Customer Reviews

Best of Sea Level

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The sad thing about music is that some of the best artists go unheard or are forgotten as the years pass. I consider "The Best of Sea Level" essential for any Southern rock or fusion collection. Sea Level is an Allman Brothers 70's offshoot. Keyboardist Chuck Leavell (hence the band name~ C. Leavell) developed the group during Allman Brother soundchecks, when the group disbanded for a time, Sea Level took off. A few of us 70's folk may remember the funky minor hits "Shake a leg" & "That's your Secret". Memorable keyboard driven songs prevail throughout the album. The sound is largely derivative of funk and jazz that still sounds fresh today. The vocals are great and the music uplifting. The instrumental songs "Rain in Spain" and "20 Miles from Nowhere" serve as bookends to a comprehensive review of the band. The collection is generally solid. I could argue that "canine man" could've been left off for other songs but that would be a minor complaint. Originally released on the now Defunct Capricorn label which was the dominating label for many Southern Rock groups. Sea Level had a definite influence on groups like The Dixie Dregs. This album is a rare treat at a great price. It's a gamble that you can't lose.

Sea Level is truly one of the best rock,jaz,blues combo bands to ever come out of the south eastern U.S. The combination of great vocals and outstanding instrumentals make this a prize recording for any musical taste. The colaboration of Randall Bramblett and Chuck Leavell with their musical superiority and inventive styles are simply terrific. The pure instumentals on this CD rival anything out of rock and roll today. The problem for Sea Level was that they were years ahead of thier time, today no band could hold a candle to thier music! This CD should be a classic and a must for anyone.

Fusion is exactly what you've got here, but what exactly is getting fused? It's not pure jazz fusion, a mix of traditional jazz with rock. It's not just a country-rock and jazz fusion, and it's most definitely not a pure form of any. (But keep in mind, that as a best-of album, there is a lot of musical territory and a considerable time period to consider.) What you've got here is a fascinating mix of late 70s/early 80s country rock, prog rock, the kind of electric guitar fusion of Spyro Gyra and Jeff Lorber (spot-on citations in the other reviews), as well as country- and rock- and jazz-influenced keyboard leadership. The result is a great sound.

For a good, quick take on this album, give a quick listen to the available samples of "Rain in Spain," "That's Your Secret," and "Twenty Miles from Nowhere."

The album is a good mix of the jazzy, fusion instrumentals like "Tidal Wave" and "Rain in Spain." There are also the blues tunes, "King Grand" and "Nothing Matters But the Fever," opening very much like traditional blues ballads, but maturing very quickly into something different due to their pacing and orchestrations. Then you get something that's almost a pop song in the form of "That's Your Secret."

The Allman Brothers sound really comes out, right down to a guitar solo that could've been lifted from "Jessica" in the opening track, "Rain in Spain." You get that flavor again in "Storm Warning." It's distinctive and immediately evocative of the Allmans, but then the music shoots off in another direction, and it's clear you're not listening to an ABB release.

Me, I hear a lot of other things in here. There's an undercurrent of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, even some of the harmonies and orchestrations of Kansas from the Kansas, Masque and Song for America early days. Another review has mentioned the Dixie Dregs, and there is a lot of sound here ("Twenty Miles From Nowhere"). I'm also hearing some of the instrumental sounds of the more jazz-influenced work of contemporaries the Little River Band ("Living in a Dream"). I hear Steely Dan in the keyboard intro and orchestration throughout "Tidal Wave." I hear Delbert McClinton in the arrangement and delivery of "It Hurts to Want It So Bad." I hear vocal harmonies that sound a lot like some of the early Alan Parsons Project work; maybe it's just the production and studio approaches of the time.

I'm also catching the sound, especially in the keyboard orchestrations, of the Lyle Mays work of the late 70s/early 80s with the Pat Metheny Group, such as in "Storm Warning" (maybe even some Weather Report in there, too) and "Midnight Pass."

