LENNY WHITE

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?

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.

Sci-fi progressive/jazz/funk/fusion? Works for me.

You can say that the theme of this album is corny and dated, or that the song "Universal Love" is out-of-place and cheesy here, or that funk and progressive don't mix. But this is a very enjoyable, well-played, well-composed album despite the hurdles it faced. Lenny White plays excellent drums (and some synthesizers) all over this album, along with Don Blackman (vocals, keyboards), Alex Blake (bass), and Nick Moroch and Jeff Sigman (guitars). This is mostly progressive rock/jazz fusion (a la "Romantic Warrior"), with some funk thrown in on the side. Despite the less-than-desirable production sound, I still find this to be a very exciting, interesting and unique cd from a talented drummer and songwriter. If you're a fan of Romantic Warrior-era Return To Forever, this cd is essential.

Well I like the idea, an all instrumental concept album of the sic-fi variety. Having Patrick Gleeson on synths was a great idea but I have no idea who the rest of the band are other than our drummer Lenny White of course. Not that that matters necessarily but I really felt that this was one of those pedestrian albums other than the song "Mandarin Warlords". We basically have ten chapters in this concept with the opening song being the prelude so eleven tracks in all at just under 40 minutes.

"Prelude:Theme For Astral Pirates" is simply a short spacey tune with acoustic guitar and outbursts of piano. "Pursuit" opens with some nice bass and drums as the guitar comes in over top. The organ's turn after 1 1/2 minutes then back to the guitar along with strings and more. "Mandarin Warlords" is by far my favourite with those female vocal melodies bring Zeuhl to mind after 1 1/2 minutes and throughout.

"The Great Pyramid" opens with drums as relaxed bass joins in. Kind of funky here as spacey sounds help out. Ethnic sounding guitar before 1 1/2 minutes gives this a World music flavour. Organ and a heavier sound late. "Universal Love" is a commercial vocal track with male vocals. Very soulful but I'm not a fan. "Remembering" is a very short piano only piece sounding classical. "Revelation" opens with guitar and atmosphere then piano takes over after 1 1/2 minutes. Pretty stuff.

"Stew, Cabbage And Galactic Beans" is pretty much a "rock" track as the guitar lights it up at times as the organ runs. It turns funky before 2 minutes though then the organ leads again. "Heavy Metal Monster" opens with drums and a heavier sound. Funky bass too. Organ before 2 1/2 minutes then the guitar is back a minute later. "Assault" features a one minute drum solo from White. "Climax:Theme For Astral Pirates" ends it with guitar and a spacey background in this all instrumental closer. Piano leads for a while but the guitar returns to end it.

A pretty good album but it left me feeling not very impressed overall. I'll take his "Venusian Summer" album over this all the way.

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".

4.5 stars. The only thing keeping me from hitting the 5 star button is that funk fuelled opening track, the second is funky too but a much better tune. The rest is incredible to my ears so yes this is a top 15 album for me for 1975 right now. Lenny White is such a talented man and during a break from RETURN TO FOREVER he brought in some amazing musicians to record this his first solo album. I love that Patrick Gleeson from those "Mwandishi" albums is here along with many known names like Larry Young, Al DiMeola, Larry Coryell, David Sacious and more. That album cover would be perfect if the girl with the horns wasn't there. The title implies a Venus-like Summer I believe.

"Chicken-Fried Steak" is indeed funky with White adding clavinet to his drum duties. Some expressive guitar here as well. Catchy stuff and check out the organ from Jimmy Smith around 3 1/2 minutes. "Away Go Troubles Down The Drain" is also funky but the attraction for me here is the abundance of intricate sounds. Just a pleasure to really listen to this one even if I feel the remainder of this album is better. Sancious adds organ and synths to this one and we also get some guitar after a minute.

"The Venusian Summer" is a top three tune for me. The first of two sections that make up this track are filled with synths as four guys all play them and we also get sequencers and then piano late from Lenny. It's surprisingly spacey and dark. The latter is surprising given the title of the song. The second part of the song sounds completely different as we get this great sounding atmosphere as intricate sounds come and go. So good! Piano after 6 minutes followed by flute.

"Prelude To Rainbow Delta" is a short intro track to the next song. This has spacey synths and some percussion as it builds to a powerful sound full of atmosphere. It blends into "Mating Drive" a top three tune for me. It's sparse and atmospheric at first, spacey and dark. Soon it kicks in to an uptempo groove just before a minute. The lead guitar from Raymond Gomez shines here, Larry Young adds organ. Gomez is on fire before 3 minutes as he lights it up, nice bass as well. Organ to the fore after 4 minutes then it's the guitar's turn 5 1/2 minutes in. Check out the drumming to end this smoldering song. Nice.

