Ronnie Foster: Two Headed Freap (Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series) [BLUE NOTE]

Why you'll love it

Part of the Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series, this 180g stereo reissue was mastered at Cohearent Audio. "Mystic Brew" became one of hip hop's most loved samples, most famously on A Tribe Called Quest's "Electric Relaxation."

This edition

• Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series
• 180g vinyl
• Mastered at Cohearent Audio
• Stereo
• Pressed in Germany

About the album

Plenty of people know this record without knowing they know it. Ronnie Foster was a young organist when Blue Note brought him to Rudy Van Gelder's studio on January 20 and 21, 1972, for his first album as a leader, with Dr. George Butler producing and Wade Marcus writing the arrangements.

The band is a soul-jazz dream: George Devens on vibes, Gene Bertoncini on guitar, George Duvivier and Gordon Edwards sharing bass duties, Jimmy Johnson on drums, Arthur Jenkins on congas and Eugene Bianco on harp. Foster's organ sits right in the middle of it all, bright and bubbling. He wrote five of the eight tunes, including the strutting "Chunky," the title track and the slow, shimmering "Mystic Brew," and he turns three hits of the day into organ grooves: Al Green's "Let's Stay Together," Wilson Pickett's "Don't Knock My Love" and Gamble and Huff's "Drowning in the Sea of Love."

AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave it four and a half stars, calling it "cinematic, colorful, and funky." It also closes with a tune called "Kentucky Fried Chicken," which we mention purely so you know what you're getting into.

Also at Kops: more Ronnie Foster on vinyl · browse Classic Jazz

Tracklist

Listen

On Blue Note (cat# 4535203), a reissue of the 1972 album.