This is the near-mythical lost JB's album – much coveted by funk fanatics - which was green-lighted and then inexplicably shelved by the mercurial James Brown back in1972/3. For the past forty years it has been buried in the vaults gathering dust but now, finally, it's being released. Some of the tracks – like the exciting opener, a funk-fuelled take on Herbie Hancock's jazz classic, 'Watermelon Man,' with James Brown on drums – have been issued before on various retrospective compilations but six of the set's nine cuts make their public debut.
On paper, and given the JB's renown as funk meisters, the lost album is an exciting proposition – but in reality, I suspect that some devotees of the Godfather will be a tad disappointed. That's because the album has more jazz in its musical DNA than funk. It was an album that was ostensibly a 'solo' platform for the trombonist and JB's leader, Fred Wesley, as a reward from JB for services rendered. Though renowned for his greasy, funkafied, 'bone solos, Wesley's roots were in jazz and he was an avid fan of Count Basie. The syncopated big band cuts such as 'Secret Love' with its break-neck swing rhythms and jazzy reconfigurations of early '70s pop hits – like James Taylor's 'You've Got A Friend' – reflect unequivocally the Basie band's influence. Also, significantly, most of the album's tracks feature the cream of the Big Apple session scene under the direction of arranger, Dave Matthews, and not the bona fide JB's.
Even so, it's a deeply fascinating listen, especially for soul and funk anoraks. The ensemble interplay is exhilarating at times. The funkiest cut is 'Transmogrification,' which is characterised by a chicken-neck groove led by Wesley's jabbing trombone. The cut has a widescreen cinematic feel so it's no surprise that a severely edited version ended up on the soundtrack to the '73 blaxploitation movie, 'Slaughter's Big Rip Off.' There's also an instrumental retooling of The Godfather's 'Get On The Good Foot' and funked-up renditions of the soul hits, 'Use Me' (the Bill Withers' classic), and The Main Ingredient's 'Everybody Plays The Fool.'
Four bonus cuts – non-album singles from the same timeframe released on James Brown's People label – are appended to the set. Two are soulful covers – a take on Gilbert O'Sullivan's 'Alone Again (Naturally)' and the O'Jays' 'Back Stabbers' – plus 'JB Shout' and 'Funky & Some.'
With pertinent liner notes from ex-JB staffer, Alan Leeds, who contextualises the music superbly, this is a terrific retrospective from Hip-O Select, even if some funkateers might feel that the long-sought-after Holy Grail of funk is not quite the funk record they were hoping for.
