Lotus – Tye
Lotus – Second Impression (Excerpt)
Lotus – Third Impression (Excerpt)
With almost exactly one month before the unveiling of a very special 14th anniversary mix, it’s perhaps the best time to finally post something about this album, one that’s been very close to my turntable since first coming across it at the end of July in 2022. I’d come up to the Bay Area on a weekend trip with my dog (our first trip together ever), the most time I’d spent there since moving to LA. As is always the case whenever I’m in the Bay Area, part of the trip included a trip to Groove Merchant in Frisco. This particular time I had brought a couple of rare Sun Ra records on the Saturn label to trade with Cool Chris, without any idea what might be at the store at that moment. There were some nice things, a few of which will likely find their way here eventually, but Chris mentioned that he did have something special, something he rarely came across. This album from the band Lotus.
All Chris knew about it was what was evident from the cover, this was an album on the Reynolds Records label, which had a few records folks such as we are often looking for, from Quinn Harris & Masterminds (or just the Masterminds themselves), and from a pair of Steve’s, Steve Marshall & Steve Parks. Not one of the players on the record sounded familiar, and none of them seemed to be listed on any other records from the time period, at least none that are listed online. Bob Okamoto on keys, Charles Peacock on bass & synths, Joel Cohen on guitar and Gregory Taylor on some mighty drums.
No credits for any of them elsewhere that I could find. It’s as if four total unknowns just went into the studio to record on some fair day in 1975, and then created a low-key masterpiece. And, it is the masterful playing that keeps me coming back, especially on the first side, a 19 minute tour-de-force, broken down into first, second & third impressions (due to my long standing policy of not posting the majority of an album, given that there are only three total tracks, I’ve posted excerpts from that track)…The musicianship on this record is so good that it almost leads me to believe that the names listed are assumed names, and the actual players were bigger names that just wanted to put to wax a session they were proud of, but couldn’t do it on any of the labels they were signed to. I don’t know how many times I’ve listened to this record at this point, but every time I’m struck by how exceptional the playing is on it. At times it reminds me a little of Pi-R Square & Lonnie Hewitt’s recordings from the 1970s, or a quick moment will remind me of Roy Ayers’ Ubiquity in the early part of the decade (doesn’t the slow down 4:30 into “Tye“ remind you of “We Live In Brooklyn Baby?”) but there’s also something about the playing that just sounds so unique.
I truly hope one day I discover the enigma that is Lotus, what the story of this recording was, and more about these players, but for now, I’m just thankful for the serendipity of the day that allowed me to come in at the right moment and have the chance to come across this exceptional record…