Thursday, June 16, 2011

DOES ANYBODY REMEMBER THE ASTRAL PIRATES?








Lenny White's album ADVENTURES OF ASTRAL PIRATES is regarded as one of the greatest ever Jazz-Rock-Fusion albums.The Adventures of Astral Pirates is a jazz-fusion masterpiece with a futuristic science-fiction theme. Star Wars was number one at the box office when, in 1977, White produced this disc with Al Kooper, and perhaps Elektra was hoping to cash in on the film's popularity.

If you open the record's foldout cover, you can read White's tale of sci-fi battles that take place in the fifth millennium A.D. But you don't have to be a sci-fi fan to appreciate the mostly instrumental songs on this imaginative, risk-taking album, which finds White blending a jazz/rock/funk foundation with elements of everything from Middle Eastern music to Asian music.

I have fond memories of that album. My friend, G. W. Thomas had bought it (back in the days of vinyl albums) and we listened to it over and over again. Having a sci-fi themed album was so cool. I'm listening to the tracks now on my computer and the music still holds up after all these years, but I do miss having the huge, fold out album with the liner notes and the amazing artwork. The convenience of a digital download doesn't make up for extras like that.

Listen to the prelude:




Want to hear more? You can sample more tracks at allmusic.com. Or you can buy the CD from cduniverse.com.


I've been here and there. I've drawn a lot of pictures. I've written a bit, too. I'm not good at this self-promotion thing. Look, you want to know about me? just visit these websites. Okay?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

1 comment:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I remember Billy Thorpe from that time frame, but not Astral pirates.

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