Ronnie Foster - Live: Cookin' With Blue Note At Montreux (1973) [2013 BNLA Series 24-bit Remaster]

This live recording captured Ronnie Foster at the Montreux Jazz Festival on July 5, 1973. At this point, Foster’s music was infused with mind expanding, funky rock. As a result, “Cookin' with Blue Note at Montreux” sounds great. Containing four songs that average eleven minutes, this show is all about the jam. Indeed, the release is packed with improvisational exploration. On the organ, Foster kills. He plays a mind blowing solo on ‘Boogie Juice.’ Marvin Chappell sounds great on drums and Gregory Miller makes a strong contribution on guitar. “Two Headed Freap” was released the previous year, so it's no surprise why the band performed the opening track, ‘Chunky.’ Unfortunately, the band didn’t also play ‘Mystic Brew.’ While there is funkiness in everything Foster plays, the funk really comes out to play on ‘Sameness.’ Listeners preferring succinct four minute songs are likely to find this show too jammy. Likewise, those yearning improvisation will enjoy the instrumental exploration. In any case, restraint is exchanged for live energy. While the fidelity could have been higher, the overall recording quality is still good. We should take a moment and thank Japan; this is another of those classic Jazz recordings that would probably still be out-of-print if it weren’t for the Japanese re-release. “Two-Headed Freap” remains what is probably Ronnie Foster’s strongest release to date. That said, “Cookin' with Blue Note at Montreux” can be thought of as a like-minded project that goes further.

Tracks:

01. East of Ginger Trees (Seals-Crofts) - 11:56
02. Chunky (Foster) - 8:26
03. Boogie Juice (Foster) - 14:03
04. Sameness (Foster) - 11:20

Personnel:

Ronnie Foster - organ
Gregory Miller - guitar
Marvin Chappell - drums

Recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland on July 5, 1973.