Yeah; this is what cop-show music sounded like before it became dull and devoid of personality—slow, sleek, exotic, sweaty, and tough. Not that anything on this pHo Records compilation ever accompanied Erik Estrada or his prime-time peers on patrol, but it definitely reminds me more than anything else of motorcycles and tight khaki uniforms, and that we-eee-eeeee-EEEEEE synthesizer squeal at the end of the ChiPS credits.
Coolin’: A Soul Jazz Journey is part of pHo’s Freedom Jazz Dance Series, a voyage into the deep grooves of ‘70s soul jazz, funk, and Latin jazz. It’s a great series—I’ve also got The Latin Jazz Experience and Jumpin’ Jazz: Real Jazz for Those Who Feel Jazz, and all of these albums delve into some pretty obscure stacks, dusting off hidden treasures by the likes of Carlos Garnett and Harold Ousley.
The focus is on music from the Muse label (the exception on Coolin’ being Jimmy Heath’s "Fau Lu"). Though the majority of the tracks was recorded in the ‘70s, three cuts on Coolin’ are from the ‘80s ("Love for Sale," "Cheeka’s Dance," and Jimmy Ponder’s "Bumpin’ on Sunset"—a Wes Montgomery cover). But without prior familiarity to this music, or a look at the liner notes, you’d never notice the chronological discrepancy. This stuff is true to form.
Bass, vibes, and horns, and organ (Rhodes and B-3) take up much of the aural real estate on Coolin’; the atmosphere is laid-back—laid far, far back—hell, it’s sprawled out on the recliner.
Catalyst’s "New Found Truths" starts the show with a long, static shot of an Eldorado prowling the hazy L.A. streets, stopping to check out the skinny black girl loitering on the corner.
Jimmy Heath’s "Angel Man" would be where the two shady-looking characters in the car take the young woman to a warehouse and put a blindfold and gag on her.
It being the ‘70s and all, nothing too graphic is shown, so the scene fades down and into Dave Pike’s rendition of Cole Porter’s "Love for Sale."
By this time, a rough-and-tumble young detective named Rick Slaughter has gotten wind of an anonymous tip. He recruits his partner, Don "Badge" Pulaski, and they point Slaughter’s car toward a meat-packing plant in East L.A. Cue Richard "Groove" Holmes’s "Cheeka’s Dance" (written by the song’s trumpeter, Cecil Bridgewater).
And so forth. Coolin’ is indeed macho. It fights crime. It smokes. It has languorous love scenes with woozy, feather-haired blondes. It reads you your rights, delivers a monologue about Honor and Respect straight into the camera, puts on its helmet, and takes off down a surprisingly low-traffic freeway.
"New Found Truths" and "Fau Lu" are the best of the selections on Coolin’. The latter builds upon its Afro-Cuban rumble with melodic flutes, trombone, and Jimmy Heath’s saxophones, and the freaky rhythmic whirlwind of Mtume’s percussion and congas. It’s the album’s least-campy track, and helps lend an air of credibility to the project.
Much of the music dubbed "soul jazz" has been notably influential to new forms of jazz and dance music—acid jazz, trip-hop, jungle, dub, and even more mainstream auteurs of music and film, like Beck and Quentin Tarantino.
It may be so successful among DJs and musicians because it puts a magnifying glass to the stereotypes of ‘70s tackiness—conjuring up pictures of red velvet carpets, stolen diamonds, bell-bottoms, huge, low-riding American automobiles, and Elliott Gould. Once you get past the cheese factor, the songs are actually quite good, alternately erotic and intimidating.
You gotta get Coolin’. If you’re a DJ, pop some of this in the player and the girls will come around to chat you up and buy you drinks. If you’re throwing a party, give this a spin and watch as your friends put down their hors d’oeuvres and start to pair off with attractive members of their preferred gender. If you’re alone, get out those large, clunky headphones you used to listen to Soft Machine with in your room 25 years ago, and let Coolin' carry you off to a happy new place.
Track Listing:
Catalyst – "New Found Truths" (Muse, 1972)
Jimmy Heath – "Angel Man" (Muse, 1972)
Dave Pike – "Love for Sale" (Muse, 1981)
Groove Holmes – "Cheeka’s Dance" (Muse, 1988)
Kenny Barron – "Dawn" (Muse, 1973)
Jimmy Ponder –"Bumpin’ on Sunset" (Muse, 1988)
Jimmy Heath – "Fau Lu" (Landmark, 1974)
Buster Williams (featuring Roy Ayers) – "Vibrations" (Muse, 1976)
