This was my first foray into the expansive world
of Cadet, purchased years ago for $2 while I was a student at the Evergreen
State College in Olympia, WA. This album
gave me a sense, even then, that there was a certain quality present in the
recording sessions themselves that was extremely individualistic, and defiantly
so. Ramsey Lewis, of course, was already
one of the Cadet label’s big stars by the time he made this masterful album,
having charted such monster hits as “The In-Crowd” and “Wade In The Water,”
songs that insured him employment and creative control with said label for as
long as he wanted. What makes this LP so
crucial, however, is the presence of some very key players in the studio. Charles Stepney manned the boards and did the
arrangements, while Ramsey’s rhythm section of the period (Maurice White on
drums and Cleveland Eaton on bass) drove the music in the direction of
hard-hitting funk and R&B, with most of the jazzier elements confined to
Lewis’ piano fills and solos. The
two-part “If You’ve Got It, Flaunt It” that bookends the record is a statement
of purpose, a cooking funk-jazz number that sets the live-in-the-studio-party
tone perfectly. Other highlights are the
pre-hip-hop-groove meditation on Stevie Wonder’s “My Cherie Amour” and the grooved-out,
laid-back take on the Eddie Harris classic “Bold And Black.” There are even moments that take clear,
defined steps directly into R&B’s further evolution, such as Maurice
White’s use of the kalimba on “Uhuru.”
The title of this LP—“Another Voyage”—seems deliberate and intentional
on the part of Lewis, Stepney, White, etc…they were announcing the arrival of a
new sound and a new generation, made even more potent by the presence of
Lewis. The man was a veteran of the
scene, yes, but one willing to take chances and push his art in directions that
many of his peers were afraid of, or simply didn’t understand.
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