Search - Les McCann :: Pump It Up

One of the funkiest records ever

Randall Wallace | San Francisco, CA | 03/19/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"i first heard this record at the legendary allaire studios in shokan new york when bill evans played cuts 1, 3 and 4 for me though a huge set of george ausperger speakers in the main control room. these cuts are the reason to own this record. bill evans on tenor, marcus miller on bass, paullinho da costa on percussion. unbelievable a-team funk backround (bill evans and marcus miller were two of miles's favorite musicians in his funk/jazz years). the first four cuts of this record ranks with the best of hiriam bullock, salt-n-pepa's "shoop song", and earth,wind and fire's "shining star", "september" and obscenely cool "can't let go". if you live for sade and american idol, this will seem from the other side of the planet. imagine if a backup band had talent, let alone was distinctive. get the finest jazz players in the world and force them to be slow and funky in a way you hoped george clinton, bootsy collins and parliament would have been if they had the chops enough to get it this deep. the other cuts are uneven and i couldn't recommend them. but this record is for sale here used for $1.01 and i'd pay $50 for the hard core funk that no one else has on the cuts 1, 3 and 4, a.k.a.: "pump it up", "let it ride", and "i can't stand it"."