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Growing up in Los Angeles during the early 1970s, my band played the homecoming dance 1974, and we were a horn band playing a lot of Tower of Power, Chicago etc. But the music I most admired at the time was Tom Scott's LA Express, who played down the street at The Baked Potato.
They say the music of your adolescence speaks most sentimental at older age, and they're right. Recently re-listening on CD to all the old records we listened to, this one's my favorite. The main reason: it's like sitting front row at the Baked. Complete with drum solo on the last tune of the set, it's like a burning live show at the famed intimate Jazz club. Better. Drummer Guerin is simply at his peak best in these studio performances. That up-beat high-hat stuff, his trademark, never sounded better (thanks to Scott's talented production ear, one of the most musical producers-arrangers to ever man the boards-etc., as exemplified on Joni Mitchell's Court & Spark).
Because the real thing that was happening at the time was: Fender Rhodes. The "West Coast Sound" depended upon it. There were many ways (tones, ranges, memorable figures etc.) the Rhodes was being used at the time and most were regarded as innovative, or at least "innovative sounding" - spacey-sounding studio production was being discovered-exploited, the disco-space-cadet was in fashion.
As it turned out, this record showcases many of the various Rhodes sounds of that period, Nash being a fine example of combining the Gospel flair of Preston with Herbie+ Jazz chops. And more. Nash is literally all over the instrument: I remember seeing him do live the famous top-off fingers dampening the tines while playing, which results a unique staccatto sound. All the funky Rhodes parts here on Tom's groovy little Pop-Jazz figures become immediate classics, while Nash's solos friggin soar well beyond the call of duty. Indeed many of the solos on this record are classics, as in the written out kind, ala Larry Carlton's solos on Steely Dan's Royal Scam. Hummable solos is about the best compliment I can think of given to a Jazz musician.
Ditto on choice of master guitar bluesman Robben Ford. Again with extra thanks to the engineering-mixing, Robben's parts stand out with a verve and conviction; no rhythm figure is too small. Simple funk grooves are given meticulous treatment. And bassist Max Bennett seems to be having the most fun, bringing an almost Led Zepplin-ish feeling to some of the tunes that experiment the most with Jazz-Rock fusion style (what some today would refer to as Acid-Jazz).
Can't pick any favs. Because every single cut on this record freakin burns. Awesome. Simple. Burnin Jazz-Funk-Pop fusion, done in the studio live with only a couple dubs, making it end up sounding like a live freaking Jazz festival show with virtuosos. Recorded so cleanly, you can hear the 70s mixer, the sound of a real, dry Rhodes with stereo effect only. Oh, the tones! Burnin Blues-Jazz-Rock guitarist through a Mesa Boogie. Tom with his Lyricon. Live, raw drum sound. Nothing like it.
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