Isaac Hayes Movement - Disco Connection (1975) (LP) - €10,00

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Disco Connection is the eighth studio album by American soul musician Isaac Hayes. 

The album, credited to his backing band, The Isaac Hayes Movement, was released in 1975. 

The album debuted at number 85 on the Billboard 200.

While obviously playing in on trends - see the title - 'Disco Connection' is less formulaic dance fare than disco-inspired smooth funk, which in itself is hardly surprising as Hayes himself unwittingly laid the groundworks for what became disco music. 

The most glaring nod to the booming mirrorball aesthetic is the disc's title-track: "Disco Connection" is pure energy, with Hall laying down an incessant four-to-the-floor beat, with the downbeats spruced up with delayed echo effects. Warbled, gurgling electric piano riffs and razor sharp guitar licks keep the jam interesting, as do the hard hitting, punchy horns and the sweeping string chart. 

For the record: the single version was a #10 hit in the UK!

That's about as disco as it gets, for "Disco Shuffle" is more shuffle than disco, a weird, mid-70s revamp of Jump Blues, layered in jazzy horns and spiced up throughout with dirty, bluesy guitar fills by newcomer Anthony Shinault, conjuring up the shadow of the mighty Albert King.

The remainder of the album is more smooth soul with a dash of funk than disco, as is witnessed by opener "The First Day of Forever", a gently rollicking mid-tempo work-out featuring delicious, warm horn lines perfectly mixed with a jubilant, upbeat string motif. That same breezy, lightly funky atmosphere is present on "St. Thomas Square" with its teasing, incessant horn riff and a gorgeous flute solo.

"Vykki" is probably the LP's most serene moment and could have wound up as a love theme on any of Hayes' soundtrack productions. On the opposite end of the scale comes "Choppers", the hardest funk excursion here, complete with Shaft-esque drumming patterns, brooding horns, cascading strings and Pitts' inimitable wah wah guitar noodlings.

The lilting, hypnotizing groove of the Latin-tinged "After Five" is perfect cooling down music, especially when the strings come shimmering in, while closer "Aruba" is not so much a venture into Caribbean territory as it is a snazzy, horn-heavy slab of funk with some unorthodox sound effects - creating a nice buzzy drone - and one of Hayes' most inventive string charts.

'Disco Connection' was, then, above all a testament of how well-oiled a machine The Movement had become, not settling for a disco dance tour de force, but showcasing its jazzy, bluesy, funky chops on a nice selection of finely crafted smooth soul waxings.

Released virtually in tandem with Isaac's solo project 'Groove-A-Thon', the album had a decent showing on the charts, but would remain The Movement's sole outing.

Side A

A1.  The First Day Of Forever - 4:38

A2.  St. Thomas Square - 5:52

A3.  Vykkii - 4:56

A4.  Disco Connection - 6:14

Side B

B1.  Disco Shuffle - 8:12

B2.  Choppers - 4:30

B3.  After Five - 5:00

B4.  Aruba - 5:32

Companies, etc.

• Published By – Incense Productions, Inc.
• Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Hot Buttered Soul Recording Co., Inc.
• Distributed By – ABC Records, Inc.
• Recorded At – Hot Buttered Soul Recording Studio
• Mastered At – ABC Recording Studios
• Pressed By – Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Terre Haute

Credits

• Alto Saxophone – Bill Easley, Emerson Able
• Arranged By – Johnny Allen (tracks: B4)
• Art Direction – Tom Wilkes
• Baritone Saxophone – Floyd Newman
• Bass Guitar – Erroll Thomas
• Bass Trombone – Gary Russell
• Congas – Jimmy Thompson
• Design – Earl R. Klasky
• Drums, Tambourine – Willie Hall
• Drums, Tambourine, Temple Block – Willie Cole
• Engineer, Engineer [Remix] – Henry Bush, Roosevelt Green
• French Horn – Bryant Munch, Richard Dolph
• Guitar – Charles Pitts (tracks: A4, B1, B4), Michael Toles, William Vaughn
• Keyboards – Sidney Kirk
• Keyboards, Arranged By – Lester Snell
• Mastered By [Mastering Engineer] – Lanky Linstrot
• Photography By [Back Cover Photo] – Ron Slenzak
• Photography By [Cover Photo] – Olivier Ferrand
• Producer, Keyboards, Synthesizer, Arranged By, Engineer [Remix], Written-By – Isaac Hayes
• Soloist, Guitar – Anthony Shinault (tracks: B1, B3)
• Soloist, Saxophone – Bill Easley (tracks: A2)
• Strings – The Memphis Strings
• Tenor Saxophone – Darnell Smith, Tommy Williams
• Trombone – Bill Flores, Jackie Thomas
• Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Ben Cauley, Edgar Matthews, Johnny Davis, William Taylor

Recorded at Hot Buttered Soul Recording Studios, Memphis, Tennessee
Mastered at ABC Recording Studios, Los Angeles

Notes

Release:  1975

Format:  LP, Vinyl

Genre:  Soul, Funk

Label:  ABC Records

Catalog#  27 015 XOT

Vinyl:  Goed (VG)

Cover: Goed (VG)

Prijs: €10,00