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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Tough to Find. Get Ready to Be Transported to a Funkier Time., December 3, 2006
All right, the time was the mid-70s, and the world was cool. None of this war stuff, just some groovy tunes emanating from the '60s. Ramsey played off of them, and he knew who to hook up with at the time.
Who were these cool cats? How about Maurice and Verdine White of Earth, Wind, and Fire? How about Charles Stepney? How about Derf Reklaw Raheem, who plays flute on this CD (on "Aufu Oodu")? How about some slick production by Teo Macero and the hep cats at CBS Records before the House of Sony took it over? Some mighty groovy times. Stevie was still cuttin' records, and all was cool and funky.
Who didn't dig "Brazilica" at that time? You'll find some definite EW&F vocals ("Tang") on that tune - well constructed with a steady beat. It's a study in jazz orchestration with the strings employed. What a groovy bass line! Nice, with Ron Harris on bass!
The rest of the CD is lavishly produced. This was the last one made of that genre by Ramsey and Crew. After that, well, I guess it was the Reagan Years. (As one friend pointed out, "The day the music died.") Enough said on that.
This CD was only available as a Japanese import for the longest time - expensive, too. Cut back the crud of thirty years of time, and relive some magical moments with Ramsey and the hep cat crew of EW&F and friends.
Salongo, Ramsey!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Vintage Ramsey, April 4, 2009
I bought 'Salongo' back in '76 when I was only 15 yrs old. The music on this cd still permeates like sounds from the masters. Who can forget the vibrant tones of 'Brazilica', and the inspiring melodies of 'Nicole'. My favorite track on the cd is 'Seventh Fold', as Charles Stepney's influence is all over this track (Very Dynamic).
If this cd was a new release for 2009, I think it would transcend the world of jazz as it stands today. From the outrageous album cover, augmented with some of the best music compositions of times past Ramsey Lewis' 'Salongo' is one for the archives. A true gem. I had been waiting for this to be rereleased, and I snatched it up immediately, you should too.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Ramsey On The Front Line, September 12, 2009
You'll get little argument from me if you said that 1976 was a pioneering year for funk,in all of it's forms. It's also the year that marked a turning point for Ramsey Lewis. As it turns out this is the last featuring the Sun Goddess era band and as far as everyone involved was concerned,from Ramsey to Maurice White to Charles Stepney this was by far the strongest efforts of the trilogy this......musical cooperate (band,producers,arrangers) made next to the classic Don't It Feel Good. The most important thing is how very different this is from it's predecessor. As a matter of fact the focal point isn't even at all the same. Where heavily melodic rhythms and singable funk was a strong priority with Don't It Feel Good,this album truly epidomized the concepts of afro-latin polyrhythms,harmonic complexities and huge dynamics that EWF were moving into roughly around the same time. Now in terms of the music nothing could represent the united funk era and what I've called "people music" better than this,even if only one of the songs has any vocals at all. In this case the music says all it needs to say. The idea of pairing the fanfaring horns with this fast paced afro-latin rhythm on "Slick" lets off at least as much tension as it creates,which really shows how much the Ramsey and the musicians backing him up were on the same musical plane here. "Aufo Oodu" well is just a brilliant example of the kind of heavy,slow grinding funk found within all of Ramsey's albums from the mid 70's. Again there is a prominant afrocentricity to the song as well,in keeping with the musical conceptualization. Generally speaking there are only two real soft numbers here.One is the brief "Rubato",which likewise is mildly classically inclined and performed primarily on the piano alone and "Nicole",a more progressive jazz cut that builds just a tiny bit back and forth for tension to gentleness.Probably a tune that will be very enjoyable to fans of more improvisational forms of jazz of the period. The title track,taken from an African phrase meaning "We Come Together To Create Something Beautiful Out Of Love" couldn't be anymore appropriate as it showcases a similar kind of upbeat,celebratory groove that EWF were offering up circa Spirit. One of the major highlites here has to be "Brazilica",a tune that pulls everything together from the fast paced afro jazz to...well the EWF styled funk that was inspired by the same forms. Also carried so heavily by Ron Harris's more than vocal basslines it's really no surprise;the stop n' start arrangment is one of the perfect breakbeats of Ramsey's whole career. The ending track "Seventh Fold" is DEFINATELY in the progressive funk genre-as if to say the whole genre isn't progressive as is. But this speaks more of the keyed up dynamics and drama here rather than any spliting heirs. The song is just an incredible 7+ minut-er. The remastering Wounded Bird gave this CD is truly excellent and luckily this is one of a select few Ramsey Lewis albums (all from the 70's I may add) that didn't have one throwaway song on it.EVERYTHING is significant,funky and provocative and if that's the kind of thing you are into your right at home with this one.
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is one of Ramsey Lewis' 
