LIFE & TIMES

This album came out in 1976 when a lot of other fusion musicians had sold out and started producing "fuzak", but not Cobham. This album is just as innovative and energetic as anything that came out in the early 70s. For Cobham, this is a small band, but an extremely talented one. Doug Rauch and George Duke in particular are often overlooked and underrated players. Duke can hold his own with any of the 70s jazz greats like Corea and Hancock, and is a lot better at playing hard funk than they are. Duke is also better at manipulating the sounds on his synthesizer in real time. He displays a lot of knowledge and intuition on this difficult instrument. This album also shows off what a sophisticated writer and arranger Cobham was becoming.

Side one opens with some typical Cobham style high energy jazz rock. The song Life and Times features a complicated melody similar to Zappa or Corea and 29 is driven by a rapid montuno like figure from Duke. On Siesta things change up a bit. This song is a sophisticated jazz ballad with unusual twists and turns and features a small chamber quintet. The mini-orchestral arrangements on this tune are somewhat similar to Gil Evans or 60s Hancock. Finally the side closes with a tribute to Oakland CA called East Bay. This song is hard and funky like the tough blue collar city it is dedicated to. George Duke plays a great Fender Rhodes solo on this one.

Side two opens with more high energy fusion, this time with a melody similar to Cobham's days with Mahavishnu. After this comes another change of pace with a really nice ballad called Song for a Friend. This song is a beautiful piece of spacey lounge jazz that features excellent relaxed solos from Duke and Schofield. It has an almost ambient texture similar to some of Eno's work and would have made a great selection for a 90s acid jazz DJ to play. Cobham brings back the funk on On a Natural High and closes out the album peacefully with a reprise of For a Friend, this time with a longer solo from Schofield.

If you like 70s jazz fusion, it doesn't get much better than this.

3.5 stars. After Cobham's debut "Spectrum" he made two records with John Abercrombie on guitar that were more in the Jazz realm. I do not have his next one from 1975 called "The Funky Thide Of Things" but Abercrombie is replaced by John Scofield on guitar, but the Brecker brothers returned. That is where Billy goes more into a funk direction. "Life & Times" is another change as the Breckers are not on this one, and while we do get some bass clarinet the blasting horns are gone.

So a change in the dynamics for sure and it's so cool to hear Doug Rauch from SANTANA on bass and George Duke back on keyboards. Of course there was that spin off band THE BILLY COBHAM/ GEORGE DUKE BAND that released an album in 1976 with Alphonso Johnson on bass and John Scofield on guitar. Released the same year as "Life & Times" by the way. While there are aspects of this record that I like better than "Total Eclipse" I just feel that overall it's a step down so the 3.5 star rating. It's been given 4 stars by the previous reviewer who knows way more than I do about Jazz so there's that.

Hit and miss for me, it just doesn't feel like a 4 star record in my music world. I'm thankful for the energy on this one though with several tracks bringing the heat.

Bulgarian keyboard virtuoso/composer Milcho Leviev is gone but Billy's demands of his support crew remain incredibly high, his compositions still quite sophisticated. I was really looking forward to hearing this album after seeing Doug Rauch and Allan Zavod on the call sheet--and for the sake of wanting to give John Scofield and George Duke yet more chances to win me over. (Their skills are always impressive but their styles and melodic sensibilities don't seem to align with my own.)

1. "Life & Times" (6:58) Nice racing song that puts on full display all of the principles, with very impressive solos from Scofield, Duke, and, dream of dreams, Doug Rauch. (Weird that I never really heard an "organ"!) Billy is, of course, ridiculously impressive. (13.75/15)

2. "29" (2:28) another song in which the musicians are asked to sprint from point A to B, the musicianship is quite impressive, and there are some nice melodies worked into the mayhem as well as some impressive solos, but it's just not, overall, a song that one can easily "get into." (8.875/10)

3a. "Siesta" (3:36) as if hearing my "complaint" from the first two songs, Billy has the band slow things down and finally use space as an additional band member. Also, as if taking a cue from former compatriot John McLaughlin and recent Return To Forever albums, the musicians are asked to perform on acoustic instruments--including some strings players to replace the bass. (9/10)

- b. "Wake Up!!!!!! That's What You Said" (0:04) just what the title says. All four seconds of it.

4. "East Bay" (6:08) this one sounds like a piece that could've been generated from the former conglomerate band of New York City-based future Hall of Famers that called themselves DREAMS for the three or four year duration of their association (back in 1968 into 1971). The funk is present but slowed down to a swaggering pace while John Scofield is given the bulk of the lead instrumental play as the rest of the band just strut around the rhythm tracks. Kind of cool! (9/10)

5. "Earthlings" (5:04) the only non-Cobham composition (attributed to John Scofield). John plays lead over active keyboard play from George's Fender Rhodes, Dougie's gattling gun bass note production, and Billy's impeccable swingtime. George gets some extended solo time in the fourth and fifth minutes to display his keyboard ideas and then mirrors/harmonizes with John's guitar play for a nice final section--my favorite part of the song. (9/10)

6. "Song For A Friend (Part I)" (5:03) a rather unique opening with slowed-down Cowboy-Western theme over which an odd synth slowly soars and falls as if a rocket being launched into the sky and then descending to the Earth--all the while the Fender Rhodes and gently picked guitar and bass and Billy's rim shots and hi-hat work keep Rancher's time. A highly unusual song: for Billy, for Jazz-Rock Fusion, for recorded music. I really like this! Again, it's nice to have songs in which space and airiness are explored to balance out the frenetic music of those other barn-burners. (9.25/10)

7. "On A Natural High" (5:17) a funky drive through town in the convertible (with the top down, of course) cruisin' all the hot spots (probably running into the Fonze, Spike Lee, and the Fresh Prince at various points along the way). Doug Rauch's very active bass play, I think, makes a nice complement to Billy's steady-yet-nuanced drum play--and George Duke seems to bridge the territory between John Scofield's squawking guitar play and the rhythmatists quite well. For me, this might be the song that works the best: melding rather perfectly on all levels. (9.25/10)

8. "Song For A Friend (Part II)" (4:43) a repeat/revisitation to the previous "Song for a Friend"'s Western cowboy motif with a different approach from John Scofield--using miked-up acoustic guitar instead of gentle electric--and from George Duke with richer, more sustained chord play from his Fender Rhodes. Nice melodies from John with excellent supportive chord play from George (while pushing that weird Prophet 5 synth portamento space note play a little more into the background). Another favorite. (9.25/10)

Total Time 39:21

I can see how the excessive number of notes demanded of the musicians on these highly-complex songs might fatigue and/or put off some listeners but at least there are more melodies to connect with. At the same time, Billy has considerately tried to balance out the fare offered on this album with several less-than-breakneck-speed songs for the listener to settle into. And, if you're at all interested in hearing basss sensation Doug Rauch in all his glory, this might be the absolute best album in which to do so--especially as his drug addiction issues would, sadly, render him pretty much unreliable and unemployable in the next year or two. (He would be dead in three years--at the unfortunate age of 28.)

A-/five stars; a most excellent full-spectrum presentation of Jazz-Rock Fusion at its finest if not most melodic. Highly recommended to anyone who has not heard it.