Fred Wesley new Album, featuring Bobby Byrd, Vicky Anderson, Bernie Worrell, Bootsy Collins, Gary "Mudbone" Cooper & Karl Denson

An album produced by Bootsy Collins after the Horny Horn's manner.

This is pretty much a straight-up jazz album, playing a number of covers. It's enjoyable for what it is, but it's not funk. The bass player plays an acoustic standup,which sounds pretty cool. The drummer, Bruno Carr, died after this recording
was made. This came out on a tiny label and may be hard to find. The most enjoyable tracks are "Sandu", a songwith a funky latin beat to

 

go with Fred's solos; and "La Bossa" a cool jazz track with hot t-bone blowing. I'd recom- mend this for diehard fans of Fred who also enjoy stripped-down, acoustic jazz arrangements.

Unlike most of Fred Wesley's albums, this one has more of a funky feel to it, and less of a jazz presence. The album's title, Amalgamation, suggests a wide
range of styles here, and it shows. Working with the usual Minor Music musicians, Fred creates a lot of fun. The album kicks off with the long jazzy piece "No One"
featuring a number of Fred solos and solid bass from Dwayne Dolphin, as well as a number of solos from the other band members. It serves as a good introduction
and stretching-out piece for the album. "Peace Power" showcases Dolphin once again, who this time gets funky. It's an upbeat number that features a number of
classic funk elements: driving keyboards, hiccuping horns, etc.

"Comme Ci, Comme Ca", Fred Wesley's second outing on the Antilles label falls much into the same boat as his first album for the label New Friends. It's
clearly a straight up jazz outing. The tunes sound to be a mix of originals and standards - but I can't really say for sure if there are any originals - cause no writing
credits were given in the packaging. As on New Friends, Maceo Parker is featured on several tunes, and he uses basically the same rhythm section, except that
pianist Geri Allen is replaced by Peter Madsen. Highlights of the album for me are "Just Like That" a bluesy track which leans towards the funky side of thangs and the interesting interpretation of the standard
"On Green Dolphin Street". For a song that's been played SO MANY TIMES - the excellent horn arrangment provides
much needed interest, which keeps this from sounding like the same old shit.

It's also a trip to hear Maceo to blow on a jazz standard like this. Even Maceo's 'jazz'
albums have large doses of blues and soul flavor injected in them, so it's interesting to hear him blow on a standard fake book tune like "On Green Dolphin Street".
Vocalist Teresa Carroll (who interestingly enough had writing credits on Fred's first album on Antilles) appears on "This One Is For You" and the cover of Charlie
Parker's classic "Moose The Mooch". Teresa has a strong voice and sounds good, but some of her phrasing in "This One Is For You" makes me wonder if she's
done a lot of showtunes? (just a totally random thought). It's interesting to hear a vocal

version of "Moose The Mooch" which I've only heard as an instrumental before. It's a beast of a melody to sing, and she does a good job of handling it. But while Fred's performances are excellent as are those of some of the other musicians on this album, I think overall the album is good at best. My main complaint is the drums - I just don't think Bill Stewart swings hard enough that straight ahead jazz fans would really dig it. And overall - the music on this album is nothing new. This kind of jazz music has been done over and over for more than thirty years.

Peter Madsen's piano work is excellent and gives it a more modern jazz feel - as do the brilliant horn arrangements, but this album is good jazz not excellent
jazz or innovative new music as Fred did with funk music during his time with James Brown and P-Funk.

Swing & Be Funky documents a live performance supporting Fred Wesley's two jazz solo albums. The disc opens up with "For The Elders", one of my
favorite tracks on Fred's New Friends album. Unfortunately, this rendition is a tiresome 14 minutes long, cause everybody and their mother's uncle gets a solo.
Though it has a great dynamic build up at the end of the tune I find myself wishing I had a cd with the interpretation provided by Fred with Maceo and his band when I saw them play this live in 1991 - which makes the performance here look comparatively un-inspired. Next tune is "Just Like That" which shows the weak link Fred
has in his rhythm section. This Maceo tune is definitely not done justice by drummer Bruce Cox who sounds alright on the jazzier numbers, but proves here that he can barely hold a mildly funky groove if this is a significant projection of his talent. "On Green Dolphin

But overall - I'd only buy this album if you're a die-hard Fred Wesley fan, you have a bunch of extraneous gift certificates, or you were completely blown away by his solo releases on Antilles.
Then again, "Bop To The Boogie" is funkier than anything on either of those albums - and since it's almost 9 minutes long - you're getting more funk per minute than on either of his previous jazz albums. :)

"D-Cup and Up" is only on the CD version of the release. This was Fred Wesley's first solo release since his JB's/Horny Horns days, and the first in his name
only. Like the Maceo Parker albums released about the same time on the same label (Minor Music), these albums are mostly jazz. There are some funk or pop
explorations here or there, but there are mostly a great number of jazz covers and some originals. The albums serve as a platform for Fred as a soloist, and in that

regard they're excellent. As something that would interest a funk fan, they're much less interesting.This album starts off with a lively Duke Ellington piece, "Rockin' In Rhythm". "Honey Love" treats us to Fred's vocals around an almost latin beat. "Bright Mississippi" is a fairly straight Monk interpretaion. "Love We Had..." is a more standard torch singer tune that features a great solo from Fred. "For The Elders" is a
somewhat more abstract and loose jazz exploration, almost free jazz. "Plenty, Plenty Soul" is a big orchestra-sounding piece, a smooth and mellow groove. "Blue

Monk" is a great take on the classic. "Peace Fugue" is of course a cover of his own Horny Horns tune, done with acoustic bass. "Eyes So Beautiful" is another torch  singer piece, once again showcasing Fred. "Birks Works" is another mellow jazz exploration.

This album was originally a promo-only item from Curtom Records back in 1980, although the 12" of the title track enjoyed some popularity back then. The
whole thing was released in 1993 on the Back Black label, and the end product is a lot of fun. Basically, it's a dance record from beginning to end, staying very funky
but dipping into disco on several occasions. The album is interesting because the only horn heard is Fred's 'bone, and he also sings lead on most of the tunes. It's
definitely worth a listen if you're a fan of Fred's and you prefer his work funky.