Kool & The Gang - Kool Jazz '1974

Tracks list

Tracklist:

1. Breeze & Soul (05:31)
2. Sea of Tranquility (03:35)
3. Sombrero Sam (06:42)
4. Lucky for Me (03:06)
5. Dujii (06:02)
6. Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart) (08:20)
7. North, East, South, West (03:41)
8. I Remember John W. Coltrane (04:04)
9. Wild and Peaceful (09:32)
10. Winter Sadness (05:07)
11. Summer Madness (08:02)
12. Universal Sound (04:04)
13. Messenger of Wisdom (05:46)
14. Free (02:07)


 Read Full BiographyRobert "Kool" Bell (aka Muhammad Bayyan) and his brother
Ronald (aka Khalis Bayyan) grew up in Jersey City and picked up the music bug
from their father, who was a professional boxer, serious jazz lover, and close
friend of Thelonious Monk. With Robert on bass and Ronald picking up an array of
horns, the duo formed the Jazziacs in 1964 with several neighborhood friends:
guitarist Claydes Smith, trumpeter Robert "Spike" Mickens, alto saxophonist
Dennis "D.T." Thomas, keyboard player Ricky West (aka Richard Westfield), and
drummer George "Funky" Brown. The growing earthiness of soul inspired the
Jazziacs to temper their jazz sensibilities with rhythms more akin to R&B, and
the newly renamed Soul Town Band began playing clubs in Greenwich Village. After
a mix-up with a club owner resulted in the group being billed Kool & the Flames,
they modified the title to Kool & the Gang and found a leg up with the tiny
De-Lite Records. Two singles from their self-titled debut album hit the pop
chart, and although the positions weren't incredibly high, Kool & the Gang
became a quick success on the R&B charts. Always a staple of their appeal, the
group's live act was documented on two 1971 LPs, Live at the Sex Machine and
Live at P.J.'s, including left-field covers of "Walk On By" and "Wichita
Lineman" (as well as the not so unusual "I Want to Take You Higher").

Studio albums followed in 1972 and 1973, but it was with Kool & the Gang's sixth
LP, Wild and Peaceful, that they hit the big time. "Funky Stuff" became their
first Top 40 hit at the end of 1973. Then both "Jungle Boogie" and "Hollywood
Swinging" reached the Top Ten. Over the next four years, Kool & the Gang
delivered a Grammy-nominated recording with Light of Worlds (in the category of
Best R&B Instrumental Performance) and scored the Top 40 hits "Higher Plane" and
"Spirit of the Boogie." They lost Ricky West to a solo flight and added some of
their longest-serving brass players, namely trumpeter Larry Gittens and
trombonist Clifford Adams. Also during this period, "Open Sesame" appeared on
the Grammy-winning Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, yet the rise of disco -- a
movement centered around producers and vocalists, in direct contrast to the
group's focus on instrumentalists -- appeared to end their popularity.

Then, in 1979, the group added two new vocalists, Earl Toon, Jr. (also a
keyboardist) and, more importantly, former Jersey nightclub singer James "J.T."
Taylor. Another trumpeter, Mike Ray, joined the same year for the long term.
Kool & the Gang also began working with Brazilian jazz fusion arranger/producer
Eumir Deodato, who produced their records from 1979 to 1982. The first such
album, Ladies Night, was their biggest hit yet, the first of three consecutive
platinum albums, with the Top Ten singles "Too Hot" and the title track.
Celebrate!, released in 1979, spawned Kool & the Gang's only number one hit,
"Celebration," an anthem favored by innumerable wedding receptions since. With
Deodato, the group produced several more hits, including the singles "Take My
Heart (You Can Have It if You Want It)," "Get Down on It," and "Big Fun," and
the albums Something Special in 1981 and As One a year later. Toon left during
this period, and keyboardist Curtis "Fitz" Williams entered the fold in 1982.
After Deodato parted the same year, Kool & the Gang proved their success wasn't
solely due to him; during 1983 and 1985, they had a pair of number two hits with
"Joanna" and "Cherish," as well as two more Top Tens, "Fresh" and "Misled."
Three of those four smashes were off Emergency, a double-platinum 1984 release
that also contained "You Are the One," nominated for a Grammy in the category of
Best Inspirational Performance. The group's string of seven gold or platinum
records continued through 1986's Forever, after which Taylor and Robert "Spike"
Mickens left the group.

Taylor did reasonably well with his solo recordings, many of which were produced
by Ronald Bell, and Kool & the Gang went with three vocalists, Skip Martin
(formerly of the Dazz Band), Odeen Mays, and Gary Brown, for the albums Sweat
(1989) and Unite (1992). Taylor finally returned to the group for the release of
a new album, State of Affairs (1996), and departed near the end of the '90s. The
band remained a going concern throughout the 2000s, teaming with younger artists
for Gangland (2001) and The Hits: Reloaded (2004), and continuing with Still
Kool (2007), recorded after the death of Claydes Smith. Clifford Adams died in
2015. Fellow co-founders Ronald Bell and Dennis "D.T." Thomas died in 2020 and
2021, respectively. Perfect Union, completed with both musicians, was released
during the latter year. ~ John Bush

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