SWEETNIGHTER

This album took me totally by surprise as it has nothing in common with the previous album "I Sing The Body Electric". Gone are those experimental, avant passages, and the groove and funk that was non- existant on their first two albums suddenly appears in spades. Interesting that Zawinul felt that Vitous' electric bass playing style didn't fit with this new direction, so Andrew White who played English horn on the previous album plays the electric bass parts on the two longest tracks as well as on the final track. Vitous does add his acoustic bass on those two long tracks though, and he plays electric bass on his own composition "Will" as well as on "Adios". Vitous would leave after this album. With this new musical direction in mind they've added another drummer and percussionist.

"Boogie Woogie Waltz" is all about the beat and groove. I like that salt-shaker sound from Romao's chucalho too.This song reminds me of some of those great Krautrock songs that feature a lot of percussion and repetitiveness. I kind of get lost in the hypnotic rhythm, but at the same time I can't stop from moving to the beat.The sax and distorted keys take turns playing over the beat. Very cool. "Manolete" is a Shorter composition.There are some strange sounds going on as sax plays over top. Bass and light drums add to this mid-paced relaxing tune. Piano comes in about half way through. "Adios" is a Zawinul track. This one has some atmosphere as different sounds come and go. Cool song. White adds some English horn here.

"125th Street Congress" is Zawinul's composition. Like his first track this one just grooves with a great beat. Again those distorted keys are a highlight for me and Shorter really lets it rip after 4 minutes.The shaker is back too. The bass lines are funky and deep. Fantastic track. "Will" would be Vitous' final composition for the band. Lets just say he goes out in style. This is a mid-paced tune with mournful English horn early. A steady beat with that shaker sound and bass all sounds great. Some fuzz bass before 3 1/2 minutes. "Non-Stop Home" is a great title. This is a Shorter tune. Nice drumming throughout as Zawinul adds some fuzz early. Bass 1 1/2 minutes in as Zawinul adds some dissonance this time. Sax comes in. Very cool track.

I still can't get over the change in styles between this album and the last one. This one is a lot of fun and certainly more enjoyable and less challenging than "I Sing The Body Electric". So it depends what your into I suppose. I think both are excellent additions to your Prog collection, and essential to your Jazz collection.