Steve Gadd On Karen's Solo Album

[Vinylalbumcovers]

Yes, and I'm pretty sure of that too - my questions were how much & how often...just maybe in actuality it was the other way around, i.e., she created the vocals and Rod made occasional suggestions...or, to put it another way, she decided how each song was going to be sung by her and he then created the orchestral arrangement to accommodate her plan...just a guess, but it seems to make sense, given her extensive experience and unparalleled skill as a singer.

Rod didn't "make occasional suggestions"; he did the vocal arrangements. As @newvillefan said, he created the background voicings for the stacks Karen sang. She sang them as he wrote them. We know declined songs of his she thought were "too funky" so she was making song choices, etc. But as far as technical musical arranging decisions and the like, Karen couldn't do that. She wasn't a writer or arranger. Phil and Rod already had a relationship because of the Heatwave connection so Rod was a natural choice. She wanted Billy Joel's band which Phil also had a relationship with. That's really all we can say for sure. Anything further would likely be conjecture.

Ed

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

If Bob James (an old Fusion Jazz favorite of mine) was indeed the arranger of those two outstanding tracks then he should have been given total control of the whole damn album - it would have been a completely different and far better work of art.

Except that's not what Karen wanted. She wanted to try things and have fun. Phil helped her do exactly that. Heck, she did disco - the one thing Richard asked her not to do. I, for one, am glad Karen made the album she wanted to make. I don't enjoy all of her choices as I stated earlier but they were her choices and she'd long since earned the right to make them.

P.S.: Agreed on your love of Bob James. Amazing musician!

Ed

 

[newvillefan]

Agreed on your love of Bob James. Amazing musician!

Any suggestions anyone on where to go to find some good examples of Bob James' work? I'm a huge jazz fusion fan!

 

[Nemily]

One of my favorite of Bob James' collaborations is a CD he did with David Sanborn called Double Visions. It features one of his best Maputo and there is a great number on there with Al Jarred Since I Fell for You.

You may also want to check out a really nice track that he did with Till Bronner, September Morn.

 

[JohnFB]

Any suggestions anyone on where to go to find some good examples of Bob James' work? I'm a huge jazz fusion fan!

Of course, search for Bob James on Amazon - there are so many really good individual albums - for an extra special treat search for foreplay, a fusion jazz supergroup formed in the 80s featuring Bob, guitarist Lee Ritenour, drummer Harvey Mason and bassist Nathan East - they played together for over 30 years turning out some of the very best in this genre. Here's their "Best of"...

Amazon.com

And here's a live performance of "101 Eastbound" from 2000...

 

[JohnFB]

for an extra special treat search for foreplay,

That should be Fourplay...my mind was somewhere else...although I think they do play a piece called "Foreplay"...

 

[JohnFB]

And this is a good jumping off spot for me - I'm heading over to the Lead Sister thread in the Insider to post some more of my impressions of that somewhat flawed but nevertheless somewhat compelling book...

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

Any suggestions anyone on where to go to find some good examples of Bob James' work? I'm a huge jazz fusion fan!

I love the "Touchdown" record along with all the other suggestions mentioned above. The "Touchdown" album has the original version of "Angela" - the tune edited down and used as the theme to the TV show, "Taxi." The Fourplay albums are a bit polished for my taste but that first one is hard to argue with sonically.

Ed