Spectrum Road, A Tribute to The Tony Williams Lifetime

When the Tony Williams Lifetime hit the ears of listeners in 1969 with their double-album release Emergency!, few people were prepared for it. Brilliant drummer Tony Williams had just left Miles Davis's band after a long tenure and was eager to try something of his own, something very different. He got together with then mostly unknown guitarist John McLaughlin and veteran organist Larry Young to make a music that was so unusual as to be inimitable. That first album sounded like nothing that had gone before. It was rock heavy yet rhythmically and harmo-melodically light years away from what was going on then. And Tony's vocals were...well they certainly weren't what you expected from jazz, rock or jazz-rock, as it was then known. The innovation took on life as improvisation, ensemble and song-form. It was NEW in the biggest sense, so much so that many audiences generally couldn't get on their wavelength when Lifetime first hit the venues.

Jack Bruce joined the band as the fourth member and bass-vocal powerhouse. The album Turn it Over followed. And it was a continuation of what they first set out to do. The band folded, Tony and Larry reformed with new members and the album Ego came to light, which had some masterpieces but was not completely on the level of what went before.

Many years have gone by since those days, and while those sides were enormously influential no band has ever come close to realizing the sound of the original Lifetime. Until now.

Jack Bruce has joined with guitarist Vernon Reid, organist John Medeski and drummer Cindy Blackman Santana to revisit the classic Lifetime music. The first CD is out, and they call themselves Spectrum Road (Palmetto).

They cover many of the significant numbers from the first three albums and one or two I do not recognize. Jack and Cindy do the vocals and the band gets it uncannily close in the ensemble to that original thrust. As individual players of significant clout, however, much of who they are, right now in 2012, individually and collectively, gets into the mix, especially in the solo sections. That's what you would expect and that's what works best in these sorts of situations, to my mind.

It's a very heady tribute to an incredibly important band, but more than that, it extends that original music in ways Tony would have liked. It's Lifetime music with the here and now built in.

And it's some landmark music, whichever way you look at it.

Jack Bruce's Classic "Songs for A Tailor"

Originally posted on January 6, 2009

Jack Bruce has made big contributions to the music world since his career launched in the ‘60s. First of all, as an electric bassist he pioneered a bottom heavy electric sound and technique that influenced a generation of players, especially through his work with Cream. Second, he is a superb vocalist and has lent his distinctive voice to rock and fusion classics. Third, he writes songs that innovate with harmonic-melodic quirks that set him way above the pack. And they have the quality of memorability. What else? As a music stylist he has been at the forefront of progressive trends and has freely extended possibilities in the music by being one of those whose blends of sounds seem effortless and beyond the experimental. He has consistently fashioned WORKING models for others to appreciate and emulate.

His first album after the breakup of Cream in 1969, Songs for a Tailor (Polydor) still sounds fresh. The CD release version I have brings in several alternate takes that are different enough from the originals to not function as mere fillers. The album brims over with strong tunes and all of the things that make Jack the opposite of a dull boy (since he works and plays at the same time. Ugh. OK, so that was pretty strained but it’s early in the day so I hope you’ll excuse me.) This is a landmark recording and belongs in the collection of those inclined to want to have and hear such things.