Wounded Bird Records
2005
Knights Of Fantasy / Night Cruiser
About This Album
This Wounded Bird two-fer packages together two of Deodato's transitional albums from 1979 and 1980, when he was actively pursuing chart success and radio play in the United States. Knights of Fantasy, from 1979, contains trace elements of the Brazilian producer and composer's fusion persona while melding them with disco and lite funk -- as many other jazzmen were also doing at the time, from Lonnie Liston Smith to the Crusaders. The album is a thoroughly kitschy sci-fi affair with some very fine playing and horn and string arrangements, particularly on the bass- and ARP-driven "Space Dust/Sherlock," which goes on for nearly eight minutes. Here, funk grooves are allowed to find their way and wind out while a popping bassline holds down the fort even as Deodato goes ape on the synth for his wildly improvisational solo. "Shazam" is another case in point, though it contains some smoking Brazilian polyrhythms undercutting the basic disco funk groove and a slight riff cop from Talking Heads' "Life During Wartime." The weirdest thing here is one of Deodato's trademarks -- taking classical themes and weaving them together in some "futuristic" way.
Track List (try tracks 1,8 and 9)

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