"Prince Of The Sea" is my favourite song on here and a perfect closer. I love the guitar and here Al DiMeola and Larry Coryell put on quite the show, like a duel of sorts trading solos. Atmosphere and the sound of sea gulls to start. Soon synths I believe, then some piano and flugelhorn are added as it stays relaxed and mellow. A beat kicks in before 3 1/2 minutes along with guitar. It takes a minute but soon the guitars start to dominate. They are trading solos before 9 1/2 minutes. Oh my! It becomes a shred-fest. Nice. Sea gulls are back before 11 1/2 minutes to end it.

An incredible album that doesn't start off that well but just seems to get better as it plays out. Highly recommended to fans of Jazz/ Fusion out there. One of the classics.

While "Streamline" is certainly not as accomplished a work as the classic "Venusian Summer", it does merit its own place in Lenny White's discography , as well as being a rather original symbiosis of jazz, funk and fusion, armed with some harsher guitar work, a rather unusual combination that has not been overused to say the least. The list of luminaries include guitarist extraordinaire Jamie Glaser (JL Ponty), famous bass man Marcus Miller and finally Earth, Wind and Fire keyboardist Larry Dunn, who certainly adds to the funky vibe. Guitarist Nick Moroch has worked with Eddie Jobson's Zinc and provides a fair amount of crunch. That being said, this is a tale of two sides, one of pleasure and one of pain. Let's start with the torture first and get it out of the way. The first 4 tracks are painful. There are also 3 mini tracks under a minute that add absolutely nothing to the mix.

"Struttin" is bearable, a pure funk/rock hybrid with a chugga-chugga beat and expected flow. Kind of sloppy, which negates all the value within, as Lenny does this binary beat that lacks any conviction. There is a rather unfortunate rendering of the classic Beatles tune "Lady Madonna" which cannot even come close to the brilliant original, with way too much urban shrieking courtesy of Chaka Khan, a musical Swiss fondue that will make one cringe. The messy and disjointed "12 Bars from Mars" is presumably referring to intergalactic saloons that serve watered down drinks with soggy 'rocks' as this just goes nowhere in a warp hurry. "Earthlings" is sadly even worse, a stringy cheese of disco-inspired yuck, with a pedant vocal from Diane Reeves and a wholly predictable Moroch guitar solo that could have been so much more fulfilling.

Then, out of the blue, the album reverts to what it should have been, a serious jazz-rock extravaganza, though one has to wonder with a strange title like "Pooh Bear" (egad!). But the sweet scat-voiced background gives way to some smoking hot bass runs, a shuffling drum beat and some inspiring moments. Yeah, it's funky but technically sound and adventurous. Cool pickin' on guitar makes this a surprising illumination. "I'll See You Soon" is the longest track and serves up some interesting fare led by a looping bass run, as Marcus Miller is quite the virtuoso, a simple lilt that also fancies a slippery and bright Don Blackman synth solo. A favorable track again. The bass playing on "Night Games" is fully inspired and phenomenal, as if Marcus was the only one on board with this session, a nice Fender Rhodes piano section from Blackman and Lenny finally inspiring his wrists to go beyond the norm.

Not a bad album but not really anything special either. Just interesting. Nowhere near does one approach the effect of "Venusian Summer" and that Beatles cover version should be banned.

3 restructures

Another long forgotten jazz-rock gem from the heady Golden Years of rock music, Lenny White needs no introduction, having made his name with the still resounding and active Return to Forever. This his first solo album from 1975 has a lot going for it which is why it remains so highly rated , though not an easy or obvious find. The artwork is certainly typical of the era in question, an evocative horned nubile woman spread out on a Venusian landscape. As befits the jazz fusion genre, the guest list is quite impressive with such luminaries as guitarists Al DiMeola, Ray Gomez and Larry Coryell, keyboardists Dave Sancious, Jimmy Smith, Larry Young and Peter Robinson, former Santana bassist Doug Rauch and flugelhorn player Tom Harrell.

There is a strong American urban feel throughout the tracks, I daresay hyper funky in many ways, with loads of electric piano courtesy of Onaje Allan Gumbs. There are also blended into the mix a few ambient synthesizer interludes, as this was Patrick Gleeson's claim to fame both with Herbie Hancock (the "Sextant" album in particular) which contributes to the proggy feel. The first 2 tracks serve as warm up and do not really reflect the remaining 4 brilliant tracks, as both the oily "Chicken Fried Steak" and the rather flippant "Away Go Troubles (Down the Drain)" are nothing more than competent and amusing appetizers.

