Shape of Things to Come

This / debut album by signaled the arrival of a true star in the jazz scene. signed immediately after 's passing in 1968 -- he was being groomed for it by 's house producer, , and arranger, , before he ever came to . paired with arranger (who had done plenty of work on 's sides) and engineer and (both members of with whom had guested earlier that year), bassist , and pianist were all guests. 's core band for these dates included organist , drummer , and conguero . The usual strings, supplemental horns, and backing voices in certain places (all trademarks) are in place as well. All the stuff is here for to fit neatly into the mold -- except for one thing: is a strong-willed artist. He wasn't going anywhere he didn't want to go and insisted on a certain amount of control on the date, and it's all for the better. This is one steamy little album that starts innocently enough with a lithe soul-jazz tune called written by . The flutes and cellos answer the head played by . The strings fall in exotically as begins to stretch and answers with funk. 's guitar is not as smooth as 's; there is a defined edge in it and it's deep in the cut. Another interesting move was an experiment by to use the Varitone device with -like variable speed overdubs on his guitar. alternately talks back and drones as digs hard into the changes and keeps it simple but pronounced. , like , just goes nuts. By the time the strings and flute enter near the end your mind is already blown. wrote the cut as the theme song for a teensploitation flick called , and it was performed by turns it into a solid psychedelic soul-jazz number -- no grooves get lost; they just get under your skin. And so it goes through this set, from the radical revision of to a sweeping, slightly Latinized soul number given full jazz treatment -- the only facsimile concession that makes to the memory on the disc. 's huge brass arrangements pump the tune into something really progressive and tight. soars on it as well, but leaves plenty of space for 's righteous solo. contributes his own nocturnal jazzy blues with as if to say "I'm not ; that was yesterday." 's horn chart is punchy and underscores the blues in the tune, and the guitarist plays a killer solo in a relaxed, open manner, seducing the listener for the closer. Introduced by a lonesome, blues-drenched harmonica playing solo, as if in a freight yard, turn in a funky jazz rave-up of 's hit Other than the overly familiar melody line, this cut just takes off, with big bright horns, double-timing the band, half-timing it, and digging into both multi-string chord leads and single-string leads that he twins with 's organ about halfway through his break -- this is the sendoff this brilliant album deserves. is the true signal of 's arrival, not only as a major soloist, but as an artist who refuses to be pinned down four decades later. He's a pop star, a genius guitarist, a singer, a songwriter, and even now his own man. This is an album that deserves its classic status and wears it well these many years later. ~ Thom Jurek