TOMMY BOLIN LIFTED `SPECTRUM` TO THE MOUNTAIN PEAK OF JAZZ FUSION INSPIRATION

https://youtu.be/8jz8s4ZeoUA?si=fuFGCkG4WaE5Ly2Q

Jazz rock isn`t my favourite musical style to be perfectly honest, I much prefer good old fashioned be-bop from the late 50`s and early 60`s, but a few `fusion` albums in my collection date back to the days when I went through a bit of an experimental stage listening to the likes of latter day Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock. 

Mind you around that time it wasn`t just jazz rock and fusion that I was listening to, anything from Marillion to Mozart was taking my fancy in the mid to late 90`s. Call it my quest to find myself (laugh). 

One jazz fusion album with a bit of rock influence which I still rate as half decent, or maybe even decent, is the critically acclaimed SPECTRUM by Billy Cobham in early 70`s. 

Of special interest is the fact the guitarist
was the eventual replacement for Richie Blackmore in the hard rock group Deep Purple, his name `was` Tommy Bolin.

Was and not is because Bolin died a very undignified death in 1976 as a result of substance abuse, after he and Deep Purple had recorded the R&B flavoured and very underated album COME TASTE THE BAND. 

That album, despite taking on a more laid back and slightly jazz rock direction in comparison to the hard rock heroics of Deep Purple in the early 70`s, is still a minnow in the experimentation stakes when compared to SPECTRUM. 

Billy Cobham was a much in demand session jazz percussionist who possibly was craving an identity of his own, in much the same manner back then as Herbie Hancock, one of the most respected jazz organists there is. 

The band which he employed for this recording also included Jan Hammer, who played piano and moog synthesizer and Lee Sklar on bass, two well respected session players who belonged to the same sort of tribe which Miles Davis hanged out in and around New York City. 

Typically, because the bandleader is a drummer, SPECTRUM is extremely lively and isn`t too muddled like you quite often find with jazz fusion albums where the feature musician is a distorted chord loving brass blower who tends to create a sound which is in simple terms too busy and too complicated. 

SPECTRUM has some space about its sound, the good thing about it is that you can hear Tommy Bolin in the mix and unlike his output in the Purps he does not overwhelm the rhythm section of Cobham and Sklar with any heavy metal bludgeoning. 

Bolin truly was one of the best guitarists in history, and he never was suited to playing in Deep Purple, even though he was very capable of doing so.

Jazz fusion is all improvisation, so it`s slightly difficult for me to explain the nuances of SPECTRUM, because in reality, the sound of jazz fusion can only be interpreted by the one listening to it.

To me for the most part, jazz fusion was always right from the start a rather contrived genre of music to facilitate flower power and the eccentric tastes of the alternative crowd and hippies in mid 60`s California. 

It was very rarely a spiritually fulfilling experience with a whole lot of soul, if you

get what I mean. 

SPECTRUM is the musician's musician album for fans of jazz fusion, don't get me wrong okay, it isn`t a soulful experience listening to it, but musically it`s full-on muscular and showcases Tommy Bolin at the very top before his descent.