today's chillout music (237)

miroslav vitous / magical shepherd

Magical Shepherd was Weather Report bassist Miroslav Vitous' fourth effort as a leader, released after he left the band. It's a deep, raw, funky fusion record that features -- besides one of the most hideously stupid covers imaginable -- appearances by Herbie Hancock, Jack DeJohnette, drummer James Gadson, and percussionist Airto. Vocalists Cheryl Grainger and Onike contribute as well, making this as much a basement-party and groove record as a jazz one. Vitous played as much synth as Hancock on this set and took it to the limit on "Basic Laws," a nearly 12-minute excursion into space funk with all the grease attached. The nine-and-a-half-minute "New York City" was vying to be produced by Giorgio Moroder as a disco slab, while the completely gone singing on the title track made it a precursor to Sun Ra's Lanquidity album a few years later. (Imagine Star Trek doing the "Space Is the Place" episode brought to you by T.J. Swan or Boogie Down Wine.) While this album is very much a product of it's time, that doesn't make it bad -- not by a long shot. Magical Shepherd is one of the better, darker, and weirder fuzak albums of the time. There is no soul-jazz here -- this is pedal-to-the-metal, booty-grindin' R&B crossed with edgy monitors bleeding into the red-jamming and dark-angel vocals, sending the whole thing off into the stratosphere.