Pleasure - Joyous (1977/1997/2021) [Official Digital Download 24/192]

Hailing from Portland, this eight piece jazz funk outfit should have been the next in line for multi-platinum success after Earth, Wind & Fire and Kool & The Gang. It seems unfair that they didn’t make a big impact on the charts, because over six albums recorded for Fantasy Records they mixed jazz and funk to perfection. Their legacy really is something special. Their very finest LP is “Joyous”, whose title track has been an instant and ongoing club classic since it was first issued, but marvellous instrumental grooves, stoned freak outs and an amazing slice of dance soul in ‘Let Me Be The One’.

"Pleasure couldn't have asked for a more appropriate producer when, in late 1976, it employed Wayne Henderson on Joyous. A band that frequently brought jazz overtones to its funk-soul foundation, Pleasure needed someone who held jazz and R&B in equally high regard – and Henderson easily fit that description. The Texas trombonist first made a name for himself playing hard bop with the Jazz Crusaders, but as the 1970s progressed, he became increasingly R&B-friendly. Henderson was exactly the sort of producer that Pleasure needed, and the band's appreciation of jazz comes through on the up-tempo funk numbers (which include "Dance to the Music," "Let Me Be the One," and the title song) as well as the dreamy quiet storm gem "Sassafras Girl." Pleasure brings this vinyl LP to an appealing close with a jazz-funk instrumental titled "Selim," which isn't typical of Joyous on the whole – most of the tunes are vocal-oriented. This is a funk-soul record first and foremost, and it is also a classic that underscores Pleasure's risk-taking nature."

TRACKLIST

1. Pleasure - Joyous
2. Pleasure - Let Me Be The One
3. Pleasure - Only One
4. Pleasure - Can't Turn You Loose
5. Pleasure - Sassafras Girl
6. Pleasure - Tune In
7. Pleasure - Dance To The Music
8. Pleasure - Selim



Thanks to the Original customer.