Bill Nelson

Best track -- the magic starts at 2:30 getting into a serious jazz-blues jam, Hammond B3 included. Recorded in November, 1968 when Mayall moved to SoCal and joined the hippie scene.

And also teaching the pros! In '75 after a Tower of Power show in Cambridge, their funkmeister drummer, Dave Garibaldi, said he'd had a lesson with Alan Dawson earlier that day.

In 1973, this Capricorn label band (Duke Williams & Extremes) met with the Phila. Intl. rhythm section and cut, 'Chinese Chicken'. Note how the Sichuan pepper sauce starts burning halfway thru.

First dug Tootie on Herbie Hancock's 'Prisoner' (April, '69) and 'Fat Albert Rotunda' (May-June, '69). On both albums, Tootie showed he could play 'outside' and straight down the middle. (After taking more than a year off, 'Mwandishi' Herbie went with Billy Hart.)

RE: 'Presenting Edu Lobo': Side 1 track 2 ('Jogo de Roda') always brings to mind the chordal infl. of Gil Evans.

Max Raabe und der Palast Orchester tonight at UGA. Can't believe they chose my little college town to start their 7-city tour which includes Symphony Halls in Chicago and Boston, prior to Carnegie.

In 1971, when visiting a relative in Vernal, Utah -- and bored as hell in a cowboy town -- I walked into a music shop. They'd gotten a shipment of cut-out LPs and Riedel's 'Jazz Ballet' (U.S. Philips, 1964) really stood out. A favorite ever since.

Andalusia comes to Music City! "We'll stop when your attorney says, "Cease and desist."

When I walked the driveway at 8:15 to get the paper it was 16-degrees and I Phrygian my ass. When it gets up to 32, I'll celebrate with a gin and pentatonic.

The Police' stripped-down the funk behind their 'Voices In My Head' Police again, with more 'Voices' of what they're funkin' for:

Also from '79: Andre Crouch with Jay Graydon ('Peg'), Michael Omartian, and David Hungate (Toto) -- much like EW&F and Steely Dan's 'FM'. Check how the band takes it out after the sax solo at 3:13 This contemporary gospel might get me de-frocked by the Soul Pope

During the search among assorted books, magazines, and records, once-forgotten characters and 'persons of interest' can pop up unexpectedly. Such side-tracking has its rewards -- if you've got the time to spare.

Uno mas Manuelle, por favor... both from 1996 album

Sergio George arranged Manuelle's salsa moderna with jazz modulations.

'Pops' Popwell in 1972 with the Rascals:

Doris Duke and 'Congratulations Baby, 1969 recorded in Macon, GA. (19-year-old Robert 'Pops' Popwell is bassist.) Tina Turner had a problem with her man in 1969.

Two from 1973, both fueled by Bob Babbitt's bass:

This track's bass line goes out to thread-starter Soul Pope:

Boston's Prince Charles and 'City Life' (1984), check out his bio below the clip. Cold Blood - 'Baby I Love You' (1973) the tune builds to full-on funk.

Walter 'Junie' Morrison in 1975 after leaving Ohio Players. (Serious jam with horns kicks in at 2:40 mins.)

Prince Charles & the City Beat Band (1982) 'Don't Fake the Funk' Charles Alexander is currently professor of Music Production & Engineering at Berklee in Boston. Dayton - The Sound of Music (1983)

Skull Snaps perform 'I'm Your Pimp' (1973) And this crate-digger's classic by Lafayette Afro Rock Band: An extended single by United 8, 'Getting Uptown (to Get Down)'

In 1972, Tower of Power put Dusty's sultry voice "Cleo's back" (and ending with "Cleo's here.") It was one of TOP's two tracks on 'Lights Out: San Francisco', a various artists 2-LP collection on Blue Thumb. Warner Bros. subsequently insisted that the name 'Tower of Power' removed from the cover, first by label paste-over existing copies and then permanently from future releases.

Mann's 'Stone Flute' (1970) may be his answer to Miles' 'Silent Way'. With Ron Carter, and regulars Sharrock, Miroslav, and Roy Ayers and cellos and violins. It's spacey, not beat-driven with radio hit potential.

My nephew saw pianist Pascal Le Boeuf in Nashville recently. I said, "Pascal Le WHO? Check out this 6 min. clip of his trio: