In 1982, the Japanese label King Records – which has manufactured and distributed CTI-related product in Japan since 1970, and continues to do so to this day – launched a provocative set of compilations in what it called the “Super Fusion 1900” series. The series comprised 16 records and totally eschewed the usual “Best…
Art Farmer with Joe Henderson – “Yama” (1979/1982) – Update
This post is meant to amend and update one written in 2022. Many listeners – in the U.S. in particular – have noticed that Yama‘s track line-up and song timings are all askew. Indeed, one of the responses to my original post even complained that “None of the track times match what’s on the label”…
Just Added – “Early CTI: The A&M Years (1967-70)
I am pleased to finally post the entirety of my essay “Early CTI: The A&M Years (1967-70)” online. This project began about eight years ago as a set of liner notes to a CD box set that unfortunately never happened. There were many problems along the way, but I just kept writing as though this…
Larry Coryell – “Fallen Angel” (1993)
There is probably no such thing as a “great” Larry Coryell album. Even on his better records, the guitarist proved uneven, inconsistent or, more often than not, unable to sustain interest over a full LP. Worse, a bad vocal always threatened to wipe out whatever an otherwise decent Coryell record might promise. Fallen Angel is…
Revisiting “Supership” – George “Bad” Benson (1975)
In April 1975, Record World‘s Vince Aletti reported in his weekly Disco File column that CTI Records sent out a number of unlabeled 45s to disco-oriented DJs in the New York area. Each record bore only a small white sticker stamped with the neologism “SUPERSHIP.” No artist was credited. The single was accompanied only by…
Revisiting “The Chicago Theme” – Hubert Laws (1975)
In May 1975, CTI Records released jazz flautist’s Hubert Laws’s album The Chicago Theme. Advance copies of the record immediately attracted the attention of New York-area DJs, who dug in to disc’s first cut, its title track. “The most talked-about new record this week,” wrote Vince Aletti in his May 17, 1975, Record World column…