The ten cuts on
Larry Carlton's entry in the
20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection series are from his MCA years -- after he had left
the Crusaders, entered into a solo career with Warner Bros., and become nearly a household name for his work on
Steely Dan's later records. The music here begins with his acoustic work on
Alone/But Never Alone and
Discovery. This was a departure for
Carlton, whose breezy work sounded seamless on the electric but on acoustic guitar found new resonance. A cover of "Minute by Minute" is followed by a stellar cover of
Eddie Floyd's "Knock on Wood" from
Discovery. The other albums represented here -- less stellar because of their slick lite funk-jazz approach -- are
Last Nite and
On Solid Ground, though the latter does feature a very acceptable cover of "Layla."
Carlton fans have all this stuff already, and those new to his work will be best served by seeking out his Warner material (the title cut from
Sleepwalk is here, however) or his work with
the Crusaders. ~ Thom Jurek