FunkFreak75 Larry's first album as a band leader since he went off to work with Tony Williams and John McLaughlin--and it's good one: he obviously had a lot of ideas to get out of his system.

1. "Saudia" (4:30) a song that opens up with shadows of the music Larry heard and participated in while working with Tony Williams and John McLaughlin for the 1969 album, Emergency! There's some real regal beauty in this rather simple, laid-back arrangement (even though Larry's initial Hammond work sounds a bit like the Sunday church organist). Still, there are at least two drummers operating (rather quietly) as well as any number of percussionists. It's the saxophones that are missing. (James Blood Ulmer's guitar work is very odd: mixed high but fairly inactive). The bass line is rather simple. (9/10)

2. "Alive" (2:00) two (or three) drummers and multiple percussionists lay down some vicious rhythm over which Larry issues forth some fairly-sedate, nearly-church organ. (4.5/5)

3. "Hello Your Quietness (Islands)" (10:17) is this where Freddie Hubbard got "Little Sunflower"? There's definitely a lot of the SANTANA effect going on on this album. The craziness of the multiple woodwinds, cello, and, of course, Hammond organ, are matched and balanced out by the calm serenity offered from the expansive rhythm section. Amazing balance! And there's even tons of melody! (18.75/20)

4. "Sunshine Fly Away" (8:50) a very solid and well-balanced opening groove immediately established from the drums, percussionists, and bass. The woodwinds and cello here are surprisingly supportive, laying back in the background, so Larry can have the spotlight all to himself. Starting around 2:00 a tenor sax starts to wiggle his way to the front. The melodies are fairly consistent--even when Larry is expressing a new one beneath Dennis Mourouse's lead. The two leads get a little crazy with their play while everybody beneath just remains calm and in control. This seems as if it would be quite a feat! The crazy sounds Larry is getting out of his Hammond are at times quite abrasive and spacey. All the while the sax settles down, occasionally going off on some tangent, until the rhythmatists back off and leave the bass and cello player quite on their own. The song fades out while Diedre is finishing her solo. (18/20)

5. "Khalid of Space, Part Two (Welcome)" (12:41) a complicated multi-themed rhythm track tries to establish itself straight out of the blocks, but the cacophony of 30 infantile monkeys all screaming for attention at once rather distracts (detracts?) from the rhythm fusing into something whole and "finished." The ensuing solos are all great--even over the rather annoying downbeat honks in eighth minute; it just feels as if all of these guys--especially those working out of or above the rhythm section--are having a great time. Too bad that rhythm track never got tweaked into perfection: it's as if they were trying to be funky but were side-tracked by their bass player(s) obsession with two note bursts. Man, Dierdre Johnson can play a mean cello! (22.5/25)

Total Time 38:18

Obviously, Larry hung around with a different crowd of musicians than his NewYork City compatriots with whom he worked in the late 60s. Other than James Blood Ulmer and Pharoah Sanders, I'd never heard of any of these collaborators, but I appreciate how easily and willingly they seem to work together. A great album that would be very fun to have watched live. Also, has anyone played a more dynamic Hammond than Larry? If so, I'd love to have the reference.

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of Jazz-Rock Fusion--one that mixes the rhythmic flow of Santana with the crazed experimentation of Sun Ra and Ornette Coleman.

FunkFreak75 Another obscure album that I've only recently discovered from my favorite keyboard artist from the 1970s (Emergency!, Love Devotion Surrender, Venusian Summer) issues his second "Fuel" album.

1. "Moonwalk" (5:00) a funky jam that feels more Parliamentary and SANTANA-like than RTF--especially with the intermittent choral vocals. Larry's sound palette feels similar to some of the work on Lenny White's Venusian Summer--with Ray Gomez and Larry Coryell dueling in the background and he and Julius Brockington layering the front with their multiple keyboards. This leads to the big question of Who is Julius Brockington and why haven't we ever heard of him (before and since)? I love Larry's exploration of the sound possibilities of the low-ends of his instruments' sounds. (9.25/10)

