Kudu, 1973
Produced by Creed Taylor
Recorded by Rudy Van Gelder
Arranged and Conducted by Bob James
Features Bob Cranshaw, Idris Muhammad, Joe Beck, and Ralph MacDonald.
I learned early on in my record collecting to buy anything with Creed Taylor's signature on it. I was thinking today about the magnitude of the role Taylor played in music. I wonder if there is a book on him. I wish Gilles Peterson would do a show dedicated to his music.
This album is some straight up cool 70s shit. It makes you want to start saying stuff like, "What's happening, slick?" and "My man! Everything is copacetic." You gotta walk with some rhythm when music like this is playing.
It opens with an instrumental cover of "Corazon", my favorite Carole King song. (Continuing my habit of reviewing other albums inside of the reviews I am writing: Carole King's album, Fantasy, is incredible and often overlooked. It features Harvey Mason and Tom Scott.) The album keeps getting better from there. The B-side starts with a 9 minute + cover of Stevie Wonder's "You've Got It Bad Girl". Totally worth picking up if you run across it.
