dreadpirateroberts On ‘Artisry’ Deodato’s arrangements of classical covers (and his Latin, smooth jazz pieces too) are fleshed out by an orchestra and it’s great to hear them with extra depth compared to the studio recordings.

The sound is maybe a bit ‘warmer’ in a live setting and the band seem to be having a good time too, which I noticed on “St. Louis Blues” and “Superstrut” – especially John Tropea on guitar. Maybe the set list draws a little too heavily from ‘Deodato 2’ compared to what I’d hoped for but if you want a more comprehensive collection of live songs you might have to look to the latter stages of his discography.

dreadpirateroberts 'Deodato 2' the follow-up to 'Prelude' follows a similar path to its predecessor.

Which is both a strength and a weakness. The album has the same laid back feel, the same classical reworkings and employees a similar cast (who are still in fine form) but adds a funkier approach to many songs. When taken as a whole it is perhaps a collection of less memorable material, but is hardly unsuccessful.

The CD reissue messes with the original running order, placing the sometimes effective Moody Blues cover as opener and following with Ravel's 'Pavane For A Dead Princess.' It's a slower and delicate perhaps, than the original (and I do miss the more typical brass) but represents a point in the album where Deodato strays a little from the territory covered on the previous album.

Unlike 'Rhapsody In Blue' which treads very closely to what was achieved with 'Also Sprach...' and is not as effective second time around. What does work better on '2', is kicking the up the funk another gear for 'Super Strut' which is probably the best cut on the record and a fantastic opener to the LP. There's pretty much no way to get tired of Clarke's bass line and everyone else seems to be having a blast, whether it's Deodato's solos, Cobham's high quality drumming or Tropea's guitar.

There's every chance you'll enjoy this album if you liked 'Prelude' but you wont see any massive diversions in sound or material, which isn't always a bad thing - everything still sounds great, I'm really only giving it three stars because it covers similar ground, and not because of any huge deficiencies in the recording, playing or arrangements.

dreadpirateroberts Once again CTI and Van Gelder combine for what was, by now, bit of a tried and true method of releasing successful jazz records, and records that were getting smoother and smoother.

But the warm sonics and classical-meets-jazz arrangement of mid-tempo pieces with laid back grooves works perfectly for Deodato, whose electric piano, skillful arrangements and bossa nova past are employed to fine effect here in 'Prelude' his first US album as leader.

The Latin Jazz feel to the pieces works a treat too, equally pleasant across his three originals and the reinterpretations that are as much a hallmark of CTI as they are a testament to Deodato's savvy arrangements. There's no denying that the pop sensibilities are part of the album's joy. It isn't a noodly record. It's relaxed - it summons up impressions of lying back in the sun, cool drinks clinking with ice, or cruising down sweltering streets with the windows down.

Ron Carter and Billy Cobham (among others) provide the perfect accompaniment to Deodato's breezy horn and string arrangements and occasional guitar or piano solos. In fact, nowhere is this combination more lush than on 'Spirit of Summer' and nowhere is it more successful than on his reworking of the 2001 theme 'Also Sprach Zarathustra' a 9 minute funk odyssey and international hit. Elsewhere, we have another classical adaptation, in 'Prelude To "The Afternoon Of A Faun"' which despite a nice solo from flautist Laws, is not as effective and gets a little lost toward the middle. Much more expressive is 'Baubles, Bangles And Beads' with its fuzzy solos from John Tropea's electric guitar or the strutting 'September 13' co-written by Cobham.

If you are turned off by Pop Jazz or the smoother side of Latin Jazz, then you won't enjoy this. If, on the other hand, you're content to take a break and let yourself be swept along, then you should buy this one from Deodato. 'Prelude' serves as an excellent introduction to his work for CTI, representing quite a peak.

Sean Trane After the timeless classic album of Prelude, the next album came as simply called 2, but it’s rather deceiving, since Eumur Deodato had a 60’s career as a samba and bossa artiste. But what we as a site are looking at are these wild JR/F albums that the Brazilian released in the most essential year of musical freedom, the early 70’s. And just like Prelude, 2 repeats the formula of mixing some awesomely arranged covers like Moody’s Nights In White Satin, Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue and Steely Dan’s Do It Again and a bunch of often torrid self-penned jazz-rock-fusion compositions. Some of the JR/F giants are present like Cobham, Clarke, but there are two dozens no-less deserving lesser-known musos as well, including large brass and string sections. As is usually the case with all of those killer JR/F essential albums from that classic era, this was again on the Columbia label

Starting on the 9-mins+ 100MPH Super strut funk-fusion piece, complete with a fuzzed-out guitar solo, courtesy of the relative unknown John Tropea, but shinning all the way through the album; the rest of the A-side glides smoothly on the best known Gershwin piece giving it the full works mixing strings and jazz-rock instrumentation and later on a brassy bluesy rendition of the classic Moodies hit. If the former takes an attentive ear to recognize the original piece, the latter is instantly recognizable. The A-side closes on a rearranged version of Ravel’s Pavane For A Dead Princess, which is a little too cheesy and slow for my tastes.

Opening the flipside is a superb 150MPH Skyscrapers fusion piece, where you can find Eumur’s Hammer-Corea influences on synths, followed by a sitar-sounding guitar leading Latin Flute track and a much slower (and cheesy) Venus piece. Closing off the debate is a rather cool and swingy instrumental version of Steely Dan’s first mega-hit Do It Again, just as good as the original. Definitely a worthy follower to Deodato’s previous album, but with slightly less merits since the formula of the former is mostly repeated without much variation.

Sean Trane Previously known as a bossa and samba artiste, Deodato jumped the Brazilian shark and threw himself into a rather successful reconversion in flamboyant JR/F with this immensely successful “new debut” album with the widely aired version of 2001’s theme, here called Also Sprach Zarathustra. Indeed, Deodato’s formula of mixing the classic, the jazz and the rock mediums together proved quasi-infallible, despite a few moments of cheesiness here and there, especially so with the sometimes over-sweetish strings. Helped out by bassists Ron Carter and Stanley Clarke and drummer Billy Cobham, the album is filled with another two dozens of no-less deserving fine musos. Incredibly enough, it’s again the Columbia label (this time through its Epic sub-label) that released such a brass and string filled gem.

Opening on the wild adaptation of Kubrick’s 2001 film theme from Strauss, this awesome instrumental fully deserves its mega exposition that it’s gotten for the next two decades, with Deodato’s fiery Rhodes playing, Clarke’s mega-bass presence and Tropea’s brilliant guitar parts. Opening the flipside is Baubles, a Latin work-out of an Antonin Borodin theme, quickly followed by a dissonant (almost free) intro of Debussy’s Faun piece, before going almost Mwandishi-like and finally returning to the dissonant outro. The closing September 13 is a wild- jazz-rock/fusion piece titled after the second and second last day of the recording session and is cowritten by Cobham, who’s quite impressive throughout the whole album.

Despite the resolutely international scheme of this album, you can still hear Deodato’s Brazilian origins, through the samba and bossa nova roots of the man, even if they are not over-powering (quite the opposite) the rest of the music. A rather short album (especially compared to the following one), Prelude is an essential fusion album of the early 70’s that most everyone should own or at least have access to easily.