By 1975, soul-jazz was well into its decline, supplanted by both fusion and disco as the instrumental groove musics of the moment, and a lot of '60s soul-jazz players had made the stylistic switch.
Joe "Boogaloo" Jones, on the other hand, hadn't, and this obscure 1975 release largely sounds as if it could have come out in 1966. The one concession to the times was in
Jones' choice in covers on side two, with extended takes on
Stevie Wonder's "You've Got It Bad, Girl" (really rather good, with some terse,
George Benson-like solos) and
Olivia Newton-John's "Have You Never Been Mellow" (which isn't a good song no matter who does it), separated by a bizarre, almost disco-tinged version of the
Harry Belafonte standard "Jamaica Farewell." The two originals on side one are a much better use of
Jones' undeniable talents, with the funky strut of the title track a particular highlight, but overall,
Sweetback sounds like
Jones is running out of ideas; unsurprisingly, it was his last album. ~ Stewart Mason