LAST LISTENED TO january
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT reasonable
RATING
Another superbly funky piece of jazz from the period that Blue Note records calls its Rare Groove period (that being '67-'70). Jimmy McGriff only put out a few LPs for Blue Note during that time and Electric Funk is probably the best known.
On The Bird Wave, he tickles his hammond in a lovely fashion, with a style that is far more light fingered than the often-copied Jimmy Smith. As you would probably expect, there is plenty of funky brass stabs throughout, however here it's the rhythm section that is the big story. Sadly, they and the rest of the band are listed as unknown, which is a real shame because the drumming is excellent (i've long suspected it could be the superb Idris Muhammad, but there is no way to know).
The track opens with the drums alone, and it's one killer break. Next up is the electric bass, which meshes to the funky drums perfectly. Then in comes light-fingered McGriff, soon followed by those brassy slabs. The rest of the song plays out with as many funky breaks and crescendos as could be hoped for and all the time those drums and the bass keep the funk rolling.
The rest of the album, incidentally, is pretty damn good too.
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