Product Description

This is INDEED THE Emerald GREEN AUDIOPHILE SERIES CD- We do not make the standard Aluminum on this record- ECD Sounds better check website for further details- NOW FOR THE GOOD STUFF: Straight Ahead Records critically acclaimed latest release, Neil Larsen and Orbit featuring Robben Ford, Jimmy Haslip (Yellowjackets), & Tom Brechtlein (Chick Corea). With Gary Meek and Lee Thornburg! Grammy nominated keyboardist Larsen has fashioned a record that moves from Jazz, Blues, Funk, Latin and hints of fusion & cool throughout. The eerie title track Orbit is punctuated by some bristling guitar by Ford, who weaves in and out of the catchy horn melodies throughout. You won't find a better sounding recording anywhere as well. Why? Straight Ahead Records owners Bernie Grundman & Producer Stewart Levine (Jazz Crusaders, Simply Red, Jamie Cullum) use state-of-the-art recording techniques and record 'live', without overdubs or effects, directly to disc. This pure sound adds to the sensitivity of ballads like Arioso and From A Dream, and enhances the punch of Day Train and the rollicking Sudden Samba. Blogs to High End Mags agree they haven't heard Neil or Robben ever recorded this well! With ace drummer Brechtlein providing the fireworks (Shing) and the keyboards and horns leading the way, treat yourself to a spin in this Orbit!

Track Listing

1. Orbit
2. C Note
3. Deamonette
4. Aztec Legend
5. From A Dream
6. Day Train
7. Shing
8. Intimo
9. Jungle Fever
10. Sudden Samba
11. Red Desert
12. Midnight Pass

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20863 in Music
• Released on: 2007-11-01
• Number of discs: 1

Review
If you really want to get a handle on exactly how great Robben is as a guitarist, listen to the Orbit CD through a good set of headphones. If you listen to what he's doing in the background, Jungle Fever & Sudden Samba are good examples, you'll discover why he's the finest guitar player on the scene today. And, as much as Robben enjoys singing and playing the blues (he mentioned it several times at last year's October clinic), he really shines when part of a jazz/blues group without vocals. Just listen to the musicianship on this CD and how inspired Robben is in his playing.........not just wonderful solos, but incredible rhythm chops. IMHO..........that's where he really shows what an incredible musician he is! Forget diagnosing what he's doing.......just feel what he's playing.........if it doesn't make you sway & tap your foot constantly, you've got to be dead! I'd love to see him perform live with this band.........what a treat that would be. While I love other players as well, no one has his feel for the instrument. This is one monster guitar player! --robbenford website online

Review
-Vintage Guitar Magazine- Neil Larsen is, or course, a wonderful keyboard player, but the guitarist in the all-star band here is Robben Ford. And, the recording is from Straight Ahead, which makes it a live-to-2-track recording. So, we have a lot of things here that make this a special record. First, let s talk about the compositions. All 12 tracks are memorable for various reasons and the band, besides Larsen and Ford, includes Jimmy Haslip on bass, Tom Brechtlein on drums, Gary Meek on saxophone, and Lee Thornburg on trumpet. It s a formidable line-up and it works well. For our purposes, let s talk guitar. Most of this is some form of fusion, and Ford s in fine form. Whether it s a percolating funk like the title cut which finds Robben playing an amazingly cool jazz solo, the lovely slow jazz shuffle C Note which plays to Robben s bluesy strengths, or the organ trio sound of Red Desert , which lets Robben echo Wes Montgomery, he s always on. It s hard in this day and age to find a player whose tone and choice of notes always seem perfect. This live setting also tends to favor Ford, who always seems to rise to the ... All of these guys know how to get their part of the conversation in and make it count. It s a must for Robben and fusion fans, and just a good listen, in general for other fans. --Vintage Guitar Magazine -John Heidt

Review
... how much I am enjoying my purchase from Straight Ahead Records. The music is phenomenal and the sonics of each recording is truly breathtaking. ... the Orbit CD, which has not left my car changer since I put it in... -Steve L.A. --Another satisfied customer

