Since those days, Lorber and his colleagues have scaled the heights of popularity, touring internationally and garnering six Grammy Award nominations. Working with Chick and Joe, we were able to get national exposure, which helped my career immensely.”
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He was very supportive and a super nice guy. In the ’70s, I made friends with Chick by writing him letters and sending him some transcriptions of his music. Luckily, I had a budget big enough to hire some name players on my follow-up album Soft Space, and I was able to get Chick and Joe Farrell. “Without Chick Corea,” he says, “I might not have a career! My first record came out on a small label called Inner City. Meek, on soprano sax, and Laws appear on one of the album’s highlights, “Chick,” which is dedicated to the late Chick Corea, an important early figure for Lorber.
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Jackson’s guitars-a regular component of another Lorber-led group, Jazz Funk Soul-enliven “Back Room” and “Truth,” while Landau’s take the spotlight for “Sun Princess,” “Louisiana,” and the ballad “Day One.” Mann plays and provides horn arrangements on “Back Room,” “Memorex” (co-written by Lorber, Richard Elliot, Gerald Albright, and Rick Braun), “Louisiana,” “Curiosity,” “Truth,” and the reprise of “Memorex” that closes the album. Mintzer, known for his work with Haslip (among many others) in the Yellowjackets, can be heard on tenor sax on four Space-Time cuts: the opening title track, “Mind Reader,” “Curiosity,” and “Truth” the middle two of those also feature Ford on guitar. I was able to really focus on the record, and this album benefited positively from that.” One thing that was different, however, was the absence of live touring. “So from that standpoint it wasn’t that different from a normal record. “Over the last number of years most of us have gotten used to tracking at home,” Lorber says. Most of the musicians contributed their parts remotely, but Lorber and Novak were able to record together in the same studio. and Europe.Although Lorber spent much of the past year’s pandemic producing other artists-including Herb Alpert, Richard Elliot, Norman Brown, and Alexander Zonjic-he also continued to write his own new material, much of which appears on Space-Time. The album was recorded primarily at JHL Sound in Pacific Palisades, California, with additional recording done at other studios in the U.S. David Mann provides horn arrangements and Lenny Castro percussion. Also lending a hand are drummers Ash Soan, Gary Novak and Vinnie Colaiuta saxophonist Gary Meek and guitarists Michael Thompson and Paul Jackson Jr. Step It Up is more inside the Jeff Lorber Fusion box but has some new and interesting twists.”Īssisting the pair in creating those twists is a team of world-class musicians, including two former bandmates of Haslip’s in the award-winning fusion band Yellowjackets: saxophonist Bob Mintzer and guitarist Robben Ford. “That one was a full-on experimental recording. “We were motivated to find a new direction following Hacienda,” adds Haslip. This record puts us back in a more familiar Jeff Lorber Fusion groove while we explore some new uncharted areas.” The title Step It Up, says Lorber, “reflects the music: optimistic, energetic and an attempt to ‘step up’ our game-our compositions, production and improvisation-to the next level.
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The longtime colleagues also co-produced the recording. The fourth consecutive collaboration between GRAMMY®-nominated keyboardist/composer/producer Jeff Lorber and GRAMMY®-winning bassist/composer/ producer Jimmy Haslip since the two virtuosos reactivated Jeff Lorber Fusion five years ago, Step It Up features 11 new Lorber compositions, several co-written with Haslip. Jeff Lorber Fusion, whose previous release Hacienda was praised for its “impeccable musicianship and deep grooves” by JazzTimes and its “funky, rollicking jams” by All About Jazz, with Step It Up. Release features 11 new tracks co-produced by keyboardist Lorber and his longtime collaborator, bass legend Jimmy Haslip