🎵 AotW AOTW: Quincy Jones - ROOTS (SP-4626)

[Captain Bacardi]

Quincy Jones
ROOTS
A&M SP-4626

Released 1977
Peaked at #4 on the Jazz Album Charts (1977) and #21 on the Pop Albums Charts (1977)

Format: Vinyl/CD

Conducted and Produced by Quincy Jones

Songs:

• 1. Motherland (Quincy Jones) - :29
  2. Roots Mural Theme (Gerald Fried) - 2:10
  3. Main Title: Mama Aifambeni (Premiere Episode) (Quincy Jones/Caiphus Semenya) - 1:03
  4. Behold, The Only Thing Greater Than Yourself (Birth) (Quincy Jones/Caiphus Semenya) - 1:30
  5. Oluwa (Many Rains Ago) (African Theme) (Caiphus Semenya/Quincy Jones) - 2:28
  6. Boyhood To Manhood (Q. Jones/B. Summers/Z. Diouf) - :53
  7. The Toubob Is Here (The Capture) (Quincy Jones) - 1:06
  8. Middle Passage (Slaveship Crossing) (Quincy Jones) - 1:15
  9. You In Americuh Now, African (Gerald Fried/Quincy Jones) - :32
  10. Roots Mural Theme Intro (Slave Auction) (Gerald Fried) - :15
  11. Ole Fiddler (Adaptation: Quincy Jones/Lou Gossett) - 1:12
  12. Jumpin' De Broom (Marriage Ceremony) (Quincy Jones/Bobby Bruce) - :42
  13. What Shall I Do? (Hush, Hush, Somebody's Calling My Name) (Adaptation: Quincy Jones/James Cleveland) - 2:17
  14. Roots Mural Theme Bridge (Plantation Life) (Gerald Fried) - 1:25
  15. Oh Lord, Come By Here (Adaptation: Quincy Jones/James Cleveland) - 3:25
  16. Free At Last? (The Civil War) (Quincy Jones) - 2:24
  17. Many Rains Ago (Oluwa) (African Theme: English Version) (Quincy Jones/Caiphus Semenya) - 4:50
  
  Arrangers:
  Quincy Jones
  Reverend James Cleveland
  Caiphus Semenya
  Tommy Bahler
  John Mandel
  Herb Spencer
  Dave Grusin
  Dick Hazard
  Bill Summers

Musicians:

Percussion: Bill Summers (Percussion Concert Master), Zak Diouf (Master Drummer from Senegal), Paul Bryant, King Errison, Bobbye Hall, Emil Richard, Tommy Vig, Milt Holland, Shelly Manne, Vic Feldman, Caiphus Semenya
Keyboards: Dave Grusin, Mike Boddicker, Ian Underwood, Richard Tee, Pete Jolly
Guitars: Lee Ritenour, David T. Walker
Electric Bass: Chuck Rainey, Ed Reddick
Acoustic Bass: Arni Egillson, Milt Kestenbaum
Banjo: Alton Hendrickson
Harp: Catherine Gotthoffer, Dorothy Remsen
Woodwinds: Ernie Watts, Jerome Richardson, Bill Green, Terry Harrington, Ted Nash
Trumpets: John Audino, Bobby Bryant, Buddy Childers
Trombones: Dick Nash, Maurice Spears, Bill Watrous
French Horns: James Decker, David Duke, Alan Robinson
Tuba: Tommy Johnson
Violins: Bobby Bruce, Gerald Vinci, Janice Gower, John Santulis, Sheldon Sanov, Bill Nuttycomb, Ralph Shaeffer, Joseph Livoti, Irv Katz, Erno Neufeld, Harry Bluestone, Bob Sushell, Joe Stepansky
Violas: Rollis Dale, Bob Ostrowsky, Alex Nieman, Marilyn Baker
Cellos: Jesse Erlich, Jeff Solow, Paul Bergstrom, Ronnie Cooper
Vocalists: Letta Mbulu (featured soloist), Caiphus Semenya, Reverend James Cleveland (conducting the Wattsline Choir: Rodney Armstrong, Mortonette Jenkins, Charles May, David Pridgen, Sherwood Sledge), Tommy Bahler (choir conductor on African and English versions of "Oluwa"), Jim Gilstrap, Stephanie Spruillm Paulette McWilliams, Deborah Tibbs, Alexandra Brown, John Lehman, Linda Evans, Zak Driouf (solo on #6), Alex Hassilev (solo on #8 )

Recorded at A&M Studios and Western Recorders
Album Engineered and Remixed by Norm Kinney
Assisted by Chuck Trammell and Steve "Deacon Dolby" Katz
Television Recording Engineered by Bruce Swedien
Mastered by Bernie Grundman at A&M Studios

Art Direction: Roland Young
Album Design: Chuck Beeson
Roots Logo Typography Designed by Al Nagy
Back Cover Photography: Bruce Talamon



Capt. Bacardi

 

[A&Mguyfromwayback]

I remember being very excited when I bought this and very disappointed when I listened -

 

[Dave]

I loved the Alex Hassilev (formerly of The Limelighters) vocal appearance, doing the Sea Chantey on "Middle Passage (Slaveship Crossing)"...

Other than that, this worked a bit more as the TV-series than could really be put on Record...


Dave

 

[Captain Bacardi]

Quincy Jones may be known as a prolific big band arranger, there are many great jazz musicians on this album and it may have landed towards the top of the jazz charts, but the fact is there isn't any jazz on this album at all. This is full of incidental music - only the African and English versions of "Oluwa" (featuring Letta Mbulu) are full arrangements. It's also a very short album, clocking in under 30 minutes. It's a nice companion piece to the Roots miniseries, but by itself it doesn't offer very much. 2 stars.



Capt. Bacardi

 

[Dave]

Not quite as ferociously ambitious as Quincy's earlier work... In fact, Roots symbolizes his return to TV/Film Soundtrack music (as the following year's Music from THE WIZ will also demonstrate...)

A departure from Jazz this is, too... Future Jones efforts such as Sounds...and Stuff like That and The Dude (also his final discs for A&M) will continue that trend, going more into R&B, as well...

The songs here give an effective summary of the Roots TV-series and as a whole this album just seems mainly touted as being just that and not quite anything else that "Q" can really do, better demonstrated on Walking In Space, Gula Matari, Mellow Madness, (on which he could never again reach that calibre) Body Heat, You've Got It Bad, Girl, or Smackwater Jack...



Dave