2. "Startripper" (4:44) flowery music similar to something that would be backing Minnie Ripperton or even Steely Dan. I really like it--especially for the wonderfully playful work of the two keyboard players and rhythm and lead guitar work of Ray Gomez and Larry Coryell as well as the very engaging and melodic Latin-lite rhythm foundation. I love the presence and contribution of the flute. I love this song! It's like joy incarnate! (10/10)

3. "Sticky Wicket" (9:26) once again the listener finds itself in more of a funk/R&B range of bands like SLY & THE FAMILY STONE, PARLIAMENT, or even the AVERAGE WHITE BAND. Great performances from the drums, bass, Larry (Young), and Larry (Coryell). Not a big fan of the intermittent infusion of choral vocals to say "Sticky Wicket", but I do like the Stevie Wonder-like thickness and excellent interplay of all of the musicians. Who are these two: drummer Jim Allington and bassist David Eubanks? They're both really good! (17.875/20)

4. "Flytime" (4:50) a gentler but very much Parliamentarian funk infused with some AVERAGE WHITE BAND melodic sense. Again, I am so impressed with the cohesion of this lineup of musicians: they all seem so well-invested/attentive to Larry's charts (or intentions, if that was the case). (9/10)

5. "Spaceball" (5:07) with an introduction of male voices doing doggy "bow wow"s and Paula West performing her best quick orgasm vocal, and then the invitation to the "spaceball" party who could turn this one down?! Good funk. (8.66667/10)

6. "Message from Mars" (7:29) Solid, fully-formed, multi-level jazz rock fusion on the level of any of Chick Corea's RETURN TO FOREVER songs (and, I feel pretty sure, modeled after such). Great guitar work from both Ray Gomez and Larry Coryell as well as the organ, bass, drums and rhythm guitars. Really tightly performed. Who is Julius Brockington? Who is this David Eubanks? What ever happened to Jim Allington? (14.25/15)

7. "I'm Aware of You" (5:09) funky but not nearly as funk-oriented as much of the other stuff, this one has a more serious, true Jazz-Rock Fusion direction in its core--closer to Steely Dan than Parliament, Chicago than Stevie Wonder. Nice work from the horns and drums, though, once again, the entire band is so tight. How did they achieve this? Hours of practice or just good food and great comaraderie? (9/10)

Total Time 41:45

Throughout the entire listening to this album I kept wondering where Larry's band members came from and why I've never heard of any of these excellent musicians, but more, I kept thinking what a far superior album this is to any of Larry Coryell's Eleventh House efforts: the collaborative inputs and song compositions are way better across the board. Too bad Mr. Coryell couldn't have found more parties like the Fuel to participate in.

That Larry Young was allowed to imbue each and every one of his collaborators with such energy and fuel to perform at their most creative selves while still working within the team scape is something that comes through quite remarkable from every one of these songs: everybody was feeling the freedom and confidence to fly--and amazing is the job they did!

A/five stars; a definite masterpiece of Jazz-Rock Fusion that has somehow been hidden in obscurity.

Mssr_Renard I initially gave this album 3,5* but am inclined to give it a 4*-rating and I want to explain why.

At first I thought this album was rather tame, and because I like blues and hard rock, I was used to growling Hammonds (Uriah Heep for instance). I already was familiar with jazz-organ through Soulive, but found that band a bit on the tame side aswell.

But I was fooled. Although the guitar and hammond are clean (no effects) they are not tame. The quartet featured here know how to swing and play a tight and infectious groove. Of course if you have Evin Jones, here the sole rhythmsection, you know you've got a groove going on.

The three soloists (Young, Green and Rivers) are from different worlds but here they play the blues. Four compositions by Young and one composition by Green. Green's Plaza de Toros is in my opinion the best composition on this record, and the organ-solo seems to go on forever, wich is great, because I cannot get enough of this song.

Although Green, Young and Rivers play very well and have outstanding solos the most prominent player here must be Elvin. His cymbal work is simply marvelous. The bell on this ride-cymbal is what makes this album so addictive.

I have no idea if this line-up is featured on any other record (I'll have to look into it), but this quartet is one-of-a-kind and to my recollection only Soulive (with Sam Kininger on saxophone) have done something similar.