The glorious and epic title track is a fine case in point, served with a long spectral synth envelope to cast one out into deep space, voyaging into the cosmos with conviction and the will to discover ("Sirenes"). As soon as the initial electronic boosters are finally jettisoned, the icy cool jazz-funk groove kicks in with Lenny leading the rhythmic charge, flugelhorn in tow, blooming into a convoy of synthesized vehemence, in fact a devilish duel between Gleeson and Robinson that is jaw-dropping in intensity. The mood is catchy, eventful and bright, truly sophisticated music.

The hyper-active tornado is apparent on the dizzying "Mating Drive" , a super-funky and ambitious that has a sensational Ray Gomez extended guitar solo that is lightning precise and deadly , a furious Larry Young organ flurry, bubbly turbo-charged bass from Mr. Rauch and Lenny bashing away unmolested. Smoking chewy cigars, it's a boy!

Always saving the longest and the best for last, the tectonic "Prince of the Sea" starts off smoothly enough, a horizon of sweet synthesized fluffs, twinkling e-piano and languorous flugelhorn to set the stage for 2 of the greatest electric guitarists anywhere, as both DiMeola and Coryell trade licks as only they can, with convincing desperation and exalted confidence. Flicks of many wrists are on display, from all contributors, but electric guitar fans are in for quite a lesson in wizardry, emotion, speed and delivery.

Don't let the 2 intro pieces fool one into denying this recording's place in one's collection, as the three longest tracks here are world class compositions that will please many if not all progressive music fans. I am glad it still sits well in my collection.

4 July lovers

This album really left me totally blown away. I couldn't believe what I was hearing! It's easy to be skeptical about solo albums from drummers. Sure Phil Collins, Don Henley, and even Ringo Starr had their share of successful solo albums, they did record songs geared for pop hit radio, and they all could sing. Usually, I imagine the reason for a drummer's solo album is to stroke their ego. That's how I felt about Carl Palmer's part of ELP's Works Vol. 1, none of the music left an impression on me, and the remake of "Tank" was a bit unnecessary. But there are people like Billy Cobham, Bill Bruford, and Lenny White who realize the rest of the music mattered as much as their drumming, and Lenny's Venusian Summer only proves that! This was released at the time where Return to Forever was still going on, here he has a list of musicians, varies depending on cut. He had included the likes of Larry Coryell, his RTF bandmate Al DiMeola, Ray Gomez, Peter Robinson (Quatermass, Sun Treader, Brand X), Dr. Patrick Gleeson (Herbie Hancock), and others. The first two songs, "Chicken Fried Steak" and "Away Go Troubles Down the Drain" (obvious Roto-Rooter reference) are firmly in the funk fusion vein, and the funkiness totally rivals anything I heard from Herbie Hancock's funk phase. Then a huge surprise comes next with "The Venusian Suite", a rather trippy, spacy ambient synthesizer park, which then goes into fusion territory. There is a bit of a spacy approach to the second half, and also includes some nice flute playing, with funky overtones. "Prelude to the Rainbow Delta" is another one of those calm spacy ambient numbers, which them goes into the unbelievable overdrive of "Mating Drive". This totally sounds like Mahavishnu Orchestra on steroids (which is saying a lot, given those guys weren't exactly slouches either). Spanish guitarist Ray Gomez must have worshipped at the altar of John McLaughlin, he even gives him a run for his money. It's only appropriate the last song, "Prince of the Sea" should be a bit more calm, not electronic, but still fusion, with guitar from both Larry Coryell and Al DiMeola. I really like the diverse ground he and participating musicians cover, some fusion albums can get a bit monotonous because they tread on safe water. Not what Lenny White does here, he's not afraid to go funk, go into Mahavishnu Orchestra territory, or into spacy ambient territory. As years pass, I have learned not to throw five stars at everything, but with an album like this packed full on nothing but amazing stuff, this album really deserves it. This album is truly a must have for all fusion fans!

Lenny White's debut solo album injects hot, sleazy funk into a sizzling jazz fusion context. It's not quite as polished, cutting-edge, or packed with surprises as, say, Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi albums - or even Hancock's more commercial Head Hunters offerings - but it's a solid listen which vividly evokes its era. You'd never mistake this for music from even a few years earlier or later; it reeks of the mid-1970s so distinctively that if you play it for too long you end up with Gerald Ford in the White House and gas shortages at the pumps. Play when you want accessible jazz fusion which could serve as a porn soundtrack and don't mind if it's a little dated.