Lenny White: Renderers of Spirit (1996)

Drummer Lenny White doesn't explore much new territory on Renderers Of Spirit, which contains nothing that will make you forget that he played drums on the legendary Bitches Brew sessions for Miles Davis, or that, along with Stanley Clarke, Chick Corea and Al DiMeola, he helped define 1970s jazz-fusion as Return to Forever.

But even though the compositions here survey what amounts to the by-now familiar R&B meets jazz domain, White and company make the journey enough of a comfortably swinging stroll to make it worth the trip. White's sound and plump backbeat on drums in "Ho-Cake" sound straight outta hip-hop (that is, before they dissolve in a limpid pool of what's now called "smooth jazz"), and bassist Victor Bailey bounces off the walls in his own title, "Pick Pocket."

Renderers includes contributions from fellow Miles alumni Foley and Bennie Maupin, Stanley Clarke, George Duke, and Michael Brecker (In fact, "Countdown 2000" would not sound out of place on Davis' album Tutu). It closes with a challenging jazz-funk mind-meld of Jackie McLean's "Dr. Jackyle" wih Sly Stone's "Africa Talks To You," and also includes covers (with vocals) of Burt Bacharach's "Walk On By" (which nominally works) and of Christopher Cross' "Sailing" (which absolutely does not).

Tracklist:

01 - Whew! What A Dream
02 - Ho-Cake
03 - Walk On By
04 - Pick Pocket
05 - Savant
06 - Sailing
07 - The Abyss
08 - SwingTime
09 - Beggin'
10 - Countdown: 2000
11 - Dr. Jackle/Africa Talks To You

Personnel:

Geri Allen - Piano
Victor Bailey - Bass, Arranger
Don Blackman - Organ, Synthesizer, Keyboards, Fender Rhodes
Michael Brecker - Saxophone
Randy Brecker - Trumpet
Jerry Brooks - Bass
Dean Brown - Guitar
Stanley Clarke - Tenor, Bass Solo
Jon Dryden - Synthesizer, Arranger
George Duke - Moog Synthesizer
Vince Evans - Synthesizer, Piano, Arranger, Keyboards, Fender Rhodes
Foley - Lead Bass
Javon Jackson - Sax (Tenor)
Dechown Jenkens - Guitar
Mark Johnson - Guitar, Vocals
Darryl Jones - Bass
Mark Ledford - Guitar, Trumpet, Arranger, Vocals
Kim Lesley - Vocals (bckgr)
Pete Levin - Synthesizer, Arranger, Keyboards, Programming, Orchestration
Bennie Maupin - Clarinet (Bass), Sax (Soprano), Sax (Tenor)
Jean McClain - Vocals (bckgr)
Audrey Northington - Vocals
Nicki Richards - Arranger, Vocals
Patrice Rushen - Synthesizer, Piano, Keyboards
Michael "Patches" Stewart - Trumpet
Danny Walsh - Saxophone
Lenny White - Organ, Arranger, Cymbals, Drums, Keyboards, Programming, Producer
Bernard Wright - Synthesizer, Piano, Keyboards, Moog Synthesizer
Pookie Zari - Synthesizer

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Chester Thompson: A Joyful Noise (1991)

Out of print in the U.S., this is a reissue of the amazing rock drummer's 1992 solo album. Guests include George Duke, Gerald Albright and Harry Kim. Thompson has worked extensively with Frank Zappa, Genesis, Donna Summer, The Bee Gees, Carlos Santana, Steve Winwood, George Duke & Phil Collins, to name but a few.

Tracklist:
01 Tropical Sunday
02 So-Soka
03 Homeland
04 Drums Are Loud
05 A Joyful Noise
06 Chunky
07 Jussa Thang
08 Cool Groove
09 Raw
10 Addatude
11 Amazing Grace
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George Duke: Night After Night (1989)

George Duke says: "It took a few years before I was ready to record another CD. With the mediocre success of George Duke, I needed time to think about my musical direction. Also, I had many A&R meetings with Bob Krasnow about the direction for the project. I would try a few things, send them to him for his reaction, and so on and so forth. I had never been in that position before. By the way, that goes on in the biz everyday, but not to me!! I went along with the program since I knew that if this record didn't do well, that it was curtains for me at Elektra."

Tracklist:
01. Miss Wiggle
02. Children of the Night
03. Love Ballad
04. Guilty
05. Same Ole Love
06. Say Hello
07. You Are the Only One in My Life
08. Brazilian Coffee
09. This Lovin'
10. Mystery Eyes
11. 560 SL
12. Fuzzzion
13. Rise Up
Personnel:
George Duke - synclavier,TX 816,acoustic piano,D550,Super Jupiter,Mini Moog,Castlebar clavinet, lead and background vocals
Feddie"Ready" Washington - bass solos exept "Fuzzzion"
Byron Miller - bass on "Guilty"
Paul Jackson,Jr. - guitar
Stanley Clarke - bass on "Fuzzzion"
John Robinson - drums
Airto Moreira - percussion on "Fuzzzion"
Jerry Hey - trumpet
Gary Grant - trumpet
Bill Reichenbach - trombone
Larry Williams - tenor sax
Marc Russo - alto sax on "Guilty"
Rayford Griffin - drums on "560 SL","Fuzzzion"
Michael Landau - guitar on "560 SL"
Alphonso Johnson - fretless bass on "Fuzzzion"
Jean-Luc Ponty - violin on "Fuzzzion"
Michael Sembello - guitar on "Fuzzzion"
Vocals: Alexandra Brown, Lynn Davis, Howard Hewett, James Ingram, Josie James, Marcy Levy, Phil Perry, Carl Carwell, Joey Diggs, Johnny Gill, Natalie Jackson, Keith John, Jeffrey Osborne
Night After Night
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