BIG CITY

Big City is Lenny White's second solo album and his first upon leaving Return to Forever. Here he recruited a ton of musicians, more so than on Venusian Summer. Notables include Herbie Hancock, Tpwer of Power horn section, Brian Auger and his Oblivion Express (including Alex Ligertwood, Jack Mills, Clive Chaman, and Lennox Langton), Patrick Gleeson, Marcus Miller, soul singer Linda Tillery, Verdine White (Earth, Wind & FIre member and younger brother of Maurice White, of course), Jan Hammer, Jerry Goodman, David Earle Johnson, Miroslav Vitous, Bennie Maupin, and too many others. The title track sounds like a horn- driven version of Return to Forever (I know, Musicmagic used horns, but this is much better). Organ appears, from Brian Auger, naturally. I was a bit skeptical of "Sweet Dreamer" given the presence of Linda Tillery, as I was expecting some truly awful soul ballad, in the style of Motown or Philly International at its most sappy. Not at all, it's a rather pleasant song avoiding the worst pitfalls of that style. It's also the only song with vocals on the whole album. Then album gets more funky, more or less picking up where Venusian Summer left off, although the music isn't quite as spacy, and has a more urban feel to it (no surprise, given the album is titled Big City). There are some short orchestral pieces, with some amazing Mahavishnu Orchestra-type stuff going on, with violin from Jerry Goodman, and synth solos from Jan Hammer. "And We Meet Again" is a tribute to Miles (Miles Davis, of course, since Lenny did play on Bitches Brew). It's recorded live, and shows a more raw approach.

I was blown away by Venusian Summer, but Return to Forever's Musicmagic is as bad as most everyone says it is, so I feared Lenny White went that route on Big City. I am so happy that's as far from the truth as you can get. While I find Venusian Summer a better album, this is still very much worth having for fans of fusion and there are no bad songs on it, not even "Sweet Dreamer".

It's like Lenny tried to do too much here with his second record "Big City". I mean he invited everyone he knew to play on it as we get over 50 musicians and yes we can drop some huge names that are among them even if most play minor roles. I will drop those names later but man we get strings galore, electronics, orchestration, horns, vocals and on and on. There's multiples on almost every instrument. And while I believe this is a pretty big drop off in quality when compared to his debut released 2 years earlier called "Venusian Summer" this isn't that bad. More about my tastes I suppose. So yeah we get Brain Auger, Jerry Goodman, Jan Hammer, Neal Schon, Miroslav Vitous, Benny Maupin, Herbie Hancock, Pat Gleeson and yikes The Tower Of Power horn section(haha).

The low point has to be "Sweet Dreamer" a ballad with quivering female vocals. I can find good stuff on all the other tracks but also negative things. The closer is a live track surprisingly with prominent organ from Auger. The piano dominates as far as keyboards go along with the variety of synths. "Interludes" is short and a two part track but quite good. I really like the drums and bass on the first section while it's spacey on the second. There's electronics and impressive drumming on "Ritmo Loco" another short piece. "Dreams Come And Go Away" is one I'm not into until it turns heavier after 2 minutes with the guitar soloing over top. Some crazy strings late. "Rapid Transit" is fast and the title track good when those horns aren't blasting away.

I find "Big City" along with the one that follows this to be disappointments after that excellent debut.

The former-Return To Forever drummer's second solo album since leaving Chick's band, the follow-up to 1976's Venusian Summer, one of my all-time favorite Jazz-Rock Fusion albums.

A1. "Big City" (5:22) a case in example that an impressive line up of musicians doesn't necessarily guarantee a great tune. Trying too hard and not really capturing the funk they're going for. (8.75/10)

A2. "Sweet Dreamer" (4:42) a sweet tune (the best thing on the album) with Bay Area legend Linda Tillery singing from her heart. Great bass play from Paul Jackson with awesome solos from Ray Gomez and Herbie Hancock. (9.25/10)

A3. "Interludes" - both are nice: a. "Egypt" (1:00) a funky interlude?! Pretty good! (4.5/5) b. "Nocturne" (1:24) swelling orchestral strings and harp. Nice. (I hear "Happy Birthday" melody in there--as well as a theme from Midnight Cowboy.) (4.375/5)

A4. "Rapid Transit" (3:59) the closest thing on the album to exhibiting Lenny's potential as both composer, band leader, and drummer but still lacking anything as extraordinary as the music and textures of Venusian Summer. (8.87510)

A5. "Ritmo Loco" (1:08) electronic computer and acoustic percussion. The acoustic play is outstanding. (4.5/5)

B1. "Dreams Come And Go Away" (3:34) a smooth rock-jazz tune that sounds like something Eric Clapton was doing around the same time. Maybe this one shouldn't have been an instrumental. Too much of a jam. (8.75/10)

B2. "Enchanted Pool Suite" (17.75/20): a. "Prelude" (1:31) beautiful near-classical (I hear Ralph Vaughn Williams) duet between Jerry Goodman and Jan Hammer (4.5/5) b. "Part I" (2:18) add Miroslav Vitous and harpist Lois Colin to the mix and then, later, Michael Gibbs' orchestra and Patrick Gleeson's synth. (4.375/5) c. "Part II" (5:39) a Herbie Hancock-infused smooth jazz piece à la Earl Klugh. It works. Due to Michael Gibbs' orchestration, Gary King's bass with Lenny's drumming, and Jan and Jerry's continued contributions. (9/10)

B3. "And We Meet Again" (live) (6:41) a blues vamp captured live (cuz that's all these guys can come up with once they're all surreptitiously thrown together on stage without practice or forethought). (8.75/10)

Total time: 38:28

B+/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of diverse and loosely tied together Jazz-Rock Fusion that qualifies for the Fourth Wave or "Smooth Jazz" phase of the movement. A little too inconsistent, scattered, and perplexingly diversified to be highly recommended. Who is Lenny White and what kind of music does he want to make?