I got into Sea Level back in the 70s due to their connection to the ABB.Afew years ago I started to listen to some of my old LPS with a new appreciation oh how good Steely Dan & Sea Level were.Thier 1st album,Cats on the Coast,& On The Edge are phenomenal! Chuck Levell is simply the best keyboard player there is. He brinallity added a new element to The Brothers. that was much needed.Jessica is a brilliant song,but can you Imagine it without Chuck's solo? SEA Level's music is built around Chuck but it's the other 3 guys that make it special.I didn't realize how great a drummer Jaimoe was till I heard him with Sea Level. It was like somebody took him off his leash.Lamar's bass playing was a revelation & better than his work with the Allmans.Jimmy Nalls was a fantastic guitar player that fit the music perfectly.He could play some bad ass Duane like slide. Just listen to the last part of "Country Fool"..The addition of Randall Bramlett's silky sax work was the icing on the cake.As you can tell,I really like Sea Level and hope that anybody who reads this will check them out.They were one of a kind.A jazz fusion,funk,soul,southern rock powerhouse.
Jaimoe's drums on Sea Level were a real revelation to me. The albums were all out of print throughout the 90s so I first heard him on a couple of cassette bootlegs that circulated of the 1977 tour. I couldn't get enough of it! His right foot alone was doing some SERIOUS work. I told him once I loved his bass drum work. He said, "You know where I learned to play the bass drum? With Lamar." (Speaking of, here's a gem from the archive: We Three--Sea Level pre-Jimmy Nalls https://youtu.be/Gvvpjb3qGPQ)
Jaimoe's drums on Sea Level were a real revelation to me. The albums were all out of print throughout the 90s so I first heard him on a couple of cassette bootlegs that circulated of the 1977 tour. I couldn't get enough of it! His right foot alone was doing some SERIOUS work. I told him once I loved his bass drum work. He said, "You know where I learned to play the bass drum? With Lamar." (Speaking of, here's a gem from the archive: We Three--Sea Level pre-Jimmy Nalls https://youtu.be/Gvvpjb3qGPQ)
Yup. they were darn special. Right band and if a few years earlier they would have emerged instead of in the midst of a cultural musical sway away from the pinnacle of Southern rock they might have made it to the mountaintop with the likes of ABB, Skynyrd, Tuckers and them Outlaws.
Chuck talked a lot about this over the years, how the band was difficult to categorize in a business where it matters a shit-ton. It didn't help that Capricorn Records was falling apart as their bellwether was in disarray. An interesting counterfactual is if Chuck and Lamar had joined the Allman Bros when they reunited in 1978. What would the ABB have sound like? And would Chuck have ever gotten to play with the Stones beginning in '81?
Got turned onto this record about six months ago. Such good stuff!
This really is a great album, Grand Larceny and Tidal Wave are regularly played on my Jazz radio show
glad to hear they get airplay. such a great band.
I got into Sea Level back in the 70s due to their connection to the ABB.Afew years ago I started to listen to some of my old LPS with a new appreciation oh how good Steely Dan & Sea Level were.Thier 1st album,Cats on the Coast,& On The Edge are phenomenal! Chuck Levell is simply the best keyboard player there is. He brinallity added a new element to The Brothers. that was much needed.Jessica is a brilliant song,but can you Imagine it without Chuck's solo? SEA Level's music is built around Chuck but it's the other 3 guys that make it special.I didn't realize how great a drummer Jaimoe was till I heard him with Sea Level. It was like somebody took him off his leash.Lamar's bass playing was a revelation & better than his work with the Allmans.Jimmy Nalls was a fantastic guitar player that fit the music perfectly.He could play some bad ass Duane like slide. Just listen to the last part of "Country Fool"..The addition of Randall Bramlett's silky sax work was the icing on the cake.As you can tell,I really like Sea Level and hope that anybody who reads this will check them out.They were one of a kind.A jazz fusion,funk,soul,southern rock powerhouse.
Jaimoe's drums on Sea Level were a real revelation to me. The albums were all out of print throughout the 90s so I first heard him on a couple of cassette bootlegs that circulated of the 1977 tour. I couldn't get enough of it! His right foot alone was doing some SERIOUS work. I told him once I loved his bass drum work. He said, "You know where I learned to play the bass drum? With Lamar." (Speaking of, here's a gem from the archive: We Three--Sea Level pre-Jimmy Nalls https://youtu.be/Gvvpjb3qGPQ)
Jaimoe's drums on Sea Level were a real revelation to me. The albums were all out of print throughout the 90s so I first heard him on a couple of cassette bootlegs that circulated of the 1977 tour. I couldn't get enough of it! His right foot alone was doing some SERIOUS work. I told him once I loved his bass drum work. He said, "You know where I learned to play the bass drum? With Lamar." (Speaking of, here's a gem from the archive: We Three--Sea Level pre-Jimmy Nalls https://youtu.be/Gvvpjb3qGPQ)
Bought the first album when it came out. Digging it out now.
Yup. they were darn special. Right band and if a few years earlier they would have emerged instead of in the midst of a cultural musical sway away from the pinnacle of Southern rock they might have made it to the mountaintop with the likes of ABB, Skynyrd, Tuckers and them Outlaws.
Chuck talked a lot about this over the years, how the band was difficult to categorize in a business where it matters a shit-ton. It didn't help that Capricorn Records was falling apart as their bellwether was in disarray. An interesting counterfactual is if Chuck and Lamar had joined the Allman Bros when they reunited in 1978. What would the ABB have sound like? And would Chuck have ever gotten to play with the Stones beginning in '81?