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My favourite Herbie Mann album

IAN CUMMING | Mooroolbark, Victoria Australia | 07/25/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Had this on vinyl for 32 years. Glad to get it on cd at last. Has the bonus of having Roy Ayres in the group. Great songs: There Is A Mountain, By The Time I Get To Phoenix, Footprints, If I Were A Carpenter, Paper Man & the title track."

One of the hippest bands ever

Reivaj | Boulder, CO | 07/11/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It is a blessing to have this record on CD as it is one of Herbie Mann's hippest records and undoubtedly his hippest band. Featuring Roy Ayers on vibes playing aggressively straight ahead, Miroslav Vitous laying down deep grooves and displaying all of the virtuosity that made him the star he became, the underrated Bruno Carr on drums and Sonny Sharrock doing his thing as only he could on guitar. Other than "By the time I get to Phoenix" (the only short poppy track on the album) the arrangements on the tracks of familiar material is phenomenal, particularly the wispy "If I Were A Carpenter" with the deep double stop groove from Vituous, the spacious drums from Carr and the floating backing of Ayers and Sharrock. The take of "Footprints" displays the band's unique rhythmic flexibility and the unique approach each soloist has to the material. The grooving "Paper Man" is soul jazz at its best, but the undoubted highlight is the title track, penned by Ayers, where the soloists truly get to open up and display their entire concept. Ayers displays that he is one of the forgotten virtuosos on the vibes, forgotten because of his funk-soul records of the 70s. The greatest revelation here is Sharrock, who defines what the musical vocabulary for free jazz guitar playing would be, albeit in a (loosely)structured format that brings its musicality to the forefront. One of the hippest records of the 60s."