Leon Thomas

Leon Thomas Album (1970)

BAGS GROOVE
COME ALONG
I AM
PHAROAHS TUNE(THE JOURNEY)
UM UM UM.

Billy Cobham - Drums
Bob Cunningham - Bass
Gene Golden - Percussion
Billy Harper - Sax (Tenor)
Roy Haynes - Drums
Howard Johnson - Sax (Baritone)
Richard Landrum - Percussion
Sonny Morgan - Percussion
Oliver Nelson - Arranger, Conductor
Jerome Richardson - Sax (Alto)
Ernie Royal - Trumpet
Donald Smith - Flute
James Spaulding - Flute
Arthur Sterling - Piano
Leon Thomas - Flute, Percussion, Vocals
John Williams - Guitar (Bass).

On the follow-up to the mind-blowing Spirits Known and Unknown, singer, multi-instrumentalist, arranger, and composer Leon Thomas decided to take a different track. Far from the sparely orchestrated ensembles of the previous works, Thomas loaded this set with jazz luminaries such as Roy Haynes and Billy Cobham, Billy Harper, Donald Smith, James Spaulding, Sonny Morgan, Ernie Royal, and many others as well as a backing chorus of female voices. Side one is the up-tempo jazz ride, as Thomas and company rip through a host of his own tunes, such as the scatted post-bop of "I Am" and the nearly bar-walking blues of "Come Along." But the side is graced by an absolutely stunning read of Milt Jackson's "Bag's Groove," with Harper leading a five-horn section. The real gem on the album is "Pharaoh's Tune (The Journey)," which comprises all of side two. After setting up a live audience with a narrative laced with sound effects from the vanguard jazzers, the tune develops its groove about four minutes in and the bells and yodel come out, and from here it's Thomas at his improvisational best as both a singer and a bandleader. Everybody here is inspired, especially the two drummers. Harper, Spaulding, and Smith weave snake-charming lines around one another, and the entire thing just lifts off and never returns. It's a breathtaking ride made all the more so by the long, jazzed-out setup of side one. Why this guy wasn't huge is a mystery. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide