Album Reviews

Leave it to Pure Pleasure to unearth great, but obscure titles like this, but more importantly, kudos to the label for having the nerve to put their money where their eclectic musical tastes reside and release it! And this one’s a double, making the enterprise twice as risky.

Georgie Fame (born Clive Powell) is better known and more highly revered in the UK than he is in America, though older Anglophile rock fans might remember his 1965 hit single “Yeh Yeh” that made its way here in Beatlemania’s flotsam.

In 1995 he collaborated with Van Morrison on the album How Long Has This Been Going On? (Verve 529136-1 LP) recorded live at the famed UK jazz club Ronnie Scott’s (and engineered and mixed by his son Tristan).

Fame served as Van’s musical director for a spell and played organ on many of his ‘80s albums as well as playing in his youth with everyone from Count Basie, to Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochrane and later was a founding member of ex-Rolling Stone bassist Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings.

This 1990 album produced for the Go Jazz label by multi-talented, multi-tasker producer Ben Sidran (played on Steve Miller’s epoch Children of the Future when Boz Scaggs was in the band, was sideman for the Stones, Clapton, etc), who like Fame, moves comfortably between rock, jazz, blues and R&B, brings old school production methods to a modern recording.

All takes are live in the studio, with everyone actually playing at the same time (can you believe it?) and recorded and mixed all-analog by James Farber at New York’s no longer with us Skyline Studios.

The musical vibe is an amalgam of jazz/blues/funk and hipster. In other words, you could say “Daddy-O” at the session and you wouldn’t get laughed at or shot. Mostly it’s cover versions of tunes by or made famous by the likes of Louis Jordan, Willie Dixon, Ray Charles, Mose Allison, Van Morrison, Peggy Lee and LH&R (Lambert, Hendricks and Ross).

How do you find guys who can actually play live in the studio? New York is crawling with them or at least was back in 1990. Sidran called upon the likes of smooth jazz guitarist Robben Ford, smooth jazz sax player Bob Malach, Letterman band member bassist Will Lee, and familiar names (from among other places, Paul Simon assemblages) keyboardist Richard Tee, drummer Steve Gadd. Also Ralph MacDonald and Hugh McCracken, both of whom played on many great ‘60s and ‘70s studio sessions on Atlantic and other labels, back when labels actually had studios and called sessions (sigh).

Guest stars include Van Morrison (“Moondance”), Boz Scaggs (“It Should Have Been Me”) and veteran jazz vocalist Jon Hendricks (“Little Pony”— written by Hendricks and Neal Hefti), but the real star appropriately enough is Fame who’s smooth, smoky voice oversees every easy flowing tune. Fame’s “Cat’s Eyes” wouldn’t be out of place on a Steely Dan album.

There’s not a less than enjoyable number on the 13 tune set, though Tee’s electric piano sound (same as on Paul Simon’s One Trick Pony album Tee also played on)—a Roland or Yamaha—dates the sound somewhat. Also, not everyone will appreciate the smooth/jazz blues feel, though most of it doesn’t veer further off course than a good Dan arrangement.

While you won’t confuse the audio with an airy, open 1960’s vintage, live in the studio set, the sound is quite good, as one would expect from a Farber recording and mix.

Not a jazz essential by any means, but this relaxed, great sounding, everyone’s-playing-and-singing-live-in-the-studio double set offers plenty of rewards both musically and sonically. Thanks to Pure Pleasure for making us aware of it and issuing it on double 180g vinyl cut from the analog tapes!