GABOR SZABO — Macho (review)

Album · 1975 · Funk Jazz

4/5 · 2024-09-17
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.