Unmissable LP from 1973; round about the same time as Coffy.
Murderously pimped versions of Ain’t No Sunshine and Papa Was A Rolling Stone open and close. There is a slinky, bubbling go at Aretha’s gorgeous Day Dreaming, and the classy, tricky jazz-funk of Cocoa Butter. Not to mention the Pan-African title track: stone-cold-killer, energising, utterly essential Roy Ayers funk.
Mostly quartet recordings, featuring Herbie and Ron Carter, from 1969, with Gene Orloff taking care of strings, and Jerome Richardson the woodwinds. Sonny Sharrock joins in on the Laura Nyro cover.
1983 runnings, kicking off with the killer seven-minute version of Chicago.
Five classic albums: A Tear To A Smile, Mystic Voyage, Everybody Loves The Sunshine, Vibrations, Lifeline.
(Plus the extended, 12” version of Running Away.)