Gene Harris - Tone Tantrum

This album, for Gene Harris, is his equivalent of what Places and Spaces was to Donald Byrd. Don't listen this expecting anything like what he was making with the 3 Sounds, or even the more fusion stuff he was making on Astral Signal, no - this album is a super slick dance-floor-friendly jazz-funk album. Overall, this is a beautifully produced album that's full of symphonic strings, lush melodies and angelic backing vocals, and even though it’s consistently excellent throughout there are a few moments that just really stand out, these are the beautifully soulful "If You Can't Find Love Let Love Find You" with an amazing vocal performance by Jerry Peters, plus a very mellow re-working of "Christo Redentor" that though not as sublime as the version from A New Perspective is still a truly inspired take on it. The reference to Places & Spaces doesn’t seem so alien when you realize the album’s secret weapon is the inclusion of Donald Byrd on some of the tracks. Between Gene Harris' smooth jammin’ keyboards and Donald Byrd's slick horn work you realize you’ve just gone and got yourself one heck of a killer rare-groove album.