Customer Reviews

Sea Level

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I dropped this CD in a car with an Infinity stereo and Wow! I heard Sea Level years ago but it didn't sound near this good. The digital remastering of the original recordings really brings this music to life. For those of you who like complicated jazz rhythms you should check this out. I personally don't know of any other music like Sea Level. It has a touch of Allman Brothers with jazz like Sting used to use. For me now I have to buy the rest of the remastered recordings.

This album blew me away 24 years ago and still holds up strong. The arrangements and musicianship are stellar. Flawless playing.

To me this sounds better than it ever has. I don't mean in an audiophile sense but, rather, in a purely musical one. These guys sure can play! I did buy three of their five recordings as they were released in the late seventies and early eighties. Obviously, as I bought more than one, I did enjoy the music all those years ago. As an older and, I hope, wiser person, I now appreciate better Sea Level's considerable talents.

On this record, as opposed to the later On the Edge, I prefer the instrumental jazz-rock-fusion cuts on side one (Rain in Spain, Tidal Wave) to the songs featuring vocals. The vocals are pretty ordinary - although the instrumental breaks in these songs are good. Side two starts of promisingly with Nothing Matters but the Fever and then continues with the excellent Chuck Leavell opus Grand Larceny. The Paul Simon penned Scarborough Fair features some cool and restrained piano work from Leavell. The album closes with the inoffensive but relatively nondescript instrumental Just a Good Feeling. There is, throughout the record, naturally, an element of The Allman Brothers.

Although this debut isn't their best, it remains an enjoyable Sea Level recording.

Classic southern rock jazz cd. What prevents it from being a 5 star is the vocal numbers that aren't quite as good as the instrumental numbers. The performances and production are fine. The previous member's dismissal of the Dixie Dregs is short sighted and downright WRONG!! I dare anyone to go see Steve Morse from the now defunct Dregs, live, and tell me he's shallow!! Steve is one of the greatest guitarists around.

Side One
1. Rain In Spain
2. Shake A Leg
3. Tidal Wave
4. Country Fool
Side Two
1. Nothing Matters But The Fever
2. Grand Larceny
3. Scarborough Fair
4. Just A Good Feeling

Why is this album out of print? Several years ago, I searched for it, and it had not been released on CD. Now, I search for it, and apparently, the CD was released and then pulled in the interim. Bummer.

With Chuck Leavell, Lamar Williams, and Jaimoe from the Allman Brothers, you know there was a lot of talent on board here. This was the first (of 5) LP's the band did in the late 1970's and early 1980's. This may be their best but all are worth seeking out. The style is a jazz fusion not unlike what John McLaughlin, Weather Report, Santana, Miles Davis and many others were doing at the time. A really strong set of songs here- 4.5 Stars.

Founded by keyboardist Chuck Leavell, and the powerful rhythm section of drummer Jai Johanny Johanson and bassist Lamar Williams, the trio was first heard opening shows for the Allman Brothers Band under the moniker We Three. Jaimoe of course was a founding member of the Allman Bros., while both Leavell and Williams joined up in 1972. Now I'm not in any way proposing either as prog rock: they played American southern rock, but with a particularly progressive flair; just check out the live rendition of the classic album-side long "In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed" off of the Wipe The Windows, Check The Oil, Dollar Gas album. It's a veritable fusion of rock, jazz and instrumental virtuosity of the type that made the Allman Bros. a legend, and southern rock good listening. Adding Jimmy Nalls on guitar, and adopting the name Sea Level, they signed a deal with Capricorn Records (who else?!) and released their first album in 1977. With a bright piano hammering over the infectiously brisk rhythm, "Rain In Spain" kicks off the half-instrumental album; it's an altogether unique mix of rock, blues and jazz. "Tidal Wave" continues the pace, with Leavell adding electric piano underneath Nalls exceptionally clean and crisp guitar. The vocal tracks are for the most part throwaway boogie rock, but the lengthy "Nothing Matters But The Fever" reveals the dark edge of something a little deeper. With the rhythm section of Jaimoe and Williams always swinging underneath, both "Grand Larceny" and a cover of Paul Simon's "Scarborough Fair" conclude the album's instrumental fusion. The album's exceptional production was courtesy Stewart Levine, who also lent similar services to the comparatively shallow Dixie Dregs at the time. The album would reach No. 43 in the US charts. Later in the year, the band swell to a septet and would release a second album, with a sharper focus on commerciality; the jazzy fusion was restricted to just a couple of tracks. The band would release three more albums, the funky electric edge of 1978's On The Edge a standout, until finally washing out to sea in 1980.