Energy

Fourplay | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 23, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Heads Up
• ASIN: B001D94L3Y
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #30,406 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

From the Artist

"I always feel a special energy coming from all four corners of this group," says James, who originally came up with the album title. "This combination of passion and intensity is what keeps me coming back for more. The energy is multiplied by a factor of four."

"The title is a reflection of the various moods captured in the tracks," East adds. "Whether romantic or sophisticated, upbeat or mellow, each player brings his own unique energy to the music. That combination of energies reflects what this album is all about."

Product Description

According to some very basic laws of nature, when powerful forces come together, some form of energy is created - usually in large amounts. In music, the laws of interaction are no different. When keyboardist Bob James, bassist Nathan East, guitarist Larry Carlton and drummer Harvey Mason come together as Fourplay, the result is Energy.

Energy grafts a variety of sounds - R&B, pop, African and more - to Fourplay's unwavering jazz foundations. In addition to vocals by East - a charter member since the band's inception in 1990 - the album also features a vocal track by Esperanza Spalding, the upright bassist, composer and vocalist.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars First impressions not inspiring, October 10, 2008

By 

G. Meredith (Erie, PA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Energy (Audio CD)

I purchased this CD without hearing anything on it based on the potential of the musicians that form this group. Their past music has always been very good and pleasant. This CD in my opinion doesn't match their past productions when it comes to the "groove factor", for a lack of a better term. Although this CD shows great musicianship and recording quality, while I was listening it began to remind me of the music I hear in the background at a restaurant. A little too mellow and uninspiring in my opinion. Maybe this is one of those CD's that grow on you over time but again I do not find it very exciting at this point. This is just my opinion of course and you my totally enjoy it upon your first listen.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another good album from a consistently good band, December 2, 2008

By 

Olukayode Balogun (Leeds, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Energy (Audio CD)

Fourplay have done really well. Of the plethora of jazz "super groups" that were formed back in the early 90s - and I won't name any names - this one seems to be the only one still standing. Or at least, the only one still putting out consistently decent music, after 17 years and a dozen or so albums.

Bob James (keyboards), Larry Carlton (guitar), Nathan East (bass & vocals) and Harvey Mason (drums) are all well known and respected in their respective fields and have all had, and still have, successful solo careers. Together, I think they're something pretty special. This album is pretty much what I expected from them, which is not a bad thing, and in places, has touches of the old-school sound effects James used to employ on his albums back in the the 70s and 80s. For example, the whistling sounds on "The Whistler". Again, not a bad thing.

I really wanted to be able to give the album five stars but "Cape Town" and "Prelude For Lovers" marred my overall enjoyment of it. I found the beats - they sounded way too mechanical to be real drums - on the former song too clunky and I enjoy East much more when he provides vocal effects, which he does brilliantly on the album closer "Sebastian", than when he actually sings, as he does on "Cape Town" - with members of his family providing backing vocals, apparently. Actually, now I look a bit more closely, "Cape Town" is produced and arranged by Fourplay and Marcel East (Nathan's son, presumably), and that explains a lot. Marcel also takes responsibility for additional programming, percussion, engineering, keyboards & guitar on the song. I'm thinking maybe it should have gone on Marcel East's album.

The latter song features Esperanza Spalding on vocals and I know she's getting a lot of buzz at the minute but her vocals did nothing for me. It's quite possible that I just didn't like the song. I will be checking out Spalding's recent album (Esperanza) though, as it's been getting a lot of praise from people who know what they're talking about. I'm just hoping that I'll enjoy her bass playing and songwriting more than her singing.

But back to Fourplay and this CD. Standout tracks for me include the album opener, the jaunty "Fortune Teller" (written by Nathan East, Bob James & Jeff Babko); "Look Both Ways" (Bob James), which surprised me with its urgency, energy and vitality, as I always found Fourplay to be known for a more laid back sound; and the aforementioned "Sebastian" (also written by James).

All in all though, a pretty decent album.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Its ok, November 12, 2008

By 

M. R. Thode (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Energy (Audio CD)

Really nothing too different from what they have done before....good dinner music but not as listenable as the fist three albums IMHO. Superb recording quality if you want to sit down and appreciate you HiFi. I still miss Lee Ritenour though - felt like he spiced up the music abit more (still think Larry is great though).