Released not long after
Quincy Jones was operated upon for life-threatening brain aneurysms, the music community was glad to have this album around (you can almost sense Q's own relief as he holds his forehead on the cover). Basically, though, it continues the polished, percolating soul direction that
Q initiated with
Body Heat, alienating purists but entertaining R&B audiences that rushed to buy it. The album is given its commercial edge by two new
Jones discoveries, George Johnson (guitar, vocals) and
Louis Johnson (bass), who would leap to fame the following year on their own as
the Brothers Johnson. One attraction for jazz listeners is
Toots Thielemans' "Bluesette," in which the Belgian virtuoso does a nice guitar/whistle cameo and
Frank Rosolino blows some fine trombone, but the track is not helped by the overdubbed soul voices. ~ Richard S. Ginell