Bottom line: If you're looking for the sax- and horn-led, West Coast Spyro Gyra fusion, this one won't get you there. If you're looking for more electronic, faster-paced Jeff Lorber fusion such as in Water Sign and Wizard Island, parts will get you close but not all the way there. If you're a freak for the Allman Brothers, this one will both please and disappoint; a lot of the basic sound is there, but then it just takes off on its own, part country rock but also serious jazz diversion. But, if you enjoy musical fusion with a country rock foundation, plenty of electric solos, and both vocal harmonies and orchestrations representative of a wide spectrum of 70s and 80s art/prog-rock and jazz, then this is an excellent addition to your collection.

If like me you grew up listening to guys like Tom Scott, Jeff Lorber, Steely Dan, Spyrogyra, etc....or if you've at some point discovered this genre and time in music...BUY this. Chuck Leavell is the most visible - but hardly the only - notable artist that pounds out fusion tunes which are at once accessible, yet nowhere near the limp-wristed elevator music often played on "jazz" stations nowdays. There are a few tunes I am disappointed they didn't include here, but it still hits most of their highlights and is well worth the purchase.

The writing of Chuck Leavel combined with the talents of the band members makes this one of the best jazz/crossover groups of all time, from sounding like the Allman Brothers for 16 bars than drifting back into Chuck's intricate jazz melodies is a thing of beauty, if you like melodies over melodies played with prescision and beauty this is the band for you.

The Best of Sea Level is an excellant collection of the band's southern rock and jazz fusion sound. Founded by Chuck Leavell (Allman Brothers Band and now with the Stones) in the late 70's following a break up of ABB, the band's sound is a departure from Southern Rock and Roll, leaning more towards fusion jazz and Levell's fanastic piano and keyborad work. If you loved ABB's "Jessica" and "High Falls" you'll love Sea Level's sound.

I have been a fan of the Allman Brothers Band since high school, but distanced as I live in New Zealand (hey, we're more Southern than you! After Jessica and similar radio tracks brought them to my attention, I bought as many as I could find. Sea Level was, err, the next level. Chuck had expanded his pallette, brought in the great Jimmy Niall, and with Jaimoe and Lamar, created happy times for me.

I loved the long improvised excursions of the live Allmans, and I recognized and appreciated the extension into this realm by Sea Level. Now I understand I may be peculiar. I once played a much loved album to a girl I was infatuated with (an instrumental track by the late lamented Jade Warrior), and she turned around and asked me why weren't they singing a song????? BTW, a different girl had to remind me to turn the same album over after the same side kept playing three times when we were... distracted.

Like they say, If you have to be told, you'll never get it.

Pure music just takes you into another realm. Great musicians can communicate perfectly with their fingers, and don't need vocals to tell a story. Viz, "You Don't Love Me", by the Allmans - which (to me) tells the whole history of the South in one track. Anyway, the tracks on this album reach similar heights. You are taken on a journey by this music, you willingly surrender yourself to the twists and turns, and arrive safely, much satisfied. This is the good stuff. Anyone confused can retreat to Lynyrd Skynyrd or your local bar and muse on it.

If I had a nit to pick, I would have preferred a "Beginnings" CD, i.e. the first two albums in their entirety. I love all those tracks and am less enamoured of the latter part of the disc, maybe because I never had the LPs to have ingrained into my musical consciousness, for the past twenty years or so. And for God's sake, where is "Song For Amy"???? It is only 1 1/2 minutes of utter sublime musical perfection, which I often used to close off tapes I made for my favourite people. Now I have to buy the first two albums individually, which I can't afford to do yet, BUT I WILL!!!!

In music, there is the pop, the pap, and the good stuff, that nobody talks about. This is the real deal. Anyone with an ounce of genuine musical appreciation will love this CD.

If you like an eclectic blend of jazz, rock and funk then this is the CD you should buy. One of the best 'best of' albums ever produced. Stellar musicianship and expert composition. Most of the other reviews sum it up pretty well.

Sea Level is an amazing band, started off as an offshoot of the Allman Brothers with 3 of their bandmates (Chuck Leavell, Lamar Williams, and Jai Johanny Johanson) plus Jimmy Nalls. I have all their music on tape from 20+ years ago and getting this CD just brought back so many great songs to me. Any of their CDs has something worthwhile on it -- grab it if you can!

I tried this CD after becoming a fan of Chuck leavell. It is an interesting mix of Funk, latina, jazz, and rock. A great album overall though the various styles don't always blend.