Stone Alliance's eponymous debut album begins with percussionist
Don Alias and bassist
Gene Perla setting the table with a subtle Afro-Cuban rhythm and then, before the album is even 90 seconds in, the rhythm catches fire and in comes saxophonist
Steve Grossman with a torrential solo. The power trio rarely lets up from there. Whether it's the breakneck, white-flame burn on tracks like the aforementioned "Vaya Mulatto" or "Duet" or "Samba De Negro,"
Stone Alliance is like a sonic hurricane. Yeah, it slows down for a hip rendering of
Stevie Wonder's "Creepin'," but that's about the only breather you get. "Sweetie Pie" -- probably the album's best know song, sampled for '90s rap group
Original Flavor's "Blowin Up the Spot" -- might not feel like an assault, but the funk is so nasty it makes you scowl. And then there's the album's highlight, "King Tut," a smoldering, deliberate, militant march with
Alias and
Grossman challenging each other to frenzy and
Perla in the cut like a jazzy
Bootsy Collins. These three musicians had teamed up two years prior for
Grossman's debut
Some Shapes to Come. That was a much more cohesive, ambitious album from an artistic standpoint. This album is a looser, more rebellious effort and a must hear for '70s jazz fans.