Cedar Walton - Mobius & Beyond Mobius (1975, 1976) [2015]

Two killers from Cedar Walton – back to back on a single CD! First up is Mobius – a real revelation from pianist Cedar Walton – an unusual electric album from the 70s – quite a surprise, given the mostly-acoustic sound of most of Cedar's other records! The album's a killer, though – and has this fresh, full take on funky jazz for the time – not the usual CTI copycat mode, and instead this compelling hybrid of elements that includes lots of Fender Rhodes from Walton, sweet guitar likes from Ryo Kawasaki, and lots of rootsy percussion from Ray Mantilla and Omar Clay – two players who really make the album nice and earthy at the bottom. The rest of the group is wonderful, too – and includes tenor from Frank Foster, alto and baritone from Charles Davis, and trumpet from Roy Burrowes – all fresh players who open up a big can of soul for the set – on titles that include a classic break version of "Off Minor", plus "Blue Trane", "Soho", and "Road Island Red". Beyond Mobius is a great electric set from Cedar Walton – and a set that moves beyond his previous Mobius album, in case you couldn't guess from the title! The style here is a bit more tightly arranged – with some backup vocals on a few cuts, which underscore the core jazzy elements from Walton on a range of keyboards and synth, Eddie Harris on tenor, and Blue Mitchell on trumpet – all grooved together with some tight guitar lines from Eric Gale and Cornell Dupree! Keyboards definitely get some great solo time in the spotlight, but the overall sound is quite strong too – a nice instrumental funk approach, save for the added chorus vocals in a few spots.

Tracks:

Mobius (1975)
01. Blue Trane (Coltrane) - 10:08
02. Soho (Walton) - 10:35
03. Off Minor (Monk) - 7:49
04. The Maestro (Walton) - 6:19
05. Road Island Red (Walton) - 5:40

Beyond Mobius (1976)
06. Bad Luck (Carstarphen-McFadden-Whitehead) - 4:16
07. Low Rider (War-Goldstein) - 6:18
08. Beyond Mobius (Walton) - 5:16
09. Jive Talkin' (Gibb-Gibb-Gibb) - 4:33
10. Canadian Sunset (Heywood-Gimbel) - 5:17
11. The Girl with the Discotheque Eyes (Walton-Lipskin) - 7:24
12. Lonely Cathedral (Walton) - 6:17

Personnel:

Mobius (1975)
Cedar Walton - keyboards, synthesizers
Gordon Edwards - bass
Steve Gadd - drums
Ryo Kawasaki - guitar
Ray Mantilla, Omar Clay - percussion
Wayne Andre - trombone
Roy Burrowes - trumpet, flugelhorn
Charles Davis - alto saxophone, baritone saxophone
Frank Foster - tenor saxophone, and solos
Adrienne Albert, Lani Groves - vocals

Beyond Mobius (1976)
Cedar Walton - keyboards, synthesizers
Eddie Harris - saxophone, solos
Blue Mitchell - trumpet, flugelhorn, solos
Eric Gale - guitar solos, rhythm guitar
Cornell Dupree - rhythm guitar
Gordon Edwards - bass
Charles Collins (#1,2,4,5), Jimmy Young (#3,6,7) - drums
Angel Allende - percussion
Mike Lipskin - percussion (#2,7), ARP synthesizer (#5,6)
Burt Collins, Jon Faddis - trumpet, flugelhorn
George Marge - tenor saxophone
Wayne Andre, Alan Raph - trombone
Harry Cykman, Morris Sutow, Norman Carr, David Moore - strings
Adrienne Albert, Yolanda McCullough, Maeretha Stewart, Mike Lipskin, Alan Abrahams - vocals