Now I have the task to dig more deep into Young's discography and while at it, I can dig deeper into Green's discography aswell.

Steve Wyzard TAKE A TRIP

"One thing about Larry Young is that he really is an organist. He knows that instrument, and furthermore, unlike some organ players in jazz, Larry never gets in your way. On the contrary, he keeps building in and around what you are doing while always listening so that his comping is always a great help." Mother Ship is a miraculous album, and due to its posthumous release has been continually underrated and underplayed. The above quote, from Grant Green (who does not play on Mother Ship) comes from this album's liner notes, which also take pains to portray Young as a Coltrane acolyte. That might be overselling the issue just a bit, but when you hear this album, you'll understand how the connection has been made.

Of course, the real problem with Mother Ship's reputation is that it will always live in the shadow of Young's Unity album, which the all-powerful consensus has determined is Larry's greatest. It's a real temptation to compare the two albums due to their common instrumentation: organ / trumpet / tenor sax / drums. Yet on Mother Ship, Lee Morgan's trumpet performance is much freer than anything else you've heard him play. Tenorist Herbert Morgan (no relation) and drummer Eddie Gladden are both compatriots of Young's from the Newark, NJ area. While far lesser-known than the legends who performed on Unity, both play up a storm on this album.

While a number of Blue Note's "LT-series" records are almost compilations of "odds and ends" from various sessions, Mother Ship is a full 41-minute album recorded in one day in 1969. The ground-breaking "Mother Ship", the bluesy riffing of "Street Scene", the 3-part long lines of "Visions", the epic (12:51) "Trip Merchant", and the sassy samba of "Love Drops" were all composed by Larry Young. If there's one extremely slight letdown to this album, it's the track sequencing. Whoever decided to follow up the boundary-pushing powerful chords and explosions of sound in "Trip Merchant" with the playful "Love Drops" was just being disrespectful. Wait until you hear Larry's and Lee's lengthy, mind-blowing solos on this track. Elsewhere Herbert Morgan may occasionally remind you of the one-and-only Wayne Shorter.

After Mother Ship, Young would leave Blue Note and go on to the Tony Williams Lifetime, the career move for which he's best-known today. Sadly, neither he nor Lee Morgan would live to see this album's release in 1980. While it's far less easy to find a copy of Mother Ship these days, I strongly urge anyone with an interest in Larry Young to pick this album up. The performances and compositions cry out for acclaim and deserve to be just as well-known as those on Unity.

Rokukai Larry Young continues to push the envelope on this hot piece of avantprogfunkjazz. For those of you who aren't acquainted with Young's work, he's been described as "the Coltrane of the organ" high praise indeed. Starting as a Jimmy Smith follower, he slowly began branching further into the sonic unknown, becoming a free and avant-jazz pioneer. His albums in the mid sixties are difficult, rewarding, challenging listens that established the Hammond B-3 as a true force in the avant game. He further cemented his legacy on Bitches Brew and in Lifetime, a trio with John McLaughlin and Tony Williams.

Fuel, on the other hand, is not difficult to listen to. At least for me. Larry never ran with the in-crowd, and in the '70's he began hanging with fringe musicians, young hungry artists willing to challenge the boundaries of sonic enjoyment. Larry was turned on and influenced by the psychedelic and funk/soul/r&b sounds of the day, and incorporates them into his avant-funk-jazz hybrid.

It's definitely not the most polished funkjazz I've heard, but man does Larry sound progressive in spots. On "I Ching (Book of Changes)" and "New York Electric Street Music" you'd swear Rick Wakeman was playing. Mini Moog, Clavinet, B-3, Piano--Young plays it all. (Keep and ear out for Larry Coryell, who makes a "special appearance")

The appeal of the album lies with Young's ability to stay on the fringes of popular jazz. He's definitely less subdued among his organ contemporaries, like Don Patterson, Jack McDuff, John Patton, Reuben Wilson, Jimmy Smith et al, and the funk here is true. Young refuses to play anything straight, and for me that equals a refreshing and satisfying album. I've been playing this record at parties for years and I always get the "What's that Great Music?" line.

4+ on my scale.