We don't normally dig hippies that much, but these guys are great – and this album may be one
of the sweetest we've heard from the Bay Area scene
of the early 70s!
Joy Of Cooking have a wonderful style that puts plenty
of jazz in the vocals
of lead singers Toni Brown and Terry Garthwaite – a sweetly gliding approach to the music that pulls the folksy instrumentation
of the rest
of the combo into hipper territory, and which almost points towards some
of the best breezy vocal work to come out
of the SF scene later in the 70s. Instrumentation includes keyboards, guitar, alto sax, trombone, and lots
of great percussion that punctuates the tunes with an earthy groove, and really emphasizes the rhythmic quality
of the work. Titles include "Pilot", "Closer To The Ground", "Blues For A Friend", "New Colorado Blues", "A Thousand Miles", "Sometimes Like a River", and "The War You Left".
(Lime green label pressing.)