Live At PJ's (180g) (Limited Numbered Edition) [LP]

Make it funky. Kool and the Gang do that and much more on Live at P.J.’s, a freewheeling concert album that both preceded the resurgent soul-jazz movement by decades and demonstrated the boundless diversity, virtuosic skill, arrangement chops, and contagious energy of a band that refused to be hemmed in to any particular style. Filled with then-new compositions, this wordless 1971 set comes on like one long, magnetic, ever-shifting groove.

No less of an authority than James Brown said of Live at P.J.’s: “Don’t play this in the car when you drive. The groove is so funky, you’ll wreck.” And consider that the album-opening “N.T.” includes one of the most famous drum breaks in history, one since sampled by the likes of Public Enemy, N.W.A, Nas, and other prominent hip-hop artists. Or, just listen to how magic transpires from one cut to the next.

Sourced from the original analog master tapes, strictly limited to 2,000 numbered copies, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing, and housed in a Stoughton gatefold jacket, Mobile Fidelity’s 180g 33RPM LP presents the influential record in audiophile sound for the first time. Live at P.J.’s plays with deeper, tauter bass, enhanced definition, and more realistic presence than prior editions.

Everything from the brassiness of the horns to the snap of the snare to the rattle of congas comes across in full-range perspective. That includes not only the standout musicianship but the inventive approaches, fearless attitudes, and immense creativity. Kool Jazz, indeed.

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