SHABAZZ

Billy's power jazz is desiged to rock your socks off; it leaves you exhausted and barefoot. Shabazz begins with a drum solo, but once the band kicks in the ride is quickly underway. And what a band it is! Randy and Michael Brecker bring their unique mini horn section to join the fun. Their BS&T derived sound is somewhat of a reprise of their previous joint effort with Billy, Dreams, one of the earliest horn rock bands and a very progressive one in its own right.

Glenn Ferris fills out the sound nicely on trombone giving the illusion at times of a full-blown horn section. John Abercrombie grinds, drones, chops, and squeaks his way through the material, and it is very interesting to compare his playing on the two Spectrum tracks Red Baron and Taurian Matador with Tommy Bolin's stunning and incendiary precedent from the previous year's release. Keyboard wiz Michio Leviev treats the material as though he wrote it, and Alex Blake more than keeps up on bass. The last Track Tenth Pinn is as experimental as this type of playing gets, but make no mistake, its no jam session

Shabazz is as unrelenting as anything you have ever heard from Mister Cobham. Not many live albums get multiple spins around here. This one sure does!