Post by erik on Feb 24, 2024 19:52:17 GMT -5
Brazilian jazz-rock keyboardist and producer Eumir Deodato is in the Pop Music Album Spotlight with his own masterful album project of 1973.
PRELUDE (Deodato; CTI; 1973)
Brazilian-born jazz fusion keyboard virtuoso Eumir Deodato is known primarily as an innovative producer and arranger for such acts, both American and international, as Kool and the Gang, Bjork, Frank Sinatra, and Roberta Flack, to name but a few. However, much like America’s own Herbie Hancock, Deodato also managed to have huge mainstream success in the United States for his jazz-rock fusion recordings. One such example came in the early 1970’s, when, having heard his keyboard work on jazz guitar legend Wes Montgomery’s final album, Down Here On The Ground in 1968, producer Creed Taylor signed him to his CTI label. Deodato’s first album for CTI was Prelude.
Recorded between September 12th and 14th, 1972 at Van Gelder Studios in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Prelude saw both Taylor and Deodato assembled a whole host of legendary and soon-to-be-legendary jazz fusion musicians, including guitarist John Tropea; drummer Billy Cobham; bass players Ron Carter and Stanley Clarke; and percussionist Airto Moreira. The result was one of the most successful jazz-fusion albums of the time, combining original jazz-fusion elements, with rock and classical.
The album’s title derives itself from one of the tracks on there, a jazzy interpretation of Claude Debussy’s famous “impressionistic” masterpiece “Prelude To The Afternoon Of A Faun”. Also included is the Robert Wright/George Forrest classic “Baubles, Bangles, and Beads” (from the 1953 musical Kismet); and three originals by Deodato himself: “Carly And Carole” (referring to legendary female singer/songwriters Carly Simon and Carole King); “Spirit Of Summer”; and “September 13” (the latter co-written with Cobham). But the big one on Prelude was a massive nine-minute long jazz-rock interpretation of the “Dawn” sequence of Richard Strauss’ famous 1896 tone poem “Also Sprach Zarathustra”, which became hugely familiar in classical music circles after director Stanley Kubrick masterfully used it in his 1968 sci-fi movie masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey (a 1959 recording of the piece by Herbert von Karajan and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra was used in the film). Deodato’s version is book-ended by the work’s familiar C-G-C chord progression in the brass, and weaves various permutations in-between. Although the single version, “Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001)”, was chopped down for AM radio release, it still managed to peak at #2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart at the end of March 1973, later going on to win a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance of 1973. Prelude, meanwhile, peaked at #3 on Billboard’s Top 200 Album Chart, and #1 on its Jazz Album Chart during that time.
Though Deodato’s success from this point forward as an artist would primarily be limited to the jazz genre, his work with pop music heavyweights nevertheless kept him busy well into the new millennium.
PRELUDE (Deodato; CTI; 1973)
Brazilian-born jazz fusion keyboard virtuoso Eumir Deodato is known primarily as an innovative producer and arranger for such acts, both American and international, as Kool and the Gang, Bjork, Frank Sinatra, and Roberta Flack, to name but a few. However, much like America’s own Herbie Hancock, Deodato also managed to have huge mainstream success in the United States for his jazz-rock fusion recordings. One such example came in the early 1970’s, when, having heard his keyboard work on jazz guitar legend Wes Montgomery’s final album, Down Here On The Ground in 1968, producer Creed Taylor signed him to his CTI label. Deodato’s first album for CTI was Prelude.
Recorded between September 12th and 14th, 1972 at Van Gelder Studios in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Prelude saw both Taylor and Deodato assembled a whole host of legendary and soon-to-be-legendary jazz fusion musicians, including guitarist John Tropea; drummer Billy Cobham; bass players Ron Carter and Stanley Clarke; and percussionist Airto Moreira. The result was one of the most successful jazz-fusion albums of the time, combining original jazz-fusion elements, with rock and classical.
The album’s title derives itself from one of the tracks on there, a jazzy interpretation of Claude Debussy’s famous “impressionistic” masterpiece “Prelude To The Afternoon Of A Faun”. Also included is the Robert Wright/George Forrest classic “Baubles, Bangles, and Beads” (from the 1953 musical Kismet); and three originals by Deodato himself: “Carly And Carole” (referring to legendary female singer/songwriters Carly Simon and Carole King); “Spirit Of Summer”; and “September 13” (the latter co-written with Cobham). But the big one on Prelude was a massive nine-minute long jazz-rock interpretation of the “Dawn” sequence of Richard Strauss’ famous 1896 tone poem “Also Sprach Zarathustra”, which became hugely familiar in classical music circles after director Stanley Kubrick masterfully used it in his 1968 sci-fi movie masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey (a 1959 recording of the piece by Herbert von Karajan and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra was used in the film). Deodato’s version is book-ended by the work’s familiar C-G-C chord progression in the brass, and weaves various permutations in-between. Although the single version, “Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001)”, was chopped down for AM radio release, it still managed to peak at #2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart at the end of March 1973, later going on to win a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance of 1973. Prelude, meanwhile, peaked at #3 on Billboard’s Top 200 Album Chart, and #1 on its Jazz Album Chart during that time.
Though Deodato’s success from this point forward as an artist would primarily be limited to the jazz genre, his work with pop music heavyweights nevertheless kept him busy well into the new millennium.