Reggie Lucas: "Survival Themes"

This is one I thought I might never find--as it has a reputation of being a very elusive LP--yet thanks to the cats at Dusty Groove, I procured it for an extremely reasonable price.  Damned if it isn’t every bit as tasty as I imagined.  The thing is, Reggie Lucas is a guy who generally fades into the background, his contributions to most albums being more subtle than overt.  His most famous recording stints were with Miles Davis and Madonna, and with Miles he was a rhythm guitarist, with Madonna he was a producer.  Neither of these are roles that occupy much foreground in terms of visibility and/or frontline presence, which is exactly why “Survival Themes” is so refreshing, in that it allows us a glimpse of Lucas doing his thang and doing it well, as opposed to seeing him through the lens of another artist’s vision.  The music itself is post-Miles ‘70’s fusion, and light years from the breezy pop he would engage in with Madonna in the early ‘80’s.  Reggie and his band (which includes Hubert Eaves, Michael Henderson, Anthony Jackson, Mtume, etc.) get down into some greasy, dirty funk on “Slewfoot” and “The Barefoot Song,” the latter of which showcases Lucas “goin’ all the way off” on lead guitar.  The masterpiece here, though, is the side-long title track, a blend of shifting changes and moods that implies Lucas and company may have had aspirations toward a more avant-garde dissonance, an exploration likely interrupted in subsequent years by the onslaught of the disco era’s innate commercialism (this album was recorded in ’75, quite literally on the verge of that particular sea change in rhythm music).  In the “Survival Themes” suite, we find everything from Lucas’ acidic, fuzz-and-phase-drenched guitar excursions to quieter passages more reminiscent of ethereal, Miles-esque tone poems, and yet the whole of the piece remains seamlessly cohesive.  Altogether, this is a major, intensely personal artistic statement from a musician whose restlessness would lead him in many directions, always with one foot in the funk and another in the future.  Right on Reggie!