Consumer Guide Album

Tower of Power: Back to Oakland [Warner Bros., 1974]
No matter whose top forty Lenny Williams makes, this isn't a soul, funk, or r&b band--the arrangements are simply too complex. It's more a stripped-down (no trombones except for guest shots) big band in the era of Doc Severinsen. Compare to any Basie edition and you will hear written charts that sound spontaneous, not to mention estimable soloists and Basie himself. And compare to a more mortal aggregation and you'll still hear riffs somebody could write song around--but not these guys. C+