I don’t quite recall how this album was added to my queue, but I’m quite excited to give it a listen. Looking him up on Wikipedia, I see that Leon Thomas has played with Grant Green, one of my favorite jazz guitarists I’ve ever listened to, as well as Santana, undoubtedly one of the best psychedelic rock guitarists of all time. That’s all I really need to know to be excited for this one, but one of the tracks is “C.C. Rider”, a song the Grateful Dead would play on occasion. Leon Thomas was a vocalist and percussionist according to what I can see on Wikipedia, and this album is labeled as on both Apple Music and Wikipedia, so this ought to be an interesting one. With that, I’m going to jump on into the music.
“Let’s Go Down to Lucy’s” starts out at a groovy little track that sounds super recognizable, like some popular song sampled this after it was made. Either way, it’s pretty funky and super groovy. Oh wow, I really dig the singing from Thomas. It’s almost guttural at times. Those horns round out this tune that the electric guitar and bass are playing around with. The vocals are almost conversational at this point, but really get down to business when things pick back up. This song is a super fun way to start out the album – and definitely sounds like it was a blast in the studio to make.
“L-O-V-E” takes a moment for other instruments to join in that rhythmic tapping of drum sticks, but that groove the bass has is super groovy. There’s definitely super party-like vibe coming from the track, and is super cool. I definitely got lost in this track a bit as it played.
“Gypsy Queen” is super intriguing right away, there’s a very exploratory nature to the instrumentation at all points. The vocals are almost like howling through a cavern. The bass line and drums really drive the song forward, while still digging into an almost dark-sounding, space-like exploratory vibe. The little chimes from the keyboards really accentuate that feeling of space-like, or even oceanic exploring. I really dig the percussion, there’s some congas or something that really provide a very natural sounding rhythm to the piece. The song seems to be gradually picking up tempo and complexity in all the layers. The saxophones come in for some almost psychedelic-like lines that take the song even further out there. Oh wow, some of these vocal lines are insane, and there’s a crashing sound, almost like a trash can lid hitting the ground every now and again. This song is super improvisational, and almost crosses into psychedelic territory at times with this near primal voyage that’s occurring with the vocals and complexities of instrumentations, as everything is getting complex, yet completely natural too. The song keeps up that feel and energy for an impressively long time – as the track is over 10 minutes, yet there’s been no sign of it slowing down. The outro is very soothing, and definitely keeps that spacey, exploratory vibe to the last moment in the song. Very sweet.
“Love Each Other” sounds much more like a typical funk, groove type song, with an actual structure of some sort. Those keyboards are really sweet with that choppy little swirl its got going on, while the piano accentuates different notes, and the electric guitar sort of swishes around. This song is definitely very smooth, especially compared to the previous track. That bass line is absolutely awesome, I’m definitely digging that groove. It sort of sounds something like a bit Joe Dart of Vulfpeck might play.
“Shape Your Mind to Die” has super sweet piano as the intro. Then the saxophone and jangly percussion come in and really give the song more shape, though totally takes any possible expected structure and changes it. The bass line sounds both muddy and massive, and really gives the track a nice platform to stand on. I’m really digging the percussion and its non-western music sound. Those vocals are absolutely sweet as well, getting super deep, but also super smooth at the same time. This song arguably touches some psychedelic tones as well, but could be considered super exploratory instead. I take that back – the percussion gets super interesting, and the vocals are legitimately maniacally laughter at this point. This is like psychedelic funk jazz, with some hints of r&b if I have to say anything. Oh wow, I’m not even sure what instrument this currently is – I’m almost inclined to think it’s an electric saxophone, though it could have been some keys or even a regular saxophone. This song is definitely interesting, and is definitely very sweet in general.
Oh wow, “Boom-Boom-Boom” is a song that just starts out a-rockin’ and a-rollin’ around on all levels – with the rollicking piano, that twangy rounded electric guitar, that tight bass line, and that strong back beat. I definitely wasn’t expected a song like this, but am super digging it. Wow, those vocals get super guttural and bluesy at times. Holy smokes, I think there’s a tenor saxophone absolutely digging into this one right now. I don’t think I’ve mentioned the saxophone playing enough so far in this album’s play-through, but it’s awesome. Speaking of awesome, this electric organ solo is absolutely sick – it’s absolutely swirling around and really brought the song to a different place and right back. Oh wow, that guitar solo is absolutely classic rock and roll. Wow, this song is absolutely awesome, and that outro really was just the cherry on top.
“China Doll” has a slow, loose, exploratory vibe to it at the start of the song. The instruments start playing things a bit more complex as the song progresses, and things get a little tighter. I’m reminded so much of Jimi Hendrix on this one, I think partially from this particular vocal performance, but also the general vibe of the song. It honestly also makes me think of the Grateful Dead song of the same name, though it’s a totally different song, due to the generally slower nature and the tone of the piano in this one. I’m super digging this album at this point, and am really digging this musical journey. Wow, there’s some flashbacks to the third track, “Gypsy Queen”, with the howling and general journey/voyage-like feel to the song in general. I love that piano lick that’s repeating, it’s so sturdy, and is very reliable. The percussion is honestly super impressive too, though I haven’t said much about it.
“C.C. Rider” sounds like it an awesome bluesy rock and roll version of the blues and jazz standard. The bass and drums are just rockin’ and rollin’, giving the other instruments a sturdy platform to stand on. That little saxophone part is super awesome. Wow, that piano is really just steady rockin’ around, and I’m really grooving to this one. There’s so much great flavor in this one. That baritone saxophone does a really great job playing around with the bass guitar a bit. Oh wow, that electric guitar is long, loose, and is absolutely bluesily delicious in tone. Oh wow, that electric organ solo picks up right where the guitar left off and really goes in. I really dig the subtle waviness of the electric guitar from the background as the organ really goes in. That tenor saxophone is awesome – it almost sounds like a fiddle to me. Oh wow, there are some spectacular musical moments in this song where everything just sort of falls together in one totally natural crescendo of sound. Really classic way to end a great album with this standard.
Wow, this album was awesome. I kept getting further drawn in as the album continued to play its medley of genres and sounds. There were times when it got almost primal in sound with the vocals and instrumentation, and times when it was just pure bluesy rock and roll, and times when it was sort of a funky groove type song, and yet others when it was almost psychedelic in its jazz-like improvisatory and exploratory nature. There’s definitely a little bit of music on this album you could show to almost anyone and there’s a good chance they would enjoy it. This one is definitely interesting to listen to, and I was on the edge of my seat, sitting closer to my speakers by the end of it. If you do decide to take a listen to this album, I do sincerely hope that you enjoy it at least as much as I did.
-A