Customer Reviews

The finest instrumental cd of 2007!
Being that Neil Larsen's 1979 masterpiece "Jungle Fever" is my all-time favorite album (and I have owned at least a thousand), I was WAY looking forward to this! Not only does it feature Neil's incredibly melodic compositions (some from "Jungle Fever" and one or two from his follow up "High Gear"), but the musicianship is world class! One of my favorite guitarists (the magnificent Robben Ford) is featured throughout, and plays in a jazzier style than he often does, though still keeping a bluesy touch. The other players are great as well: Jimmy Haslip(Yellowjackets),Tom Breichtlein(Robben Ford and the Blue Line), and Gary Meek (Hollywood session great). The tunes are absolutely gorgeous, in a word, memorable. Highlights are, "From A Dream", one of the prettiest melodies I've heard), "Midnight Pass" (a beautiful melody from Neil's Full Moon 1972 album with guitar great Buzz Feiten, and if you have not heard that you are seriously missing out!), and Red Desert, a soft samba with a fantastic Robben Ford solo! Neil plays fabulous piano throughout, and this time out his tunes are in a more straight ahead jazz style than the fusion-y Jungle Fever. I must also mention the unbelievable sound of this live in studio recording (by legend Bernie Grundman), this is indeed one of the best sounding cds I've ever owned. I have never been so sure of anything as I am of recommending this cd highly. It really is essential!

A glorious anachronism . . .
Music and albums like this are, sadly, out of style these days, and even in the heyday of fusion they were never the most popular sounds on the planet. So it's all the more amazing that this CD somehow snuck out of the studio and made it to market for the (presumably) tiny cult which remembers, misses and still cherishes great instrumental music performed with verve and virtuosity.

As a fan of Neil Larsen's work going back to the very first Full Moon record, how this one got past me when it was initially released, I don't know. But I discovered upon first listening, Orbit is one of the most enjoyable small ensemble jazz records ever made and destined to be a lifelong favorite in my collection. Whether it's the astonishing warmth and transparency of the recording itself (CD's just don't normally sound this good!) or the stellar musicianship and ESP-like interplay of everyone performing or whether it's Neil Larsen's gorgeous compositions re-imagined for this setting, or maybe Robben Ford's sinuous guitar setting those terrific melodies on fire with jaw-dropping solos (`tho I miss Neil and Buzz Feiten's patented unison playing on the melody lines just a little), there's a wealth of reasons to just flat fall in love with this album.

I can't add anything to the superlatives the other reviewers have heaped on it, but I was so smitten by Orbit, I just had to add another voice to the "buy-it-now" chorus - before music this exquisite dips even further below our cultural radar.

You won't be disappointed, just buy the record!
A simple review. If you like hearing a band back each other like they'd grown up together, buy this record. If you want to hear some of the best solo's Robben's ever played, get it. If you are afraid of the word fusion, friends, no need to fear. This record has the best of all words, never abrasive, very uplifting. Its never pretentious the way some soloists can be. Elements of Jazz, Funk, Blues, Latin Jazz, Fusion(easy now) , and a healthy dose of love. Its not just the band that has it folks- This record is for you. Its from the people that call their label "the peoples record label". No corporate mucky mucks in their entire(tiny) organization. In fact they don't even record at a recording studio, its at Bernie Grundman Mastering - Bernie's behind it, I'm buying it- The guy that makes Thriller, Herbie Hancock, Jazz & classical re-issues, even top pop records like Stefani, Aguilera , Outkast etc..when that guy says this is HIS labor of love, I'm listening. Behind this label are hearts of gold, and a fanaticism for great sound that should've been around long ago to help save this era of crap in- crap out and declining rapidly is the quality. They can't buy stuff that works well enough to make records ...so they built the recording gear- thats nuts and I love it. Everything is live- read the web page about Straight Ahead Records ---Listen folks, a vote for this, is a vote for better things in every genre and the future of music FOR YOU!---because if these guys make any money, it'll go into the next record. It won't only be one genre- I asked them at a show- they're about ready to tackle other stuff too and I can't wait-
Keep it up legends, keep it up crusaders, there's still some of us that care.