Sweet dreamer (Lenny White) (LP 2576)

Lenny White  Big City (Vinyl, Nemperor Records, 1977) ***  

Genre: Jazz fusion; Nemperor Records 

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Dreams Come And Go Away

Gear costume: Big City

Active compensatory factors: This is Lenny's second and final album on Nemperor Records (the awesome Venusian Summer was the first).

This one is more eclectic, flutes and strings appear and it even has a song (Sweet Dreamer) with vocals by guest - Linda Tillery. It begins each side with a hefty slice of fusion and a live track, And We Meet Again, rounds out a slightly inconsistent album. 

The musicianship is first class, with guests like Neal Shon, Herbie Hancock, Brian Auger's Oblivion Express, Jerry Goodman, Jan Hammer and Marcus Miller all appearing on various tracks.

Where do they all belong? That's it for Lenny but loads more obscure things to collect on Nemperor Records.

Prince of the sea (Lenny White) (LP 2267)

Lenny White  Venusian Summer (Vinyl, Nemperor Records, 1975) *****  

Genre: Jazz fusion 

Places I remember: Amoeba Records (LA)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Venusian Summer Suite

Gear costume: Prince Of The Sea 

Active compensatory factors: Lenny White is an outrageously gifted drummer who plays in the jazz fusion world, mainly with the fusion band Return To Forever. 

He has played with Jackie Mclean and Miles Davis as well, so he knows what he's doing!

He also has a solo career and Venusian Summer was his debut album in 1975. Some of the other musicians joining him on the album - David Sancious and guitarists Larry Coryell/ Al Di Meola on Prince Of The Sea.

I really like this funk fusion groove Lenny gets going on the album. Doug Rauch on bass is a big part of that as he and Lenny lay down the rhythms.

Where do they all belong? I don't have any other solo albums aside from a best of compilation on CD. Elsewhere though he pops up in various places - most notably in Return To Forever.

In the past, I have flirted with the idea of collecting the Nemperor jazz label (the 1974 to 1977 version before they were absorbed into CBS/Epic). Mainly because I like what they released and as with Grunt, Apple, Ring 'O' and Dark Horse records - I really like the label design (the stylised 'N' and the colour really appeals). Plus, there is a Brian Epstein connection.

One of the problems is that Nemperor was distributed by Atlantic Records from 1974 to 77, so some of the catalogue is listed on the cover as being Nemperor, but the actual label is Atlantic. Little Children by Hammer/Goodman is a case in point.

The other slight issue is the eclectic nature of the catalogue (jazz fusion, pop, rock) but that didn't stop me with Apple or Dark Horse.

So far I've resisted the temptation but I remain on the lookout.

Love is like a roll of tape, It's real good for making two things one (Flight Of The Conchords)

Music is love and so music flowed all around us during Samantha and Jesse's wedding last week.

I made a couple of suggestions for the ceremony that they liked and used: All You Need Is Love (the Fabs) for walking down the aisle and Gonna Fly Now (Bill Conti) for leaving. Both worked a treat. Love IS all you need and, like Rocky, the ONLY way is to be positive and fly!

As well as that, the importance of the right music was central to the after party as well. Jesse and Fanfa used the Sello Tape (Flight Of The Conchord) song for their first dance and Fanfa and I danced to I Saw Her Standing There to get the party started.

Brilliant!

Amoeba Records, 1855 Haight St.

Being me I couldn't let a trip to SF go by without visits to record shops. One in particular drew me back time and again: Amoeba Records on Haight St.

WOW! What a record store. I picked up stuff I didn't know existed (a Jellyfish live album) and stuff I'd been after for years - Hot Tuna's Yellow Fever and Lenny White's Venusian Summer.

In all I came back with a pile of CDs and records that I am slowly digesting.

As I'm doing so I'm noticing how many are actually San Franciscan bands: Dan Hicks and his Hot Licks, Hot Tuna, Jefferson Starship - Jefferson's Tree of Liberty (a Paul Kantner project from 2008 that passed me by at the time), Jellyfish, and neXus ROCK.

neXus ROCK? Who they? http://www.nexusrock.com/#!band/cadp has details and songs.

neXus ROCK are a (very young) San Franciscan band who we (Jacky, Jade and moi) watched outside the Hard Rock Cafe down on the docks area. They rocked up a storm delivering  a hybrid 2013 sound. They were giving away a free CD with three tracks on it. Avocado is the pick of the bunch with a sunny west coast sound fused to a Fishbone style beat. I like it!

Jade and I voted for them in the Hard Rock Cafe best young bands competition, results out next week apparently. They should do well.