Re: good, great r&b...

DEREK.M.BOONE@sprint.sprint.com
Fri, 13 Mar 1998 13:51:03 -0800 (PST)



> i still like them up till at least '75. dig the albums "open our eyes",
> "gratitude" (1/2 of it is live--that's the *dope* shit), hell i even like
> "spirit"--how can you not groove on "burnin' bush"? when larry dunn (keys)
> left the group that was the beginning of the end...

When did Larry Dunn leave?

>
> ji> The Pharoahs--Luv n Haight's rerelease of Awakenings and their own
> ji> compilation From the Basement are some more excellent fusions of jazz
> ji> with r&b. Their rendition of "Tracks of my Tears" has made me
ji> reappreciate a song that grew tired in my childhood due to my mother's

>
> isn't this an early incarnation of ewf?
>
> -t

I don't know specifics, but one or two members of the pharoahs became
involved with EWF. Since at least 7 or 8 musicians worked with each group
in the late 60s/early 70s, it doesn't seem to me that the pharoahs lead to
ewf, or that ewf is an offshoot from the pharoahs. I don't how early ewf
began, but at least for a short time,70-71or72, both groups existed and
played separately. of course both groups were playing around with similar
ideas of combining r&b, funk, jazz, and various African rhythms (don't
know where in Africa specifically...). So when the Pharoahs split up, it
makes sense that a couple of their members would become involved with EWF.
-Jay