW, the Cole Porter cover of Thing Called Love is nothing exciting (IMHO)

While some tracks are gently Jazzy with Latin rhythms, like the opening Bono-penned Beat Goes On or the bossa-nova Little Boat, the album is relatively eclectic with a guitar and congas workout of the semi-successful Lou-ise; and over the flipside, the electric guitar feedback of the intro of the almost-7-mins Space also give a slight dreamy-psych raga that can only enthral rock fans. The calmer Stronger Than Us is a bit of an anti-climax with its all-too gentle harmonies, but the 7-mins Mizrab (named after the percussionist who’d played with Gabor in previous albums) is returning to the hypnotizing and demented raga that brings it close to rock soundscapes.

Interesting mainly for the flipside (IMHO, anyway), Sorcerer is another late-60’s album that showed another side to the Impulse! label, one that many might be less familiar with, since the Coltrane galaxy tended to over-shadow the rest. Despite the relatively uninteresting first side; the B-side is a pretty good companion to his previous album Jazz Raga.

Sean Trane Having left the Impulse! label, Szabo signed for the more obscure Blue Thumb label to release a fairly uninteresting string of albums, including the present 1969, which you guessed it, was released that very same year. Despite the exuberant turning of the decade era, Gabor seemed to miss out on the power and demented freedom of the times. Despite a promising almost-Folon inner sleeve artwork, it seems that the west-coast soft-jazz spirit had overwhelmed him, and musicians like bassist Kabok and drummer Keltner seemed to dominate the potential power of the organ, played by Melvoin.

Yes, we’re definitely in a west-coast jazz, not too far from what the CTI label would make its bread and bitter in the following years. Little wonder that Gabor would also release albums for that label a few years later. But for the present, we’re dealing with low-energy jazz-pop, sometimes reminiscent of rearranged Beatles tunes (doh!!!) that would fit supermarket or elevator background music. The only time the album comes alive, is in the album-closing raga-esque and aptly-titled Somewhere I Belong. Indeed Gabor, too bad it took you a whole album to return to your natural grounds. A real snoozefest and IMHO, best avoided, though its main merit is that it won’t irritate more your eardrums than your discernment.

Sean Trane As far as I am concerned, this is Gabor’s quintessential 70’s album, one where he shines like a thousand sun in company of his CTI label-mates and usual suspects. Alongside the ever-present Bob James and Ralph McDonald, we also find Eric Gale (on rhythm rather than lead), Harvey Mason and ex-Zappa-man Ian Underwood. Apart from its dumb name and uninteresting artwork, Macho is one of the best CTI album released (Sept 75) and features some of best soft/Latin fusion music ever recorded. It is with this album that you’ll realize that Carlos and Gabor were indeed good buddies and certainly listened to each other’s works..

Opening on grandiose trumpet intro, than a funky bass, Hungarian Rhapsody (a Liszt composition) sounds more like a Spanish/Flamenco piece, and Bob James’s outstanding gentle synth layers provide all the dramatic background to allow the soloists to soar like an eagle over the track. If it wasn’t for a touch of kitschy solo synth, shivers down the spine would be the 7-mins main-course menu. The following Time is more reflective, but takes on a calm Latin soft groove, with some subtle power outbursts. The side-closing Transylvanian Boogie is no more Hungarian-sounding than the album opener, but it’s definitely more of funky boogie and a Latin scorcher. Scott’s sax solo reigns supreme, but leaves both Eric and Gabor plenty of space to shine as well.

On the flipside, the fleshy Ziggidy Zag meanders all along its 6-mins funky groove, and the Rhodes takes centre stage for much of the tune. The album’s highlight is clearly the album-long (9-mins+) title track, which simmers and fries in the sun like it belonged on Santana’s Caravanserai album. Yesssss… THAT good!!!!! Tension-filled greatness, where McDo’s excellent congas-pounding interplays with Mason’s drumming in the middle section duet, before Edwards’ booming bass intervenes. Flabbergasting, really!!! In contrast, it’s a little too bad that the original album closes on the quiet (almost subdued) but poetic Poetry Man, thus merely failing to entice the listener to place the stylus back onto the wax’s outer edge, like a perfect album would.

But what’s even better nowadays is that the present album’s latest reissue is graced by two of the best bonus tracks around, one real track and very well in line with the musical direction of the album. So, you get 17 minutes extra of the same great album. The splendid Evening In The Country could also emanate from one of Santana’s best album (Caravanserai or Borboletta) and it is with absolute mastery that it gives an outstanding continuation to the original album. The longer alternate take version of Macho is one fantastic manner to indeed end the debate. IMHO, if you must own only one CTI album, Macho would probably edge out slightly Deodato’s debut