Cool to hear someone else is into JL, a true muso's muso...though the further back you go with his releases, the better they get. In the late 70s & in the 80s he did some great, soulful stuff, full of intricate horn arrangements & life-affirming, machine-driven jazz funk. I've often thought he might perhaps be an unrecognized influence on Detroit techno, never having received the kind of notice reserved for Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode, Herbie Hancock, YMO, etc., or to a lesser extent, George Duke. His keyboard chops are phenomenal on these early recordings, yet there's also a melodic, melancholic vibe, an unspoken yearning present that lifts much of the material to a new, proto-techno level; that same moody feel you can hear, for instance, in Carl Craig's "Domina" remix or Kenny Larkin's masterful "Without." Something about those chords...
A lot of it may be down to the equipment--trying to squeeze new sounds & emotions out of circuitry that's only just up to the task. On his 1984 'Step by Step' album, Lorber lists: Yamaha DX1, KX1, DX7, Oberheim OB8, Xpander, DSX, Emulator II, Cooper Midi Interface & Disk drive, Wave 2,3 Waveterm, Rockman, Linndrum, Simmons, SDS7, SDS8, & Minimoog. The sounds & syncopated rhythms (aided throughout by tricky panning techniques), remind me not only of May's classic material, but also of some of Hakan Lidbo's fresh 'Tech Couture' tracks. And "Step by Step," the title track, with Audrey Wheeler on lead vocals --powered by a relentless, chunky synth bassline--finds a strong echo in Recloose's wickedly deep'n'funky remix of Herbert's "Leave Me Now," as well. Anyway, the best Jeff Lorber Fusion releases are pretty rare now, & his rather bland-sounding recent output mostly lacks that techno-soul longing for the ineffable. If you ever have a chance, though, take a decent listen (on a good system), to "Pacific Coast Highway" off 'Step'...4'42" seconds of pristine musical bliss that (re)maps mind & body into the sweetest of configurations. Wes On Sun, 22 Apr 2001, Rhythm Droid wrote: > *Squarepusher- Port Rhombus (Warp) > *Derrick May- Icon (Montage Mix?) (Transmat) > *Aril Brikha- Read Only Memory (Transmat) > *Aril Brikha- Groove La Chord (Tranmat) > *The Jeff Lorber Fusion- Rooftops (Arista) > *The Jeff Lorber Fusion- City (Arista) > *Hi Tek 3 feat. Ya Kid K - Spin That Wheel (yeah, so shoot me, it's from my > childhood > *Ryuichi Sakamoto- BTTB > *YMO- Yellow Magic Orchestra (?) > *Model 500- Ocean to Ocean (Transmat Classics) > > somebody else on this list digs Jeff Lorber, too, who was that?
