SOD: Stuff "Live at Montreux 1976" ("Foots" into "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" into "The Gadd Solo")

This is rhythm & blues / funk at its finest. Imagine this. Bassist Gordon Edwards is contracting and playing studio sessions. He's already been working with guitarist Cornell Dupree in this capacity, but keyboard virtuoso, Richard Tee, is also working on a job in the area. One of Edward's clients, Queen Esther Marrow, asks to use the studio band at a club date (at Mikell's) one night. The gig goes so well, that the group starts showing up every night, Monday to Thursday. Ultimately Ester Marrow leaves, but drummer Steve Gadd and guitarist Eric Gale catch wind of the musicians impromptu jam, and start appearing on a nightly basis. Suddenly, a band is born. The rest is history, as eventually someone at Warner Bros. is contacted, flies in to hear them play, and offers them a record deal.

Stuff, has an exceptional and unique flavor. There is also a liquidity to their sound that is best emphasized in their live recordings. As chords change and the music progresses, you can hear each player mold themselves around the others. Whether it be to a melody or soloist, each part rises and falls in perfect correspondence with the others. It's subtle, because they're so good. Taken separately, each part itself is very involved. Richard Tee holds down some tremendous chords and intricate rhythmic runs, a one man band himself. He's a freak of nature behind the black and whites, and to this day I've never heard anyone play like him. We lost him too soon. Steve Gadd, widely considered one of the best session drummers, has impecable timing and taste. This clip ends with the beginning of his drum solo (which is marvelous), but its his continuous drive through the entire performance that keeps the band and audience on its toes. There's no substitute for those sticks. Bassist Gordon Edwards is responsible for putting the group together, and in that same vein, he keeps the entire sound grounded with some seriously heavy, funk bass. 

The guitar work on this album is a lesson in control. Never overbearing, always working together and sharing the stage, with perfect tone. Cornell Dupree is one of the best sidemen ever to hold an axe. He worked with an incredible array of artists, but I'm always drawn back to the beginning of his career, when he played in the Atlantic Records studio bands. It was there that he played on such recordings as Aretha Live at Fillmore West. This album is absolutely not to be overlooked, it is hands down my singular favorite piece of her work. He also lent his hand to Donny Hathaway's live album, recorded right here at The Bitter End in the West Village, NYC. Live is an incredible piece of Donny Hathaways collection, and Dupree brought a finespun cleverness to the sound. He also has an amazing solo on the final track "Voices Inside (Everything is Everything)" - solo begins around 5:50. Much thanks to Matt for passing that album my way.

The second half of the guitar equation belongs to another notable session musician, Eric Gale. It's estimated that he played on as many as 500 albums. Like Dupree, he recorded with Aretha, Cocker, King Curtis, and Grover Washington Jr., among many others. He also had a stint in Aretha's stage band. But as far as my listening is concerned, Eric Gale's best stuff, came with Stuff. When I first heard Stuff, I started dissecting it's parts one by one, and when I came to Eric Gale, I wasn't all that into his solo work. It had the flavor of Lee Ritenour, and his studio albums seemed a bit overproduced. But with Stuff, it was always the right mixture. He and Cornell had excellent chemistry, and their work together in this capacity is absolutely some of my all time favorite.