Artist: Jan Hammer Group
Album: Melodies
Genre: Jazz-Funk, Fusion, Crossover Jazz
Label: Wounded Bird Records
Released: 1977/1999
Quality: FLAC (tracks+.cue)
Tracklist:
1. Too Much To Lose 2:49
2. Peaceful Sundown 3:58
3. I Sing 4:21
4. Honey 5379 2:42
5. Window Of Love 3:32
6. What It Is 2:59
7. Don't You Know 3:02
8. Just For Fun 4:20
9. Hyperspace 3:42
10. Who Are They? 6:17
11. Your Love 3:38
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Personnel:
Jan Hammer - synths, electric piano, Mellotron (1,11), piano (5,11), drums (1,5,7), congas (1), backing vocals, producer
Steven Kindler - acoustic & electric violins, bass (7), cello & electric guitar (9), backing vocals
Fernando Saunders - bass, piccolo bass, acoustic guitar & cello (3), lead (3,7,10), harmony & backing vocals
Tony Smith - drums, lead (1,2,4-6,8) & backing vocals
By the time of Melodies, keyboardist Jan Hammer had largely shed his more experimental tendencies and settled into a comfortable, R&B-based fusion groove. The tracks on Melodies tend to be between two-and-a-half and four-and-a-half minutes -- just about the length of most pop songs -- and so some hardcore jazz listeners might be dismayed at the relative lack of boundary-stretching, even though that isn't really the point of this music. Melodies doesn't quite catch fire as often as some of its predecessors -- Like Children and Oh, Yeah?, for example -- but its best moments are catchy, accessible, and funky.
Review by Steve Huey