Steve Marcus – Tomorrow Never Knows

Another intriguing recommendation from Andy Edwards You Tube Channel
Thanks Andy!
I knew Steve Marcus from his album with Miroslav Vitous and Sonny Sharrock but had somehow missed this one
The title track and Eight Miles High burn and probably justify buying the album on their own
when the piano kicks in on the title track its almost like a pre-echo of Neu!
Rain has a wonderful loose swing somewhere between relax era Who and Miles in the Sky and has that almost falling apart vibe that i absolutely love
it sounds like the session was a lot of fun, at 4:50 Larry goes nuts on the guitar with a sonny sharrock style freak out

The Beatles Tommorow Never Knows has that special X factor that musicians find irresistible, I've heard a brilliant Dub Version, I've heard a great cover by King Crimson. this is a very worthy addition to the canon

Listen People & Half a heart initially come off as lightweight in comparison but this was a very early experiment after all and Steve has already earned our patience
I quite like the Palm Muted chord intro of Half a heart and... dammit i think the whole song is growing on me!

I always say I need a sequence of at least 3 good tracks in a row to justify adding yet another album to my already ridiculously unwieldy collection, if i have to use the skip button too much.. its out!

this one passes the test
I'm buying it , Thanks Andy you've done it again!

Never achieving the success he so richly deserved, especially as a band leader, Steve Marcus, who left the planet in 2005, strived to fuse jazz and the psychedelic rock of the day, attempting to create a movement, which for the most part, known as jazz fusion, seemed to happen without him.

This album, Tomorrow Never knows, taken from The Beatles song, along with other progressive rock hits of the day, including The Byrds’ “Eight Miles High,” “Mellow Yellow” by Donovan and others, was certainly applauded by many as an adventure into the world of rock meets avant-garde jazz ... it was also seen as a lightweight sellout by an equal number, which must have left Steve Marcus rather shocked, and a bit dismayed when Miles Davis laid down Bitch’s Brew, and gained renowned success and adulation.

Regardless ... after so many years, those in the know, have come to accept this creation as sublime, making Steve Marcus one of the over looked godfathers of the progressive jazz, and the jazz fusion scene. Tomorrow Never Knows is not adventurous in its fervor, but relies on its simple brilliance and integrity of thought, consideration, and delivery. The album is one of the best I’ve ever heard when it comes to sequential track presentation, where Steve presents what I can only call a meaningful set of music that ebbs and flows together flawlessly as Marcus and Coryell develop a musical rhythmic tug of war that both pushes each other apart, and draws them together again in an effort to propel each into heretofore unknown realms that don’t so much abandon the rules, rather creating new rules that exist within a structural confine that builds, moves at a delightful pace, and then drifts back into a cloud of recognizable normalcy.

Review by Jenell Kesler