Search - Jeremy Steig :: Something Else

Kenneth M. (KiheiKen) from CHICAGO, IL
Reviewed on 5/13/2011...

Hockey is not the only place you will find cold steel on ice. Jeremy Steig is one cool cat. Who knew that you could make a flute sound so cool.

INCREDIBLE FUNK-SOUL-JAZZ-ROCK FUSION--

E. S. Robinson | OLYMPIA, WA United States | 11/16/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Nobody has reviewed this??! Suddenly there seems to be a heavy weight of responsibility on my shoulders... maybe it's just that everybody knows full & well how outta sight this is, & you're all laughin' right now, sayin' "man, can you believe this cat? Pointing at the air we breathe & ranting that it gives life-"
-But that scenario would simply be a joy.
It must be said: get the cd, because it's easy to find--- and while you're chewin', look for the VINYL. Here's why: The six extra tracks on the cd definitely stray a bit from the overall feel of the album, and tend more to act, collectively, as sort of an extra & quite unnecessary wheel, you might say. -Good stuff, yes; but, relatively dry and straight-ahead-blues-jam oriented.
-What makes the album material great is a much more universal fusion, progressively. --...Aaaahh, acoustic cosmic ghetto funk, with just enough of a chill to really take you to the street... and just enough warmth to squeeze sweet tears of joy from your heart. Music that goes with you where you go and takes you with it, too. The photo of the street scene on the cover of the LP says it perfectly. And, AND, the kicker is, there's actually a track on the album not on the cd... a nice one, too. An essential which is very much missed on the cd. -The vinyl LP isn't called "Something Else" nor does it contain that song. You'll likely, it seems, find it as one record in the EUROPA JAZZ Series... simply and almost hauntingly titled:"Jeremy Steig, Jan Hammer, Don Alias, Eddie Gomez." -But fitting for a beautifully haunting album.
Again-- emotive, reflective & driving funky rock-jazz, wonderfully progressive... the musicians' individual performances are brilliant,(Jan is SO organic, flowing & funky- makes his Mahavishnu stuff seem exceedingly cold and mathematical-) and the human combo here is spectacular.
The missing track is called "Energy". Hope you enjoy."

Under-rated funked fusion classic

R G-S Listen with all your might! | Los Angeles CA USA | 06/20/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Half the sessions that make this album up were first released on Capitol as "Energy", with original cover art by Steig; the complete session was released on the short-lived vinyl label Groove Merchant Records in the 80's. The title cut from "Energy" is gone here, but it's otherwise the complete session, and a classic one, too.



In the wake of other fusion classics, (and the sudden pop popularity of Jethro Tull) both Steig and and Herbie Mann broke flute into fusion in a big way, as flutists who didn't double on other winds.



Steig doubled on everything in the flute family, though; he played everything from bass flute to piccolo, (taking to another level the voice techniques that Ian Anderson had lifted from Roland Kirk) and multi-tracked extra parts on "Dance of the Mind". Jan Hammer (pre-Mahavishnu and Miami Vice) made his US debut, playing Fender-Rhodes e-piano cranked up through fuzz and wah-wah, while drummer Don Alias and the bassists got so funky that you could practically smell the record. (thirty years later, Steig still duets with Eddie Gomez!)



This all got recorded at Electric Lady Studios by former Hendrix mix-master Eddie Kramer (check the pan-pot action on "Swamp Carol"!)



Now it's a blast from the past at a bargain price.







"