Top Tweets for #RootSoul

Album of the day. In the late '70s, guitarist and keyboardist James Mason decided to move on from being an ace player in Roy Ayers' Ubiquity band and cut a solo album on the jazz label Chiaroscuro. Recruiting the talents of drummer Narada Michael Walden (way before his fame as a big-time pop and R&B producer), Gene Torres on bass, and saxist Justo Almario, 1977's Rhythm of Life is a virtuoso gem of sophisticated mid-'70s jazz-funk and fusion. The album made great use of emerging technology of the time, employing mellow ARP Odyssey synth-laden grooves over Clarice Taylor's silky smooth voice. Perhaps the well-known cut on here is its lone single, "Sweet Power Your Embrace," a breezy jazz-funk ditty that's as infectious as any other from the era. Other highlights include the Roy Ayers-leaning "Free," "Funny Girl," "Slick City," and the swaying "Good Thing," which all bore a clear influence on acid jazz outfits like Incognito, Jamiroquai, and Brand New Heavies. An underground favorite upon its release, Rhythm of Life didn't quite reach a bigger audience as it was too funky for jazz stations and too jazzy for soul stations. It faded into obscurity until it was rediscovered in the '80s thanks to the UK's rare groove scene. James Mason never went on to release an official follow-up to this rare classic. As renewed interest grew into the 2000s, unreleased material surfaced.