Players Ball

Album Review

This is a good recording by a group of fusion stars (recorded live). The music has a slight commercial appeal, but contains plenty of wailing by all four musicians. Drummer Steve Smith is in peak form at a time when he was finally breaking his image as the drummer from Journey. Guitarist Scott Henderson, who eventually went on to be one of the few individualistic fusion players in the '90s, had not completely honed his style yet, sounding too much like Allan Holdsworth. Bassist extraodinaire Jeff Berlin proves to be the player among players here. Not only are his solos a technical marvel ("20,000 Prayers"), but his musicality and feel for playing a groove contribute greatly to the band's cohesive sound. T. Lavitz's keyboard chops are not as dominant as his fellow bandmates; however, they are more than adequate and he proves to be a fine colorist, setting the mood for each piece. This is a fine fusion recording from the '80s, something that was hard to come by during the explosion of commercial jazz. It's too bad that this group did not get to work together more, as they are a good fit for each other's styles.