Outrageous

Released in 1970, Outrageous is one of the classic big-band soul-jazz workouts of the era. Written, arranged, and produced by Johnny Pate, this date is the linchpin between two eras in his long career. Before signing to MGM, he played with Stuff Smith, led his own jazz quintet in the 1950s, and produced soul, blues, and jazz sessions for King, ABC, and OKeh in Chicago. Included are sides by Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions, Major Lance, Billy Butler, and more. When MGM signed him in the late '60s, he moved to New York and worked on classic jazz sides by Kenny Burrell (Asphalt Canyon Suite), Monty Alexander (Taste of Freedom), Phil Woods (Round Trip), Jimmy Smith (Groove Drops), and even Wes Montgomery (Movin' Wes). According to Moe Green's liner notes in the CD edition, Pate was required by contract to make one recording under his own name as part of his MGM/Verve contract -- Outrageous. Outrageous is the clear delineation between the early soul and jazz dates and Pate's forthcoming funk sessions and soundtrack work -- Shaft in Africa, Bucktown, and Brother on the Run -- and work with Minnie Riperton, Peabo Bryson, Natalie Cole, Jimmy Ponder, and Phyllis Hyman, to name a few. As an album, Outrageous towers over everything but Shaft in Africa for its originality and sophistication. Using some of the greatest session talents in the jazz world -- including Joe Beck, Jerome Richardson, Richard Tee, Snooky Young, Chuck Rainey, Montego Joe, Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, Al Grey, Ernie Royal, Cornell Dupree, etc. -- Pate crafted a deeply funky, groove-laden soul-jazz set of his own tunes, written specifically for the strengths of this big band that became a portal to his soundtrack work.
This 13-piece orchestra is tight and disciplined yet deeply funky and soulful, fusing elements of Latin boogaloo, soul, rock, funk, and the emerging large modern creative jazz units like the Clarke-Boland Big Band, the Peter Herbolzheimer Rhythm Combination & Brass, and the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. One need only to get a dose of the opening title track to encounter the seamless paradigms Pate was melding. Rainey's bassline and Purdie's big break open the number at double-time before the wah-wah guitars and brass enter, and just as the pace gets developed, Pate brings in Richardson's flute and a whispering hi-hat to add space, dynamic, and a cosmic reverb-laden texture before Beck's guitar disrupts it with a fuzzed-out solo. The horns enter again with the theme and Dupree's rhythm work whomps the groove against the drum kit and popping bassline. Despite all the popular music tropes of the time, nothing in this music contains kitsch or cliché. The entire set feels more like a suite than a collection because of Pate's brilliant sequencing. "Frustrating Disappointment" is a noir-ish sultry horn-driven blues, with some beautiful electric guitar accents and flute work by Richardson. That said, it doesn't matter where you drop the needle on this set -- it's all great, each track moving out and extending the palette further than the one preceding it until it culminates in the lilting opening of "Sangria." A flute and electric guitar whisper before the boogaloo jumps in with Montego Joe's multi-layered percussion and the brass blasting a theme reminiscent of "La Bamba," before the funky solos by Beck and Richardson sting the melody; there's a smoking baritone sax here as well. Outrageous is simply brilliant. ~ Thom Jurek