Lenny White – Presents The Adventures Of Astral Pirates

Incredible quality! On parr with my OG NM+ Japanese Pressing!

If anyone has more information about this Test Pressing, please add to this entry! Thanks!

Pretty good album. Sounds great on a good system. Not bad, should be more collectible.

I remember first getting into Lenny White around 2009, still in High School I had just begun diggin' in the crates not long ago, and I was just pulling anything out of the .50 cent bins that looked cool, I got his first on Nemperor Venusian Dreams because the cover looked cool, and the second one Big City Dreams. I was getting into Jazz Fusion, Jazz Funk, Norman Connors first 2 albums on Cobblestone with those lineups were a gateway!

Anyhow, I recall seeing this one around 2010, for $5. I remember opening the gatefold, and thinking the comic narrative was dope, so I put on the listening station, satisfied I purchased it, played it in full later that week, was enchanted, and filed it away.

Now a decade later, I'm really "discovering" or recovering lots of filed away little gems. I decided to play this out, not certain if it would hold up (I even entered the wrong pressing at the time, mine is the red label, not the butterfly Elektra).

I was incredibly impressed, in 1978 it's beginning to get a little tougher to find jazz-fusion, jazz-funk, the leftside of jazz with a beat, that avoids the pitfalls of nostalgia, commercial pressures of disco, or is not marquee such as Weather Report, or Herbie Hancock. Even then the direction is changing.

For it's time, it's a highly ambitious concept album, that relies heavily on the instrumental nature, being able to match the mood of the comic, dialogue with the tones, and it works! That is an amazing achievement, Don Blackmon, Don Mizell, Patrick Gleeson, Alex Blake, Al Kooper as co-producer are helping to helm this concept, Michael Bryant is succinct yet conveys depth in the comic gatefold notes, and it really feels like a cool experience.

This is album waiting to be properly "recovered", analyzed, put forth to the masses, expanded on by engagement / critical review.

Definitely buy it, it's not Ibsen, but it's not supposed to be, it's not campy either, it's not supposed to be. Instead it's a space comic of it's time by a well-regarded African-American jazz drummer, brought to life. It relies on the instrumental tones to convey the mood in large part, only a few vocal tracks, that Don Blackmon gives such soulful life to!

Check this one, and see if it doesn't move you in a way!

This has got to be one of the finest jazz rock fusion recordings ever! I saw Lenny White perform this LP at the Roxy in LA way back in '78, anyone remember the Hobo Kelly sunglasses? Some of the rare reviews are not so impressed, but give it a listen, go on a ride, hear a story, every song will grab you from the beginning to the end.

wicked drums in 'Assault'... funk/jazz meets metal?